Ricocheted Rifle and Shotgun Projectiles: A Ballistic Evaluation

Abstract

Hunting firearm injuries and fatalities from ricocheted bullets play a minor, but still important, role in forensic medicine and shooting reconstruction. Especially in the area of critical ricochet angles a ballistic analysis is essential to be able to reconstruct hunting accidents. The aim of this study is to analyze ricocheted rifle projectiles (.30-06 Bionic Black and .30-06 Oryx) and shotgun slugs (cal. 12 Brenneke original) from frozen and non-frozen concrete, as well as their ballistic injury potential at a simulated shooting distance of 100 m (rifle projectiles) and 20 m (slugs). Each projectile had a v100 velocity between 370 m/s (shotgun ammunition) and 740 m/s (rifle ammunition) and was shot at an incident angle between 2–20° (rifle ammunition) and 5–35° (shotgun ammunition). To record the angle of ricochet and target energy of each ricocheted projectile, a polycarbonate wall with a reference scale, as well as ballistic soap were used as a final target. At a shooting distance of 100 m, non-ricochet shots are only possible from high seats, but not from deer stands. The critical shooting angle showed a rather high variation for both rifle and shotgun ammunition and was noted between 1.25 times (shotgun ammunition) and 2.5 times (rifle ammunition) higher for frozen concrete compared to non-frozen concrete. All tested ammunition showed remarkable high variations in the ricochet’s angular deviation. Upon the impact of a ricochet, energy levels of over 1000 J were realized with significant injury potential to underlying organs.