AFTE Store - Comparison of the Class and Individual Characteristics of Turkish Self-Loading Pistols with Consecutive Serial Numbers

The technology involved in the serial manufacture of firearms is continually improving and the quality assurances involved in the production of these items is becoming more stringent. It is therefore continually necessary to test whether or not the basic theories of firearms identification still stand in these advanced technological times. In this study, the cartridge cases fired from groups of six different makes of Turkish manufactured self-loading pistols were collected and examined. Ten pistols with consecutive serial numbers were selected for each make and model. Ten cartridges were fired in each pistol and the class and individual characteristics of each pistol were identified. These characteristics were compared between each pistol series by examining the firing pin impressions, breech face and ejector marks. Therefore in total sixty different pistols were fired and six hundred fired cartridge cases were examined. Reproducibility of individual characteristics was found to be good between cartridge cases fired by the same gun. Whilst there were some similarities in the class characteristics between each consecutive serial numbered pistol, there were significant differences in the individual characteristics of these pistols.