2018
Eric Law
Charleston, WV
When a suspect firearm is test fired to collect cartridge cases for comparison to a questioned cartridge case recovered at a crime scene, ammunition similar to that of the crime scene cartridge case is typically chosen. The ammunition selection is important because different brands utilize different primers, and the hardness of these primers may affect the reproduction of breech face and firing pin marks. Selection of the same ammunition, and therefore a similar primer hardness, should lead to consistent mark reproduction between the test fires and crime scene cartridge case(s). The degree of effect between same and different primer comparisons has not been studied before in terms of IBIS correlation scores.