FORENSIC

BALLISTICS
~MANOJ RAWAT
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR FORENSIC SCIENCE
INTRODUCTION

 The term ballistics refers to the science

of study of the action, motion
and behavior of a projectile during its
flight in any given medium. The flight
path of a bullet includes:

 Travel down the barrel (Internal

Ballistics),
 Path through the air (External
Ballistics), and
 Path through a target (Terminal
Ballistics)
INTRODUCTION
 Forensic Ballistics is the branch of forensic
science which deals with the examination of the
firearm and related evidences encountered at the
scene of crime in a shooting incident, and their
linkage to the firearm, and Identification of the
shooter.
 Questions answerable by a Ballistics
Expert:
 Type of The Firearms used
 Identification of the Firearm
 Individual Characteristics of Firearm
 Range of Firing
 Direction of Firing
 Identification of the Shooter
 Medico legal aspects: -
Suicide/Homicide/Accident
Firearm

 Any instrument which is designed or adapted to discharge a projectile or hurl a projectile with the help of
force applied by the expanded gases of main charge (propellant).
 Firearms can be smooth bore, rifled bore, manual/semi-automatic/automatic, handguns, shoulder guns etc.
 Basic Terminologies in Forensic Ballistics:
 Muzzle:- Mouth of the Barrel.
 Breach:- Tail end of the Barrel.
 Trigger:- Initiates the process of firing or discharge.
 Lock:- Action Mechanism of the Firearm.
 Bore:- Internal Surface of the Barrel.
 Caliber:- Internal diameter of rifled bore i.e., land to land or groove to groove.
 Smooth Bore:- Internal Surface of the Barrel is Smooth i.e., Grooves are absent.
 Rifled Bore:- Rifling or Grooving is present on the internal surface of the barrel.
Parts of Firearm
CLASSIFICATION OF FIREARMS
Firearms

Smooth
Rifled
Bore Improvised

Muzzle Breach Single- Automatic &

Repeating
Loading Loading shot Semi-
Automatic
Hand Match
SBBL DBBL
Canon Lock Blow-back
action
Wheel
Lock Flint Lock
Recoil
Operated
Percussion
Lock Gas
operated
SMOOTH BORE FIREARMS

 Firearms having a smooth internal

surface or bore without any lands
or grooves are called as smooth
bore firearms.
 For Example:- Shotgun.
 Fires Shots or small pellets of lead or
Steel as a projectile.
 May come in different bore Size or
Bore No. for e.g., 10, 12, 16, 20, 28 &
.410
 It indicates the internal Cross
Sectional diameter of the barrel
without lands and grooves.
 The Bore No. or the internal cross-sectional diameter of the barrel equates to the N
no. of Spherical balls of pure lead, each exactly fitting the barrel, will together
weigh 1 pound (453 g) or the internal cross-sectional diameter of the barrel of N
bore gun is equal to the diameter of a lead ball weighing 1/N pound.
 For E.g., Internal Cross-sectional diameter of a 12 Bore Gun = diameter of 1/12
pounds of pure lead.
 Internal Cross-sectional diameter of smooth bore firearms can be calculated in
inches by the formula:-
BORE DIAMETER IN INCHES 𝑁𝑑 3 = 4.6578, where ‘N’ is the bore No. &
NUMBER
8 .835 ‘d’ is the internal cross-sectional diameter
12 .729

