Ballistics
 
Hunter Croak
March 31, 2011
Criminalistics 2
Research Paper
Ballistics
Bullets traveling over two thousand feet per second and having more energy than one normal person can perceive. Can you imagine tracking where, how, when, and what from angle this bullet was shot. Ballistic scientists can. Ballistics is the study of any projectile used as a weapon. This can certainly make or break a case involving a gun. Great ballistic scientists can even provide how far the bullet was shot from before it makes contact with the target. To me this is one of the most important tools in a case where a firearm is used. The definition of ballistics is very simple, the study of projectiles from a weapon, mainly referring to bullets out of a gun. That is a dulled down definition. My definition is a little lengthier in depth. Forensic ballistics includes the examination of bullets and firearms in an attempt to identify particular weapons used at any particular time. Guns and bullets leave small signs behind when fired, which professional ballistic scientists can pick apart and define what gun, bullet, energy, and even charge of the casing. This makes ballistic scientist one of the most important keys on a law enforcement agency. Pistols and rifles are categorized by what the inside diameter of the barrel measures. This is called caliber. An example would be, a .22 caliber rifle has a much smaller diameter barrel than a .370 caliber rifle does. In turn, the bullet of a .22 caliber is going to be considerably smaller than that of a .370 caliber. Pistols are categorized the same way. A .40 caliber is much smaller than a .460 caliber. Shotguns, however, are not categorized like this. Shotguns are categorized by gauge. Unlike the rifle, the smaller the gauge of a rifle the bigger the inside diameter is. Such as, a twelve gauge has a much larger barrel than a twenty-eight gauge. Now that I have explained sizes and categorization of the guns,
Hunter Croak
March 31, 2011
Criminalistics 2
Research Paper
Ballistics
Bullets traveling over two thousand feet per second and having more energy than one normal person can perceive. Can you imagine tracking where, how, when, and what from angle this bullet was shot. Ballistic scientists can. Ballistics is the study of any projectile used as a weapon. This can certainly make or break a case involving a gun. Great ballistic scientists can even provide how far the bullet was shot from before it makes contact with the target. To me this is one of the most important tools in a case where a firearm is used. The definition of ballistics is very simple, the study of projectiles from a weapon, mainly referring to bullets out of a gun. That is a dulled down definition. My definition is a little lengthier in depth. Forensic ballistics includes the examination of bullets and firearms in an attempt to identify particular weapons used at any particular time. Guns and bullets leave small signs behind when fired, which professional ballistic scientists can pick apart and define what gun, bullet, energy, and even charge of the casing. This makes ballistic scientist one of the most important keys on a law enforcement agency. Pistols and rifles are categorized by what the inside diameter of the barrel measures. This is called caliber. An example would be, a .22 caliber rifle has a much smaller diameter barrel than a .370 caliber rifle does. In turn, the bullet of a .22 caliber is going to be considerably smaller than that of a .370 caliber. Pistols are categorized the same way. A .40 caliber is much smaller than a .460 caliber. Shotguns, however, are not categorized like this. Shotguns are categorized by gauge. Unlike the rifle, the smaller the gauge of a rifle the bigger the inside diameter is. Such as, a twelve gauge has a much larger barrel than a twenty-eight gauge. Now that I have explained sizes and categorization of the guns,
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