• Delia Lepik and Vitali Vassiljev.
• Department of Pathological Anatomy and Forensic Medicine, University of Tartu, Ravila 19, 50411 Tartu, Estonia. delia.lepik@ut.ee
• J Forensic Leg Med. 2010 Nov 1; 17 (8): 412-20.

AbstractTest shots at cloth and at human skin from autopsy material were performed with 7.62 mm Tokarev (TT), 9 mm Makarov (PM) and 9 × 19 mm Glock 19 pistols, using common ammunition. The largest central material defects, with fibre deformation in cotton, the largest burn holes in polyester, and also many fibre defects caused by the perforation of powder, were produced in shots from the TT at all distances. Tears in the cloth were longest in the case of the TT at 1 cm and were present at 3 cm, whereas the shots from the PM and the Glock 19 did not leave tears. There were small tears of the edges of the skin defect from shots fired from the TT at 1 and 3 cm. On cloth-soot deposits at 3 and 5 cm, the radial structures of soot resembled a cobweb (the TT), and radial branching structures (the PM) of soot were seen. Some shots from the PM left four shafts of rays of soot and formed the bullet wipe with four narrow and four wide sections, indicating the form of rifling. In the soot deposit from the Glock 19 with hexagonal rifling, hexagonal or polygonal or petal-like areas were visible. On skin, the soot zones were less distinct. The Glock 19 (at 3 and 5 cm) left a lot of gunpowder particles densely around the cloth and skin defect. The least powder left on the cloth and skin was by the PM. On histological tissue sections, in shots from the TT, a lot of soot and gunpowder residue particles in the epidermis and in both layers of the dermis, and intraepithelial tears and recesses containing soot, were seen. The PM left fine soot and only a few gunpowder particles in the epidermis and in the papillary layer of the dermis. The Glock 19 produced the least soot and a lot of gunpowder particles. The soot and most of the gunpowder particles were present on the tissue sections, which originated from the central area around the skin defect and were detected in the epidermis and in both layers of the dermis. Some tears and recesses in the epidermis were also seen. The further the distance from the centre of skin defect to the periphery, the depth of the penetration of the powder into the skin decreased.Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd and Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine. All rights reserved.

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