AFTE Store - The Potential for and Persistence of Subclass Characteristics on the Breech Faces of SW40VE Smith & Wesson Sigma Pistols

An article published in the 2007 AFTE Journal Summer edition discusses a situation in which a high degree of subclass characteristics were found in two firearms during routine casework. Gene Rivera of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Crime Laboratory describes how these two firearms came to be discovered through the use of NIBIN, and reemphasizes the importance of the firearms examiner’s job to be able to recognize and distinguish subclass characteristics when present. It was this striking case that prompted further research into the propensity and persistence of subclass characteristics in the Sigma Series line, and the potential for individuality to be established on these firearms.