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The presence of extraneous markings on a fired bullet that has ricocheted off water depends on the angle of incidence of the bullet to the water and the depth of the water. An Uzi submachine gun, held in a machine rest, was fired into a large container of water at various controlled angles. The angle of incidence and the angle of departure of the bullet from the water were measured. The critical angle of ricochet, the depth of penetration, and the path of the bullet in the water were measured. The measured critical angle of ricochet of a 9-mm parabellum bullet fired from the above weapon was 6.5°. The maximum depth of penetration into the water during ricochet was found to be 22 mm. The maximum track length in the water was 62 cm.

Multibullet cartridges are used to create the salvo effect with increased hit probability and wounding capacity. These cartridges are not new; however, until recently, their usage has been confined to the military. The following report is the first published case concerning homemade duplex (double-bullet) cartridges manufactured in the Greater Miami area. When gunshot wound entrance and exit sites do not add up, multibullet cartridges must be considered.

This is a study of commercially available .22 caliber rimfire ammunition manufactured to explode on bullet impact. Factors considered were bullet velocity, angle of impact, missile deformation, and depth of penetration and cavitation in ordnance gelatin. Microscopic, radiographic, and high speed motion picture photographic techniques were employed. This study found that the angle of impact was critical for detonation of the bullet.

The unique shape and ballistics aspects of a new variety of hand-reloadable ammunition manufactured by the United States Ammunition Co. are described. The thin copper plating of the projectiles will usually be lost after the weapon is fired. As a result, specific rifling marks will usually be lost, making identification difficult. The medical examiner should be aware of the implications of finding these projectiles during death investigations.

In a criminal case, police alleged that a gouge in a plaster wall was the result of a bullet ricochet. Experimental studies showed that it is possible to obtain bullet ricochets from gypsum wallboard if the bullets are fired at a very low angle of incidence into the wallboard. The resulting ricochet marks, however, did not resemble the gouge alleged to have been caused by a bullet ricochet. When the angle of ricochet was determined, it was in all cases greater than the angle of incidence. While these results differ from those obtained in studies of ricochets from concrete and metal plates, they are similar to the results obtained in studies of bullet ricochet from soil and water.

Test shots were fired into real and simulated automobile ceilings in an attempt to determine what types of evidence should be available for determining the direction of flight of the bullet. The information obtained was used in a shooting investigation.

The authors report two cases in which examination of foreign material embedded in or adherent to bullets provided critical information in the reconstruction of a crime scene. Analysis of small particles by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDXA) can be accomplished without destruction or injury of the particles. In one case, the detection and identification of mineral fragments embedded near the nose of a bullet provided conclusive evidence that the bullet had ricocheted from a fireplace before striking the victim. In the second case, analysis of particles from two bullets identified them as them as bone fragments, thus proving which shots fired from a police officer's gun had killed a suspected burglar. SEM-EDXA has not been widely used to identify such material on bullets, but should be considered a potentially powerful tool in forensic science.

Great controversy has surrounded the replacement of the 7.62-mm caliber by the reduced 5.56-mm caliber as the standard U.S. military rifle. Although its relevance to human wounding can be debated, the terminal ballistics of military small arms in ordnance gelatin remains a convenient medium for comparative testing. In the present study, 7- by 10- by 24-in. (18 by 25 by 61 cm) blocks of 20% ordnance gelatin were fired upon from a range of 19 ft (6 m) under high-speed cinemagraphic surveillance. The tendency of the M193 5.56-mm full metal jacket projectile to break up in soft tissue simulant was confirmed as a fundamental difference from the 7.62-mm M80 NATO ball.

Air and spring actuated guns firing spherical or elongated projectiles are widely used for target practice and pest shooting. Although their ability to inflict physical injury is well recognized, the fact that some of these guns are potentially lethal is surprising to those not familiar with their history and ballistics. The Austrian armies, for example, used air rifles against the French during the Napoleonic wars of 1799–1809 [1]. These were rifles of 12.8-mm (1.50-in.) caliber and had an effective range between 100 and 150 yards (91 and 137 m). An air rifle of unknown caliber was also carried by the Lewis and Clark expedition of 1804–1806 [2] and was used on occasion to kill deer-size animals as well as birds and small game.