GUNSHOT WOUNDS

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GUNSHOT WOUNDS

• FIREARM INJURIES

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FIREARMS

• Smoothbore ie Shotguns ---fire mass of pellets
• Rifled weapons ie Handguns Rifles---fire
  bullets
• Airgunspistols rifles---fire projectiles
  
  

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SHOTGUNS

• Calibre size Bore or Guage
• Common Guages are 12 20 16 .410
• Historically,the number of balls (of barrel
  diameter) to equal a pound of lead
• Exception is the .410,which means it has a barrel
  diameter of 0.410 inches

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SHOTGUNS

• Single-Barrelled
• Double-Barrelledmay be Side-by-Side or
  Over-and-Under
• Repeating----single-barrelled,Pump-Action or
  Semi-Automatic

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SHOTGUNS

• BARREL LENGTH
• Commenest lengths
• 28 inches
• 30 inches
• 32 inches
• Legal Minimum is 24 inches
• Sawn-Off Shotguns ---- ILLEGAL

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SHOTGUNS

• CHOKE----a constriction over last few inches of
  the barrel
• May be built in and permanent or the gun may come
  with a selection of screw-in chokes
• Choke functions to delay the spread of the pellet
  pattern

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SHOTGUNS

• CHOKE
• True-Cylinder
• Improved choke
• ¼ choke
• ½ choke
• ¾ choke
• Full choke

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SHOTGUNS

• AMMUNITION is the Cartridge
• The Cartridge contains the lead shot (ie the
  pellets) which come in a variety of sizes
• Number Convention
• Low number fewer BIG pellets
• High number more SMALL pellets
• 6 common game load

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SHOTGUNS

• What comes out of the gun when it is fired?
• PELLETS
• WADS
• GAS
• FLAME
• POWDER---burnt and unburnt

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SHOTGUN WOUNDS

• CONTACT WOUNDS
• Head ---- EXPLOSIVE Injury
• Chest and Abdomen --- circular wounds with
  blackened and seared margins
• May get a muzzle imprint

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SHOTGUN WOUNDS

• lt 2 feet ----single wound, ¾ to 1 inch
• 3 feet----single wound,scalloped margins
• 4 feet----entrance wound satellite holes
• 10 feet----ragged central hole with numerous
  pellet holes
• Beyond 10 feet----pattern of multiple pellet holes

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SHOTGUN WOUNDS

• WADDING
• lt 5-6 feet----goes in the entrance wound
• Beyond that range , may strike separately
• Felt wads
• Plastic wads -----Maltese Cross between 1 to 2
  feet

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HANDGUNS

• REVOLVERS
• SEMI-AUTOMATIC PISTOLS
• All fire bullets
• Various Calibres

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HANDGUNS

• What does the weapon discharge?
• Flame--- 1 to 2 inches
• Gas
• Powder---burnt and unburnt
• Soot ( Carbon )
• Vapourised Metal
• BULLET

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HANDGUN WOUNDS

• CONTACT WOUNDS----firm,loose,near
• INTERMEDIATE Range
• DISTANT

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HANDGUN WOUNDS

• CONTACT WOUNDS
• Blackened,Seared edges
• Possible Muzzle Imprint
• Loosering of soot
• Near ---broader band of blackened,seared skin

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HANDGUN WOUNDS

• CONTACT WOUNDS to the HEAD
• May get a circular wound with blackened,seared
  margins
• May get a wound with a muzzle imprint
• May get a Stellate-shaped wound as gases enter
  and the thin scalp which is stretched over bone
  balloons out
• Possible back-spatter into weapon

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HANDGUN WOUNDS

• INTERMEDIATE RANGE
• POWDER TATTOOING is the characteristic feature
• Powder grains strike the skin causing punctate
  abrasions
• Multiple punctate reddish-brown to orange-red
  abrasions
• Approximate range-----1/2 inch to 2-4 feet

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HANDGUN WOUNDS

• DISTANT
• Round or Oval wounds with an Abrasion Ring
  (usually though not always)

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HANDGUN WOUNDS

• EXIT WOUNDS
• Rule of ODDS and EVENS
• Usually Larger and more Irregular than entry
  wounds
• Often slit-like or stellate
• N.B.---Shored Exit Wounds---uncommon---have an
  abrasion ring due to exit site in contact with
  ground or wall,or rarely due to tight clothing

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GUNSHOT WOUNDS

• Scientific Examination of Clothing
• Test-Firing of Gun and Ammunition

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RIFLE WOUNDS

• POWERFUL
• FMJ Bullets ---tend to pass through and remain
  Undeformed
• Semi-jacketed bullets used as Hunting
  rounds---jacket peals back and the lead core
  mushrooms and disintegrates into scores of lead
  fragments

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RIFLE WOUNDS

• High-Velocity Rifle wounds
• Enormously powerful and destructive
• Shock-Wave
• Cavitation
• Transmission of Energy via Fluid-filled
  Structures eg Arteries and Veins to produce
  additional injury at sites remote from the main
  track

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GUNSHOT WOUNDS

• ACCIDENT?
• SUICIDE?
• MURDER?
• Need to consider the wound,the wound site,range
  of discharge,the scene etc.
• Preservation of Evidence(including fingerprints)
• GSR (gunshot residue) swabs
• Clothing
• Test-Firing

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