AFTE Store - Muzzle Flash: One Witness Sees It, the Other Does Not

Muzzle flash occurs when the fuel-rich effluent from the muzzle of a firearm adequately mixes with oxygen in the atmosphere and is ignited. The size, character and color of muzzle flash can vary greatly ranging from virtually no visible light at the muzzle to a very large fireball. The color can likewise vary from nearly white to bluish-white to lavender to orange and red. With some gun-propellant combinations, sparks or streamers from burning propellant particles or primer constituents constitute a noticeable portion of the muzzle flash. The factors dictating the presence or absence of muzzle flash and its character when present include barrel length, propellant type and chemical composition, flame temperature, muzzle pressure, gas volume generated by the propellant, exhaust gas products and by-products, projectile type, primer composition and the physical characteristics and behavior of the propellant grains during the discharge process. The duration of the muzzle flash from a handgun discharge can be substantially less than the duration of the normal, involuntary blinking of the eyes consequently a person looking in the direction of a nighttime gunshot may fail to see the muzzle flash while one or more other witnesses looking in the same direct see it without difficulty.