Features of damage to the leather substitute when fired from the “FORT 12R” and “AE 790G1” pistols from different distances

Abstract

Annotation. Examination of damage caused by firearms is always a difficult challenge for a forensic scientist. The reason for this is the unpredictability of the interaction of the trace-receiving surface with the ammunition, additional factors of the shot and residual components of the shot, which in turn is caused by the specific design of different types of firearms and the composition of different types of ammunition, which is also combined with various factors affecting pre-wound ballistics (weather factors, etc.), wound ballistics (different types of human body tissue, different materials of obstacles, their presence, etc.). All these factors require detailed study. The purpose of the study is to compare the features of damage to the leatherette as a complex “clothing + non-biological human body simulator” when shot from different distances using the “Fort 12R” and “AE 790G” pistols. The experimental study was conducted by manufacturing ballistic gelatin blocks, which were covered with leatherette and fired at close range, 25 and 50 cm using “Fort 12R” and “AE 790G1” pistols. The analysis of all fired samples of leatherette revealed the formation of a minus-tissue type defect, with the formation of a round (mostly at close range for both pistols) or oval shape (at 25 and 50 cm for both pistols). Gap formation is characteristic of point-blank shots for both pistols and the Fort 12R at 25 cm. All shot distances and both pistols are characterized by the deposition of residual shot components in the form of half-burnt or unburned powder particles. The dimensions of the defect are approximately the same, but when using Fort 12R, the formation of larger defects was recorded at all shot distances. Thus, during the visual examination, when comparing the samples of leatherette from all the studied distances, significant differences were found between all the studied groups, in particular, between the respective groups of pistols, which makes it possible to identify the pistol already during the visual examination of the sample.