Suicide by homemade firearm

Abstract

This paper presents a unique case of suicide committed by a homemade firearm. A 56-year-old man shot himself with a homemade firearm capable of accommodating and firing 8 mm rifle ammunition. The victim put the muzzle of the weapon on the right side of his skull and died immediately after firing. The overall and barrel lengths of the firearm were 29.5cm and 17.5cm respectively. The barrel was oversized for the 8 mm rifle bullet having an average muzzle and breech diameter of .423in. (9.53 mm) and .489in. (11.02 mm) respectively. The cartridge case recovered from the chamber was swollen due to the oversized non-standard chamber. The bullet recovered was deformed and elongated. The injury and bullet track present on the victim's head were unique in nature. With respect to the weapon and ammunition, this study represents an unusual suicide. The findings will be helpful to the medicolegal experts, forensic scientists and pathologists.