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GSR deposition along the bullet path in contact shots to composite models

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Abstract

In contact shots, all the materials emerging from the muzzle (combustion gases, soot, powder grains, and metals from the primer) will be driven into the depth of the entrance wound and the following sections of the bullet track. The so-called “pocket” (“powder cavity”) under the skin containing soot and gunpowder particles is regarded as a significant indicator of a contact entrance wound since one would expect that the quantity of GSR deposited along the bullet's path rapidly declines towards the exit hole. Nevertheless, experience has shown that soot, powder particles, and carboxyhemoglobin may be found not only in the initial part of the wound channel, but also far away from the entrance and even at the exit. In order to investigate the propagation of GSRs under standardized conditions, contact test shots were fired against composite models of pig skin and 25-cm-long gelatin blocks using 9-mm Luger pistol cartridges with two different primers (Sinoxid® and Sintox®). Subsequently, 1-cm-thick layers of the gelatin blocks were examined as to their primer element contents (lead, barium, and antimony as discharge residues of Sinoxid® as well as zinc and titanium from Sintox®) by means of X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy. As expected, the highest element concentrations were found in the initial parts of the bullet tracks, but also the distal sections contained detectable amounts of the respective primer elements. The same was true for amorphous soot and unburned/partly burned powder particles, which could be demonstrated even at the exit site. With the help of a high-speed motion camera it was shown that for a short time the temporary cavitation extends from the entrance to the exit thus facilitating the unlimited spread of discharge residues along the whole bullet path.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Legal Medicine, University Hospital of Freiburg, Albertstraße 9, 79104, Freiburg, Germany

    Markus Große Perdekamp, Max Arnold, Stefan Pollak & Annette Thierauf

  2. Landeskriminalamt Baden-Württemberg, Kriminaltechnisches Institut, Taubenheimstraße 85, 70372, Stuttgart, Germany

    Joachim Merkel & Katrin Mierdel

  3. Freiburg Regional Council, Kriminaltechnische Untersuchungsstelle, Berliner Allee 3a, 79114, Freiburg, Germany

    Roland Braunwarth

  4. Institute of Legal Medicine, University of Berne, Bühlstrasse 20, 3012, Berne, Switzerland

    Beat P. Kneubuehl

Authors
  1. Markus Große Perdekamp
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  2. Max Arnold
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  4. Katrin Mierdel
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  6. Beat P. Kneubuehl
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  7. Stefan Pollak
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  8. Annette Thierauf
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Correspondence to Markus Große Perdekamp.

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Große Perdekamp, M., Arnold, M., Merkel, J. et al. GSR deposition along the bullet path in contact shots to composite models. Int J Legal Med 125, 67–73 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-010-0529-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-010-0529-2

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