Spent bullets

Comparison macroscopy of spent bullets and spent cartridge cases... 

Identification of weapon types from spent cartridge cases and spent bullets... 

The possibility of relating bullet damage to a particular round of ammunition by chemical comparison of the deposit on the bullet hole perimeter with the deposit on the spent bullet should be investigated. 

Firearms and their associated ammunition, spent bullets, and spent cartridge cases provide useful information for identifying suspects, terrorist groups, and the criminal history of a weapon. Unfortunately, despite the numerous detailed books on the physical aspects of firearms, very little has been published on the chemical aspects, and what has been published is sparse and fragmented. 

A particular firearm could be active over many years in terrorist hands and may or may not be recovered. A link report is a report that connects two or more shooting incidents by comparison macroscopy of spent cartridge cases and/or fired bullets, and we were frequently required to provide such reports for court purposes. This often involved a large amount of work. In one particular case 605 spent cartridge cases and 46 spent bullets had to be examined, and in addition to the 27 original reports a further 19 link reports were required for court purposes. 

Firearms and associated items, ammunition, spent bullets, and spent cartridge cases recovered from arms finds, scenes of crime, and so forth provide useful information of an intelligence nature. 

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. 

A press release from the Peregrine Fund insists that to establish a self-sustaining population, it has released condors in northern Arizona since 1996. Slow to reproduce, the birds number only about 60. Lead poisoning, principally from eating gut piles that contain spent bullets/shotgun pellets, is the most frequent cause of death. 

When a bullet leaves the muzzle of a firearm there is recoil in the opposite direction to the travel of the bullet. Although the recoil is a nuisance it can be used to eject the spent cartridge case, load a live round of ammunition, and cock the mechanism. This can also be achieved by using some of the gas generated during discharge. 

The classification scheme is based on discharge residue particles from modern primed brass-cased ball ammunition. It is only applied rigidly when no other information is available. When a gun, ammunition, spent cartridge case, or bullet is recovered, it can be examined to determine elemental composition and likely discharge residue particle composition. 

These tests give an estimate of the total amount of mercury in a complete round of ammunition prior to discharge (4,070 pg), the amount deposited on the bullet (2.15 + 16.78 = 18.93 pg), the amount remaining in the spent... 

The mercury concentration remaining in the spent cartridge case was considerably higher than previously experienced. This test did not reproduce the conditions experienced during the discharge of a round of ammunition, where much higher temperatures and pressures are attained, plus the possible suction effect in the wake of the bullet. To simulate actual conditions a further test was devised (Figure 22.2). 

Again, in the matter of ft me, gas offers a striking contrast to weapons of impact. The effect of the rifle bullet is instantaneous a second after the bullet strikes it is spent and liarmlean. But even the most fleeting gas clouds are effective for a matter of many minutes, while persistent chemicals may continue to contaminate an area for days. 

Haber argued that the psychological power of traditional weapons, whether flying bits of metal or ground-shaking artillery shells, was quickly spent. All such kinetic weapons were essentially alike, and soldiers got used to them. The bullets might still kill individual soldiers, but they no longer caused the morale of entire armies to crumble. 

The small amounts of paint generated by the average household cannot be recycled economically, but most municipalities sponsor paint exchange programs and collect oil-based paints. Spent fuel rods from nuclear power plants can be recycled to reclaim unused uranium, and some spent uranium is used to produce armor-piercing bullets. Yard waste from households is often recycled and made into mulch for farming and gardening. Discarded Christmas trees are used to form mulch or are immersed in lakes as a habitat for fish. SEE ALSO Environmental Pollution Water Water Pollution Water Quality. 

His developing academic career was interrupted by the advent of World War n. Ted spent the war in various military research establishments, particularly in South Wales, working on pyrotechnic compounds for flares and tracer bullets, which, with characteristic deprecating humour, he referred to as fireworks . It was there that he met his future wife, Mary, with whom he had a long and very happy marriage. He also found the time to research material for a book on Chemical Thermodynamics, published by Oxford University Press in 1958. 

In media interviews, Comatzer says he is shocked at the amount and distribution of lead found in sampled venison. Describing himself as a big hunter, he recommends avoiding lead bullets altogether, and says he has already purchased four boxes of copper bullets for his next hunting season. He says that lead from spent ammo is a national problem. 

The Peregrine Fund (These findings are presented at the May 2008 Peregrine Fund Ingestion of Spent Ammunition Implications for Wildlife and Humans conference in a paper titled Lead Bullet Fragments in Venison from Rifle-Killed Deer Potential for Human Dietary Exposure. ) www.peregiinefund.oig/Lead confer-ence/default.htm... 

Here is a random paper from Dr. Corinne Rooney of the Soil, Plant and Ecological Sciences Division, Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand Lead is deposited at shooting ranges as spent lead shot (pellets) at clay target shooting ranges, and spent lead bullets in soil berms at rifle/pistol ranges. The lead is not insoluble in the soil environment, but is readily released in a soluble form. 

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