16 .662

20 .615

28 .550

32 .526
 Smooth Bore firearms
designated by bore no.
when their cross-sectional
area is greater than 0.500
inch. But when this diameter
becomes less than 0.500
inch, we designate them
with actual diameter in
fractions of an inch. For e.g.,
0.410 musket has an internal
cross-sectional diameter of
0.410 inch.
Muzzle Loaders
Firearm is charged through muzzle end using a ramming rod.
Hand Cannon
 First recorded use of Hand cannons was
from Mid 14Th Century from the Chinese
Yuan dynasty.
 It has a very primitive muzzle design, where
barrel was made of wrought iron or Bronze
fitted to a frame or stock of metal bands
or leather thongs.
 These weapons were loaded from the
muzzle end with powder, wad and ball.
 The small hole at the breach end of the
barrel (aka Touch hole), was provided with
a pan into which a priming charge was
placed.
 On igniting the priming charge,
either with a hot iron or lighted
match, fire flashed through the
touch hole and into the main
powder charge to discharge the
weapon.
Match Lock
 Earliest type of Match lock appeared in
Europe by early 15th Century.
 A slowly burning wick is fixed over a
serpentine.
 Flash pan contains the priming mixture.
 The Shooter needs to push forward
manually (or by trigger in later versions) the
serpentine so that the burning wick meets
the priming mixture which will initiate the
priming charge which in turn ignites the
propellant charge thereby discharging the
weapon.
 Pros:- First Trigger
 Cons:- Weather Sensitive, Poor Accuracy,
slow rate of firing.
 Wheel Lock
 First Self igniting firearm.
 Developed in Europe around
1500 AD.
 Used along side match lock
eventually superseded with
Snap Lock, Snaphance and
Flint lock.
 Action mechanism consist of a
serrated steel wheel, mounted
on the side of the weapon at
the breach end.
 The wheel was spring loaded
via a chain round its axle with
a small key or spanner.
 When the wheel was turned
with a spanner, the chain
wound round the axle and the
spring was tensioned.
 Part of the wheel containing
iron pyrite in its jaws, protruded
into the small pan, the flash
pan which contained the
priming charge for the touch
hole.
 Pressing the trigger, the bar
was withdrawn from the
grooved wheel which then
turned on its axle creating
sparks from friction igniting the
priming charge which in turn
ignited the main powder
charge and fired the weapon.
 Pros:- Shorter Lock Time, Better
Accuracy and less weather
sensitive.
 Cons:- Fragile operating System
and difficult to manufacture.
Flint Lock
 Appeared in late 17th
century.
 Superseded the earlier used
Wheel Lock
 Provided spark by striking the
flint against the steel plate.
 The flint was held in the jaws
of a pivoted arm called as
Cock
 When the trigger is pulled the
hammer holding a piece of
flint fell against the steel
cover (frizzen) sitting over the
priming pan causing the
sparks that ignite the powder
in the priming pan which in
turn ignite the propellant
mixture eventually
discharging the gun.
Percussion Cup
 Introduced in 1820s superseding the flint
lock.
 First advancement towards contained
cartridge firing system.
 Early iteration had primer (mercury
fulminate) contained in an aluminum or iron
cup placed over a small tube called as
nipple. As soon as the trigger was pressed,
hammer striking the cup causing it to
detonate which in turn ignites the propellant
charge in the barrel.
 Pros:- Economical, fast, improved weather
resistance.
 Cons:- Slow Reload Time and possible
sympathetic detonation.
Breach loading Smooth Bore
Firearms

 Shotguns are the prime example of Breach

loading Smooth Bore Firearm.
 Types:-
 Single Barrel Breach Loading Shotgun (SBBL)
 Double Barrel Breach Loading Shotgun (DBBL)-
 Side by Side Barrel
 Over & Under Barrel
 Hammered
 Hammerless

 Meant to fire cartridges loaded with multiple

lead pellets to cover a wider area and thus kill
birds and other small animals.
Parts of a Shotgun
Choke-
 In addition to these parts , some shotgun barrels
have what Is called as choke.
 Choke is used as a constriction in a shotgun barrel
which lowers the spread of the pellets when fired
from a shotgun.
 In case of a 12 bore gun, there are only 40% of
the pellets in a 30 inch circle at a distance of 40
yards from the muzzle of the gun.
 In order to decrease this dispersion, the barrel of
the shotguns are reduced in diameter. This
reduction in diameter reduces the spread of
pellets and thus the probability of pellets striking a
given area increases.
 The reduced portion at the muzzle end of the
barrel is called as Choke.
 Degrees of Choke:-

