MODULE FUNDAMENTALS OF MARKSMANSHIP

CHAPTER 8: INTRODUCTION TO FORENSIC

BALLISTICS AND INTERNAL BALLISTICS

OBJECTIVES:
a. To know the mechanisms of the projectile inside
the firearm
b. To know the patterns inside the firearm that
possible change the momentum of the projectile

“Marksmanship is 98% Mental, 2% Physical”

Ballistics is the field of mechanics concerned with the launching, flight behavior
and impact effects of projectiles, especially ranged weapon munitions such as bullets,
unguided bombs, rockets or the like; the science or art of designing and accelerating
projectiles so as to achieve a desired performance.

FORENSIC BALLISTICS
is the science of analyzing firearms usage in crimes. It
involves analysis of bullets and bullets impact to determine
information of use to a court or other part of legal system.
Separately from the ballistics information, firearm and tool
mark examinations also involves analyzing firearm,
ammunition and tool mark evidence in order to establish
whether a certain firearm or tool was used in the
commission of crime.

Calvin Goddard was the founder of Firearms

Identification, making him a pioneer of forensic
ballistics.

Page | 1
 MODULE FUNDAMENTALS OF MARKSMANSHIP

HISTORY OF FORENSIC BALLISTICS

1493-1508
Emperor Maximillian of Germany proposed rifling of guns in order to impart rotatory
motion to the project during firing However the fact that refiling marks on the projectile
could aid in identification of the weapon that fired it was not recognized during 19th
century.

1835
Henry Goddard applied ballistic fingerprinting to link a
bullet recovered from the victim to the actual culprit. On
careful inspection, he found that the bullet had a defect on
its surface which did not seem to be from the barrel or the
result of an impact. It seemed more like a defect acquired
during its manufacturing.

1860
Regina v Richardson showcases another example of the
early application of firearm identification. The major evidence,
in this case, was newspaper wadding. Back in the era before
cartridges came into existence, such wadding was used to
create a seal between the bullet and the gunpowder. The
wadding that was found in the two-barreled muzzle-loading
pistol recovered from the murder site matched the wadding
found in the victim’s wound.

1902
Oliver Wendell Holmes turned to magnification on account of increased firearms
manufacture which led to standardization of rifling.

Page | 2
 MODULE FUNDAMENTALS OF MARKSMANSHIP

1912
Professor Balthazard took numerous photographs of the
circumferences of the bullet found at the crime scene. He
then enlarged these photographs to compare the markings
with those obtained on the bullet that he had test-fired from
the suspect’s weapon.

1925
Charles E. Waite along with Calvin Goddard, Philippine Gravelle and John Fisher
founded the Bureau Forensic ballistics in New York.

TYPES OF FORENSIC BALLISTICS

Internal Ballistics
-is the study of what happens within the barrel of a weapon from the moment
the firing pin hits the primer to the time the bullets exits from the barrel. It is mainly
concerned with propellant pressures, acceleration of the missile whilst it is in the
bore, muzzle velocity and recoil.

When the firing pin strikes the primer, the priming compound explodes with great
violence causing an extremely high temperature jet of flame to pass through the flash
hole and into the propellant charge. This jet of flame, which is about 2000 °C, ignites
the propellant which burns at high speed to form a large volume of gas. This high-
pressure gas accelerates the bullet down the barrel and out of the muzzle.

Cartridge case capacity.

Another factor affecting the rate of combustion is the density of the propellant load,
that is, the ratio of case volume to propellant volume. The greater this ratio, that is, the
larger the unfilled space in the cartridge case, the slower the initial rate of combustion.
Internal pressure
When the propellant burns, the majority of it turns into gas, mainly comprising
carbon dioxide and water vapor. At first, the gases are contained completely within the
cartridge case and the pressure is exerted equally on the base of the cartridge, its
walls and the base of the bullet. Once the bullet starts to move, the volume filled by
the gases increases and the pressure starts to fall.

Page | 3
 MODULE FUNDAMENTALS OF MARKSMANSHIP

Recoil.
Recoil is probably one of the most misquoted subjects in the field of firearms, and a basic
knowledge of the forces involved and how the vectors are calculated is a distinct asset
for anyone in the field of forensic firearms examination

Ballistic Identification Technology

•https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8HR5TxlPMc
References:
Fundamentals of Ballistics
Firearm and Ballistics by
•https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgXz-njLLV4
B, J Heard
https://criminologyboardexa
Understanding Ballistics
mreviewer.weebly.com/foren
•https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unlknsJ0dqk sic-ballistics.htm

Page | 4