Close range shooting

Sometimes a plastic buffer material (usually white granulated polyethylene) is mixed with the shot to help prevent distortion during discharge. The buffer material may be found in the wound channel in close range shootings. Another innovation to prevent distortion is the use of a shot cup that encloses the shot as it travels through the barrel, with the shot cup falling away when it exits the muzzle. 

On discharge, the wads are propelled from the muzzle, but due to their shape and weight they only travel a short distance unless carried by the wind. However, in close range shootings (usually less than 6 feet) a wad or wads can be encountered in the wound channel. 

A potential problem arises whenever black powder ammunition is used in close range shooting, in that the particulate matter deposited in the vicinity of the bullet hole is nondescript and does not resemble smokeless propellant. Consequently its significance may not be realized and it is also difficult... 

Alternative tests for the identification of bullet holes and testing for close range shooting will need to be devised as the use of lead-free ammunition increases.198... 

A shooting range adjacent to the San Francisco bay placed the targets at the water s edge so that stray bullets fell harmlessly into the bay. Normally shooting ranges recover spent bullets as metal scrap. However, recovery was impractical at the bay because the bullets sank into the muddy bottom, estimated to be 3 m of silt below 10 m of water. The lead content in the water of the bay was recently found to be abnormally high. Initially a nearby chemical plant was blamed, but close examination revealed that the plant effluent contained no lead and that no process at the plant ever involved lead. 

Ron Shema is a realtor in Gainesville, Florida. Home to a major research institution, the city has a very hberal political chmate. When the only availahle shooting range was closed to the public, Shema decided to do something about it... 

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