AFTE Store - Shotgun Range of Fire Determinations from Skin Stippling by Plastic Buffer Material

Certain American shotgun shells contain a granulated plastic buffer material between the pellets to reduce the deformation of lead shot during the high accelerative forces associated with the discharge process. Upon discharge this material is launched from the muzzle of the shotgun with a velocity equal to that of the pellets. Due to its low density, the buffer material loses velocity quickly and is dispersed much more rapidly than the lead pellets. At close range this granular plastic material will produce stippling and tattooing of skin around the entry wound much like that of partially burned and unburned powder. With appropriate test-firings, stippling patterns in skin due to the buffer material can serve as a useful and reliable means of estimating range of fire when integrated with other well-known factors such as soot deposition and pellet behavior.