S. No. Designation Amount of Percentage of

Constriction Pellets which are
placed in a 30-inch
circle at 40 yards
1 True Cylinder No Constriction 40%
2 Full Choke 0.04 inch 70%
3 Three-quarter choke or improved 0.03 inch 65%
modified choke
4 Half choke and modified choke 0.02 inch 60%
5 Quarter Choke 0.01 inch 55%
6 Improved cylinder 0.003-0.005 inch 50%
Rifled Firearms
 Fire arms whose barrels have
rifled bore i.e., the bore portion of
the barrel is cut with a number of
longitudinal spiral grooves from
breech end to the muzzle.
 For E.g., 0.303-rifle, .32 revolver,
9mm Pistol, AK-47 rifle, etc.
 The raised portions of the bore
are called ‘lands’ and the
depressed portions are called
‘grooves’.
 Rifling induces rotatory motion of
a very high rate (for e.g., 3000
rpm in case of 0.303 rifle) to the
bullet when it moves inside the
barrel.
 Pros:-
 Makes the bullet stable while
moving in the air.
 Decreases Yaw.
 Increases the effective range
of the bullet.
 Yaw
 In case of unrifled firearms,
when an unrotated bullet
moves in the air, the axis of
the bullet is inclined to the
tangent of its trajectory. This is
called yawing of the bullet or
in other words bullet is said to
be unstable.
 This yawing of the bullet
causes the bullet to tumble
during its trajectory and the
bullet may fall on the target
with side on position causing
much less damage than it
intends to be.
 As the bullet travels in a side
on position, it will face much
higher air resistance due to
which effective range may
decrease significantly.
 The no. of spiral grooves varies
from 4 to 7. But rifles with 16 & 20
grooves are encountered as well.
 Grooves are parallel to each
other, but spirally twisted on its
longitudinal axis.
 The no. of lands & grooves,
direction of rifling (LH or RH), pitch
of rifling (i.e. the distance in which
rifling completes one turn), width of
lands, width of grooves, depth of
grooves vary from model to model
of the firearm.
 Rifled firearms are designated by
the actual bore cross-sectional
diameter without considering the
grooves, called as Calibre.
 Given in fractions of an inch or in
mm.
Contd.-
 Even No. of Lands and Grooves- Distance b/w land to land will be the calibre.
 Odd No. of Lands and Grooves- Distance b/w land to opp. Groove – Depth of
Groove.
 When the calibre of the firearms becomes more than 0.600 inch, then these
firearms are designated by bore number.
Single Shot Rifled Firearms

 Lack magazine
 These rifles have a bolt. When the bolt is pulled backwards, the chamber is exposed, a
cartridge is manually inserted into the chamber. The bolt is pulled backwards, and is
locked to the barrel. With the forward push of the bolt, the rifle gets cocked i.e., it
becomes ready to fire. When trigger is pulled, the firing pin moves forward and fires the
weapon. When the bolt pulled backwards, the fired cartridge case is extracted from the
chamber.
 Extractor- It’s a claw type part present in front of the bolt which rides over the rim of the
cartridge and helps in extraction of fire cartridge from the chamber.
 When the fired cartridge case is moving backward its rim abuts against a small metallic
stop in the receiver and the cartridge case gets ejected from the firearm.
Repeating Firearms

 Have magazines containing a

no. of cartridges, for e.g., 0.303
bolt action rifle, 0.315 rifle etc.
 Cartridges can be fired one after
the other with repeated push
and pull of the bolt till there are
cartridges in the magazine.
Automatic and Semi-automatic Firearms

 Loading & Extraction is automatic using different actions.

 Can fire in selective fire, burst or Full Auto.
 In Semi-auto, trigger has to be pulled every time to fire a bullet.
 In Automatic firearms, trigger has to be pulled once to fire multiple rounds.
 Based on the action automatic and semi-automatic firearms are classified as :-
 Blow Back Action
 Recoil Operated Action
 Gas Operated Action
Blow-back Action

 A blowback system is generally defined as an operating system in which energy to

operate the firearm's various mechanisms, and automate the loading of another
cartridge, is derived from the inertia of the spent cartridge case being pushed out the rear
of the chamber by rapidly expanding gases produced by a burning propellant, typically
gunpowder.
 There is a heavy breech block, and it moves backwards & forwards in a receiver attached
to the barrel.
 The breech block is not locked to the barrel during firing.
 Employed in Sub-machine Guns. For e.g., MP5, 9mm Carbine
Recoil Operated
Action

 Recoil operated firearms use the energy

of recoil to cycle the action.
 Recoil is the rearward thrust generated
when a gun is being discharged.
 Types:-
 Short Recoil operated action- Used in
Pistols
 Long Recoil operated action- Used in
some automatic Shotguns
Short Recoil Operated Action

 The bolt and the barrel are firmly locked together at the instant of firing.
 When the firearm is discharged, due to high pressure inside the CC the barrel and bolt
both move backward.
 After the bullet left the barrel the pressure inside the CC reduce to a safe value leading to
separation of the barrel and the bolt.
 The barrel moves to its original position, while the bolt continues to move backwards
because of the momentum it has gained and because of the impetus of residual pressure
of the propellant gases inside the fired CC.
 The fired CC is extracted and ejected
 Behind the bolt there is a counter recoil spring which get compressed due to the
backward motion of the bolt. The compressed CRS now moves the bolt forward.
 During its forward motion the bolt loads a cartridge from the magazine into the chamber
and the firearm becomes ready to be fire again.
Long Recoil Operated Action

