AFTE Store - Identifying Bullet Holes and Gunshot Wounds Produced by Tracer Bullets: Elemental Mapping of Bullet Holes

Tracer bullets have been in existence since the First World War and are presently in use in at least three common forms in military ammunition with the particular form related to the intended use of the ammunition. Tracer ammunition also exists in many forms and compositions in centerfire pistol cartridges all the way down to the diminutive 22 long rifle rimfire cartridge. Such ammunition may occasionally be involved or suspected in both criminal and civil shooting incidents with the latter usually being associated with the starting of wildfires. This article reviews the more common construction and compositions of modern tracer bullets and addresses the matter of discriminating and/or identifying bullet holes in clothing and other objects made by tracer bullets through the use of scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) and elemental mapping.

Full Journal: AFTE Journal Vol 46 No 2 (2014)