CHAPTER IX

Firearms Characteristics
Class Characteristics – Are those characteristics which are determinable prior to the
manufacture of the firearms, these are considered to be. A manufacture’s design or
specification and security. These are the following,
1. Bore Diameter – It is the caliber or gauge.
2. Number of Lands and Grooves
a. Lands – are the elevated portion of the bore.
b. Grooves – are the depressed portion of the bore.
3. Width of the Lands – is dependent upon the bore of the diameter.
4. Width of the Grooves – is measured as the shortest distance between the two
edges of grooves.
5. Direction of Twist – it will depend on the manufacturer it’s either to the left or to
the right.
6. Pitch of Rifling – it is the measure of the twisting of the lands and grooves.
7. Depth of the Grooves – it is measured on a radius of the bore.

Individual Characteristics – Those characteristics which are determinable only after

manufacture of the firearm. These are the result of machine imperfection, metal
irregularities and beyond the control of the manufacturer.
Are usually determined by the test firing which will give us both test bullet and test
cartridge case on every cartridge fired from it.

Rifling – Composed of lands and grooves found at the internal portion of the gun barrel,
it makes the bullet spin when fired turns making the bullet stable (Gyroscopic Stability)
while in flight. The number of rifling would be from 3-16 but 5-7 are the most common.
Rifling methods
Hook-Cutter System
Broaching System
Button System
Hammer Forging

6. Electrochemical

Standard Types of Rifling.

1.STEYR TYPE – 4-R-G=L
2. SMITH AND WESSON TYPE – 5-R-G=L
3. BROWNING TYPE – 6-R-G2x
4. COLT TYPE – 6-L-G2x
5. WEBLEY TYPE – 7-R-G3x
6. ARMY TYPE – 4-R-G3x
CHAPTER X

FIREARMS IDENTIFICATION
Firearms Identification – It is the science by which one can determine whether or not a
particular bullet was fired from a gun. It is the knowledge with which one is able to
reveal any pertinent facts about firearms and ammunitions.

Marks found on the fired bullets

Land marks – Are depressed portion caused by the lands.
Grooves Marks – Are elevated portion caused by the grooves.
Slippage Marks – Are marks produce by a worn-out barrels, oily barrels and oversized
barrels.
Shaving Marks – Marks found on bullets fired from a revolver due to the poor
alignment of the cylinder to the bore.

Striations marks- are common to cartridge cases that have passed through the action
of an auto loading or repeating firearm. Striated action marks can be produced on
cartridge cases by contact with a number of different areas within the firearm. Some of
the more common striated action marks include chamber marks; shear marks, firing pin
drag marks, extractor marks, and ejector marks.

Principle of identification of fired Bullets

1. No two barrels are microscopically identical as the surface of their bores all possess
individual characteristic marking of their own.
2. When a bullet is fired from a rifled barrel, it becomes engraved by the rifling and this
engraving will vary in its minute detail with every individual bore. Thus, a bullet fired
from one barrel will have different minute markings from a bullet fired from a different
barrel.
3. Every barrel leaves its thumb mark or fingerprint on every single bullet fired through
it.

Marks found on fired “Shells”

Firing pin impression - produce by the firing pin of the gun found at the base portion of
the cartridge case. It is consider the most important marks for identification of firearms
using fired shell.
Breech face mark – cause by the backward movement to the breech face of the
firearm. It is also one of the most important mark in the cartridge case identification.
Extractor mark – mark mostly found at the extracting groove of the fired cartridge case,
cause by its withdrawal from the chamber. It is one of the secondary choice in the
identification of fired cartridge case.
Shear mark – it is sometimes called secondary firing pin mark found besides the firing
pin impression. It is mostly cause of glock pistol firearm.
Ejector mark – mark found above the extracting groove produce by the ejector of the
firearm after throwing out the shell.
Chamber mark – mark mostly found round the body of the fired shell cause by the
irregularities of metal inside the walls of the chamber.
Magazine lip mark – markings found at the two sides of the cartridge case cause by the
magazine lips during the loading of the cartridge into the magazine.

Principle of identification ( Fired shells)

1. The Breech face and striker of every single firearm leaves a micro skeptical
individualities of their own.
2. The firearm leaves its “fingerprint” or “thumb mark” on every cartridge that it fires.
3. The whole principle of identification is based on the fact that since the breech face of
every weapon must be individually distinct, the cartridge cases, which it fires, are
imprinted with this individuality

RECOVERING AND PRESERVING EVIDENCE

Any item that may need the services of a firearms examiner must be handled with care
to make sure it is not altered or damaged.
Firearms evidence to be sent to the lab to learn when the weapon was last fired or for
powder residue should not be processed for prints before the laboratory examines it.
Latent print techniques may hinder the examinations of the firearms examiner. At the
lab, the fingerprint and firearms examiners will coordinate their efforts.

MARKING OF FIREARMS EVIDENCE

Place your initials and the time and date of recovery on each item of evidence so you
can positively identify it at a later date. When several like items are found, add an
identifying number on each item. No two items of evidence in the same case should
bear the same identifying numbers. All identifying marks and a description of items to
which they are affixed should be put in your notes. The identifying number has no
bearing on the numbers of the exhibits in the report of investigation
Marking tools may be used for inscribing identifying markings on firearms evidence.
Diamond point or Carborundum pencils are ideal.
Firearms are most often marked on the right side of the frame. Mark all parts of the
firearm that can be removed and that leave imprints on either the bullet or cartridge
case.
For example, you would mark a conventional .45 caliber semiautomatic pistol in three
places. For revolvers mark them on the side of the frame that cannot be removed.

