Study on behaviour of pellets fired from airguns on gelatin block

Abstract

Forensic Ballistics is a branch of forensic science that deals with the science of the motion of a projectile in any given medium. It plays a significant role in the investigation of any case where firearms are involved. The impact of a projectile on targets such as the human body or animal is studied using a gelatin block.The use of gelatin blocks helps determine the terminal performance of a projectile as it simulates the soft tissues present in the human body. The present study focuses on the impact made by the projectiles fired at different ranges using Hammerli AR 207.5 Joules and Precihole NX 200 20 Joules airguns. The firing was performed using gelatin 120 bloomat different ranges (0 metres, 5 metres and 10 metres). The type of firearm and the distance from firing play a leading rolein the formation of wounds and do not depend only on the caliber of the projectiles. It was also found that despite the use of the same caliber pellets, the nature of the entry hole varied due to different firing ranges and airguns.