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What is Forensic Ballistics?

Firearms Identification is a Branch of Toolmark Identification

Apr 26, 2008 Karen Lotter

Firearms Identification is a forensic science often referred to as ballistics. Forensic ballistics identifies firearm usage in crimes.

The term ballistics refers to the science of the travel of a projectile in flight. The flight path of a bullet includes: travel down the barrel, path through the air and path through a target.

What is Forensic Ballistics?

Forensic ballistics is the science of analyzing firearm usage in crimes. Forensic ballistics involves analysis of bullets and bullet impacts to determine the type. Separately from the ballistics information, firearm and tool mark examinations also involve analyzing firearm, ammunition, and tool mark evidence in order to establish whether a certain firearm or tool was used in the commission of a crime.

One of the disciplines of forensic science is firearms identification which is defined by forensic experts as:

The identification of fired bullets, cartridge cases or other ammunition components as having been fired from a specific firearm.

Firearms Produce Unique Toolmarks

Firearm identification is also one of the branches of toolmark identification. This is because the firearm, made of a material harder than the ammunition components, acts as a tool that leaves impressed or striated marks on the various shell casings and other ammunition componensts with which it comes into contact.

And like fingerprints, no two firearms, even those of the same make and model, will produce the same marks on fired bullets and cartridge cases. Furthermore, the manufacturing processes and the use of the firearm leave surface characteristics that cannot be exactly reproduced in any other firearm. This means that the toolmarks are unique to each firearm.

Another aspect that people often don’t know, is that firearms do not normally change much over time. This allows for firearms recovered months or even years after a shooting to be identified by forensic experts as having fired a specific bullet or cartridge case.

Firearm Evidence is Submitted to Forensic Laboratories

Most law enforcement agencies have access to a forensic laboratory to aid in their investigations where highly skilled forensic experts conduct examinations on many different types of evidence collected at crime scenes, including on firearms, bullets and cartridge cases.

Firearms evidence submitted to a lab's Firearms Section will typically include:

  • a firearm
  • spent bullets
  • spent cartridge cases
  • spent shot shells and/or shot
  • shot shell wadding
  • live ammunition
  • clothing

What do Forensic Ballistic Experts Do?

Forensic ballistic experts look at certain characteristics of firearms that relate to the bullets fired from them including the caliber of the firearm and the rifling pattern contained in the barrel of the firearm.

Cartridges and cartridge cases on the other hand are examined for similarities in what are called breech marks, firing pin impressions, extractor marks, ejector marks and other named toolmarks.

One of the most important tools in forensic ballistics is the comparison microscope also called a comparison macroscope, where these toolmarks can be compared side by side and matched or eliminated.

Computer Analysis and Databases Assist Crime Labs

If the firearm is not recovered, and the crime lab has the marks on a cartridge case there's yet another approach. They can input it into one of the many databases – similar to CODIS , the DNA database. One of the ballistics databases forensic labs in the USA use is FBI sponsored Drugfire.

The Firearms-Toolmarks Unit (FTU) is one of many subdivisions of the FBI Laboratory devoted to a specific discipline of forensic science. They use Drugfire, an automated, national computerized forensic firearms identification system that integrates, cartridge case, shotshell and bullet analysis, as well as electronic firearms reference libraries, on a single computer platform.

Hits are made when a system user finds a match between a specimen they added into the database and a previously filed specimen.

Sources:

FirearmsID.com

FBI FTU

The copyright of the article What is Forensic Ballistics? in Forensic Science is owned by Karen Lotter. Permission to republish What is Forensic Ballistics? in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
Comparison of Impressions on Two Cartidges., www.fbi.gov Comparison of Impressions on Two Cartidges.
Comparison Microscope in a Forensic Laboratory., www.fbi.gov Comparison Microscope in a Forensic Laboratory.
Bullet from the Kennedy Assassination, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballistics Bullet from the Kennedy Assassination
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13 Comments

Comments

Nov 11, 2008 1:34 AM
Guest :
Well worded and easy to understand. Thank you for opening my eyes wider to forensic ballistics.
Feb 17, 2009 11:10 AM
Guest :
"Forensic Ballistics" is NOT what the discipline is called, its Firearms Identification. Nor are Forensic Firearms Examiners called "Forensic Ballistics Experts." You started off good by saying what the science of Ballistics is, that was good. Drugfire was replaced several years ago by the Integrated Ballistic Identification System (IBIS) also known as the National Intigrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN). No matter what it's called, it is successful less than 2% of the time, a HUGE waste of time, tax payer's money and human resources.
Mar 21, 2009 9:21 AM
Guest :
Thank you, very easy to read, even for people working on science expo!
May 27, 2009 11:52 PM
Guest :
Nice this was good but i only got like 230 words of good info i need like 500-700 but it was good
Jul 22, 2009 8:16 AM
Guest :
Very well stated. But its nature is quite brief. It only covers some limited aspects of forensic ballistics. But this would be very useful as a short guide to the study of firearms identification.
Aug 12, 2009 9:04 PM
Guest :
Although the previous commenter is correct in stating that Drugfire was replaced by IBIS, the 2% statistic is bogus.

As with any automated system, if you fill it with garbage, you only get garbage out. A check of the NIBIN site will tell you that police are having success with IBIS almost every day. I wouldn't call giving investigators leads a waste of money.

Thanks for the article! I enjoyed it!
Sep 21, 2009 9:47 PM
Guest :
Great article. Enjoyed reading on my future line of work
Sep 22, 2009 4:49 AM
Guest :
pretty damn awsome i copied this site word for word and got an A.
Nov 24, 2009 12:24 PM
Guest :
This has opened my eyes wider to the possibility of a being a forensic firearm examiner and doing this will manke me so happy. Thank you for putting it in better way for mke to understand it.
Dec 11, 2009 11:04 AM
Guest :
wow very cool! good site. just a side note for readers... My forensic teacher has worked with ballistics in the past and with his experience told my class that Ballistic Fingerprinting, in his experience, was "ify".. He said that for him to have enough evidence to actually put someone in jail or electric chair He always wanted more evidence than just a bullet fingerprints. Just a little side note. great article!
Jan 2, 2010 10:13 PM
Guest :
well it's good but there must be the charactarstics of the ballistic should be include.
Jan 9, 2010 9:42 PM
Guest :
amazing i luv forensic sciences. this has helped for my project
Jan 28, 2010 2:21 AM
Guest :
i think it is soo good
13 Comments

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