What is a handgun?
- Two types: revolvers and pistols
- Designed to be fired with one hand
What is a shoulder firearm?
- Includes rifles, automatic rifles, machine guns and shotguns
- Designed to be fired from the shoulder with two hands
What is a land?
A ridge within the barrel of a firearm
What is a groove?
A valley within the barrel of a firearm
What is a caliber?
Refers mostly to the size of a particular ammunition cartridge
What is the bore?
The bore of a firearm is the diameter of a barrel
What is the gauge?
The diameter of a shotgun barrel defined as the number of lead balls with the same diameter that would weigh one pound
What is the wadding?
Used to separate shot from power in a shotgun shell
What is the propellant?
The fuel that propels the projectile down and out of the firearm’s barrel
What is the primer?
What ignites the propellant, consists of small metal cup containing a percussion-sensitive material (explodes on impact) that when struck creates enough heat to ignite the propellant
What is gunpowder residue?
- A cloud of molten metals, partially burned gunpowder flakes, smoke and other microscopic debris
- May be found on the person who discharged the firearm, an entrance wound of victim or on other surfaces
- May be used to make determinations about the location of the discharged firearm in relation to its surroundings and its target
What is a bullet wipe?
A residue of lead, primer materials, carbon and other materials the are transferred “wiped” onto the outermost surface of the target by the bullet as it passes through