 The barrel and the bolt, both locked together, move backwards to the full backward
travel.
 At the end of the backward motion, the bolt is caught by a catch and the barrel moves
forward to its original position.
 As the barrel is clear of fired CC, the CC is ejected out. When the barrel reaches its
forward position, it trips the catch, the bolt is released and it moves forward. During the
forward motion it loads a cartridge from the magazine into the chamber.
Gas Operated Action

 Used in high velocity rifles like AK-47, 7.62 mm SLR, Machine Guns etc.
 There is a small hole in the barrel. When the bullet passes over this hole, a portion of
propellant gases are pumped out of the barrel which exert pressure on a piston.
 The piston moves backwards and with it, an operating rod is connected which also moves
in the backward direction.
 The operating rod is connected with the bolt. The bolt gets unlocked from the barrel and
moves backwards, then extraction and ejection of the cartridge takes place.
 The CRS behind the bolt gets compressed and firearm gets cocked. The CRS then pushes
the bolt forward, which loads a live cartridge from the magazine into the chamber and
gets locked to the barrel. The operating rod and piston move to their original positions and
the firearm is ready to be fired again
Rifles Rifle Caliber Muzzle Velocity

.315 Sporting Rifle .315 inch 2000 ft/s

.303 Service Rifle .303 inch 2440 ft/s

 Shoulder Fire Weapon AK series Rifles 7.62 mm 2350 ft/s

 Long, Single Barrel with rifled 7.62 SLR 7.62 mm 2800 ft/s
bore
 Caliber may vary from about INSAS 5.56 mm 3050 ft/s
5-15mm.
 Barrel length may vary from
30 to 70 cm.
AK-47 L1A1 Self Loading Rifle

INSAS .303 Lee Enfield

 Handguns

 Designed and intended to fire

with one hand
 For close range~ 50 m.
 Types-
 Pistols-
 Have a slide at the top
 Short recoil operation
 Have magazine for
holding cartridges
 Magazine capacity~ 7-
15 rounds up to 20 in
extended mag.
 Caliber- .22 inch, 9mm,
.45 inch
 Revolvers-
 Have a revolving cylinder immediately behind
the barrel.
 Can accommodate 5-6 cartridges.
 Caliber- .32-inch, 0.35-inch
 Types-
 Single Action- Hammer is manually cocked
which places the cartridge inside the
cylinder in line with the barrel.
 Trigger just releases the hammer, which
fires the round.
 Double Action- Hammer can be cocked
manually or with prolonged pull of the
trigger.
 Heavy trigger pull to prevent
accidental fire.
 Slow Fire rate in comparison with
pistol.
 Easy to remove cartridge in case of
misfiring.
Carbines and Sub-machine Guns

 Carbine is a shortened version of rifle

or a musket.
 Barrel length limits at 22 inches.
 Light weight than conventional rifles.
 Can be Semi Automatic (Self loading
manual fire) or Automatic.
 Automatic carbines are called sub-
machine gun.
 Can switch b/w semi auto or full auto
using selector switch.
 Barrel length varies b/w 6-10 inches.
 Have high rate of firing ranging b/w
600-1000 rounds per minute.
 Operates on Blowback Action
mechanism.
 MP5- 9mm Sterling 9mm

DRDO JVPC- 5.56mm UZI- 9mm

Improvised
Firearms
 Firearms that are not manufactured
according to factory specification.
 Usually made cheap steel tubing such as
water pipes, electricity pipes etc. by
blacksmiths.
 Made to fire 12 bore cartridge or .315 rifle
round.
 Mostly smooth bore with rifling in rare
cases. If present, width of different lands
show variations.
 Muzzle velocities vary tremendously.
 E.g., Zip Gun
Safety Aspects of Firearm Handling

 ALWAYS KEEP THE MUZZLE POINTED IN A SAFE DIRECTION.

 FIREARMS SHOULD BE UNLOADED WHEN NOT ACTUALLY IN USE.
 DON’T RELY ON YOUR GUN’S “SAFETY”
 BE SURE OF YOUR TARGET AND WHAT’S BEYOND IT
 USE CORRECT AMMUNITION
 IF YOUR GUN FAILS TO FIRE WHEN THE TRIGGER IS PULLED, HANDLE WITH CARE!
 ALWAYS WEAR EYE AND EAR PROTECTION WHEN SHOOTING
 BE SURE THE BARREL IS CLEAR OF OBSTRUCTIONS BEFORE SHOOTING
 DON’T ALTER OR MODIFY YOUR GUN, AND HAVE GUNS SERVICED REGULARLY
 LEARN THE MECHANICAL AND HANDLING CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FIREARM YOU ARE
USING