Forensic ballistics refers to the science of firearms and projectiles in relation to the

reconstruction of events leading to a gunshot injury. Aspects such as the geometry of a

bullet tract and gunshot residue, or GSR, are commonly used in the essence of
reconstructing events causing the gunshot injury on a biological target.

Forensic Ballistics. Image Credit: felipe caparros/Shutterstock.com

Furthermore, firearm examiners handle the task of linking bullets to the weapons utilized
through microscopic analysis, and eventually the weapons to individuals firing those
bullets. The latter link is done by examining obliterated serial numbers to determine the
registered owner of that weapon.
Different types of existing ballistics
Four categories of ballistics include internal, transitional, external, and terminal
ballistics. Internal ballistics depicts the event occurring from the time of the propellant's
ignition until it reaches the end of the gun barrel. Transitional ballistics refers to the
intermediate process between internal and external ballistics; when the projectile leaves
the muzzle to when the equalization of the pressure behind the projectile is achieved.
External ballistics is the flight of the bullet after it leaves the barrel. While terminal
ballistics refers to the particular behavior of the projectile when it meets its target.
Comparison microscope for the visual examination of bullets and
cartridge cases
Every time that a bullet is fired, microscopic marks or commonly termed as 'ballistic
fingerprints', are left on the bullet and cartridge case by the gun. When bullets are
recovered from a crime scene, the marks deposited on the bullets from the crime scene
can be compared to a bullet from the result of a test-fire with the suspect’s gun. This is
done to indicate whether the bullets from both settings were fired from the same gun,
with the same method of comparison also applying to cartridge cases.