TRANSMITTING OF EVIDENCE
Pillboxes, plastic vials, and the like that have cotton packing material are fine. Seal the
container with paper packaging tape or the equivalent do not use cellophane or masking
tape.
When revolvers having loaded cartridges or fired cases are obtained, make a diagram
of the rear face of each cylinder. Show the position of the loaded cartridges or the fired
cases with respect to one another and to the firing pin. Scratch an arrow on each side or
rear face of the cylinder lying under the firing
pin when the revolver was found. Do this on the revolver, itself, and also on the
diagram. Your diagram, complete with legend, lets the lab examiner relate the fired
cartridges to the chamber of the cylinder in which they were fired.

TESTING AT THE LAB

Often the lab can examine a fired bullet or even a cartridge case alone to learn facts of
the class characteristics of the firearm involved. The lab can tell you the caliber and type
of firearm (pistol, revolver, rifle) from which the bullet was fired. The number and width
of lands and grooves in the rifling and the direction of twist may also be provided.

GUNSHOT RESIDUE ANALYSIS

Gunshot Residue and Wounds

Firearms examiners are often called upon to estimate the range from which a gunshot
was fired by examining the gunshot residue patterns on the victim’s skin or clothing.
Gunshot residue consists of particles from the gun barrel or the surface of the bullet,
and/or remnants of the propellant or primer. When the gun is fired, the residue from the
shot is projected in a roughly conical cloud in the direction of the target—the larger the
particle, the farther and straighter it will travel. Gunshot residue may also leak out or
waft onto the shooter’s skin or clothing
The appearance of a gunshot wound, and the residue that may surround it, can indicate
the range from which it was inflicted. Forensic pathologists usually place the range from
which a gunshot wound was inflicted into one of four categories:
1. distant shots
2. close-range shots
3. near-contact shots
4. contact shots (loose or tight)

Distant shots
-are fired from such a range that no detectable GSR reaches the skin or clothing of the
victim. There may, however, be a greyish ring around the wound composed of
propellant combustion products and lubricant or metal form the bullet’s surface—this is
referred to as a bullet wipe.
A bullet wipe, seen on fabric

Close-range shots
are inflicted at ranges that are short enough for GSR to reach the skin or clothing of the
victim. Two types of GSR deposits are seen with these shots: 1) stippling (or tattooing)
and 2) soot (smudging). The larger particles that produce stippling travel farther than the
finer particles which make up the soot, so as the range of fire decreases the resulting
GSR patterns go from widely dispersed stippling (farther range) to more concentrated
stippling plus soot (closer range).

A shot from near-contact range will produce stippling and smudging that is
concentrated in a tight circle. The muzzle flash (the release of high temperature, high
pressure gases which can be seen as a flash of light) may tear, burn or melt clothing
fibers.

Loose-contact shots are fired with the gun’s muzzle just touching the target surface,
and the muzzle flash will usually produce similar affect to those observed in near-
contact shots. Tight-contact shots, particularly when the shot directly enters bone, often
produce a characteristic jagged entrance wound caused by the gases from the
propellant creating a pocket of hot gas between skin and bone. Particles of GSR will
follow the bullet through the opening in the skin. This may also have the effect of
blowing tissue back onto or into the weapon, and the hand of the shooter, providing
trace biological evidence.

Equipment’s use in forensic ballistics laboratory

1. BULLET COMPARISON MICROSCOPE

is specially designed to permit firearms examiner to determine the similarity and
dissimilarity between two fired bullets or two fired cartridge cases
2. BULLET RECOVERY BOX
designed for obtaining test fired bullets from the suspected firearms
3. CALIPERS
is instrument for determining the caliber and height of the bullet, and the bore
diameter of the barrel.
4. ANALYTICAL BALANCE
used to determine the weight of bullets, pellets and gun powder grains.
5. ONOSCOPE
examining the use for interior surface of the gun barrel.
6. HELIXOMETER
used for measuring the pitch of rifling’s of the firearms
7. CHRONOGRAPH
used for determining the speed and muzzle velocity of the bullet

There are seven types (7) of problems in firearms identification.

1. Given bullets, to determine the caliber and type of firearm from which it was fired.
2. Given fired cartridge cases, to determine the caliber and type of firearm from which it
was fired.
3. Given a bullet and a suspected firearm, to determine whether or not the bullet was
fired from the suspected firearm.
4. Given a fired cartridge case and a suspected firearm, to determine whether or not the
fired cartridge case was fired from the suspected firearm.
5. Given two or more bullets, to determine whether or not they were fired from the same
firearm.
6. Given two or more fired cartridge cases, to determine whether or not they were fired
from the same firearm.
7. Given a firearm, to determine whether firearm is serviceable or not

“IF THE LAW HAS MADE YOU A WITNESS, REMAIN A MAN OF SCIENCE, YOU
HAVE NO VICTIM TO AVENGE, NO GUILTY OR INNOCENT PERSON TO RUIN OR
SAVE. YOU WILL BEAR WITNESS WITHIN THE LIMITS OF SCIENCE”