AFTE Store - The Width of the Firing Pin Imprint as a Class Characteristic in 7.62 x 39 mm Kalashnikov Cartridge Cases

The width of a firing pin of a 7.62 x 39 Kalashnikov assault rifle is shown to be a class characteristic and can be useful to determine the manufacturer. In this paper, a protocol to measure its width on fired cartridge cases of is developed. Reproducible results can be obtained for 7.62 x 39 Kalashnikov cartridge cases. A firing pin modified acquisition protocol was defined for the IBIS-system, resulting in a much better performance of the correlation of the IBIS system.