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Call for Assistance

Have something you need help identifying?  Have it featured here!  Submit any requests for assistance to:

 

   Unusual Breech Marks

Fifteen caliber 380 Auto cartridge cases with breech face markings as depicted below were submitted to our laboratory, and they produced a NIBIN association with caliber 380 Auto cartridge cases from a shooting over eighteen months earlier.


Click image for the "Big" picture!

With the firearm still at large, I am requesting any information that you may have on the type of marking that the bulged area to the left may represent. (For reference, the extractor is at 6:00.) This feature seems to be an unsupported area of the breech and is reproduced well in all the cartridge cases. The body of each cartridge case is expanded to approximately 0.400” with no splitting.

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Thank you for your help,

Amy Zahradka
azahradka@dfs.state.va.us
Virginia Division of Forensic Science
Firearm & Toolmark Section
804-786-2052
 

 

  Unknown Shotshell Wad

I recently encountered a plastic one piece 12 gauge wad in a case. I am seeking assistance is determining who the manufacturer is.

 
(click to enlarge)

Submitted with the wadding were lead pellets consistent with either #7 1/2 or 8 shot. If you have any information on the manufacturer please contact me.

Pat Lane
Work phone: 225-925-1774
Work email: Plane@dps.state.la.us

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Unusual Firing Pin Impression

The photos below depict an evidence cartridge casing collected at a homicide scene.  Twenty (20) casings, all R-P 9mm Luger caliber, were collected at the crime scene; seven (7) of the casings had a unique firing pin impression.

 

If anyone can provide information as to or have knowledge of the type(s) of firearm(s) that could produce a firing pin impression as depicted in the above photos, please contact Forensic Scientist, Katharina Babcock (Firearms Examiner) with the New Mexico Department of Public Safety Crime Laboratory in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Phone 505-827-9157 (direct) or Email: kbabcock@dps.state.nm.us 

and Please Post Feedback Here


 

Improvised Cane Shotgun


Fellow Examiners and Law Enforcement personnel:

The digital images below are of an evidence-improvised shotgun from the “Collar Bomb” bank robbery case out of Erie, PA. I have checked various printed references as well as several laboratories and the Smithsonian Institute for any information on such a firearm. To date no published information has been found.

PHOTOS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST

This is a functional firearm that has the following characteristics:

  1. The barrel is a piece of pipe.
  2. A second piece of pipe was used to reinforce the chamber area. (One pipe is recessed from the other, which allows proper chambering of a 12-gauge shot shell.)
  3. Unlike other disguised or improvised shotguns that I have previously examined, this one is a break-open action. (Much like an H&R Topper model)
  4. The exterior of the receiver is made of wood. However, the breach face is metal and the firing pin is properly aligned and travels the proper distance to discharge a shot shell.
  5. The firing pin is spring loaded, and must be manually cocked.
  6. A trigger is located under the handle.
  7. There is a rubber tip on the barrel that is like the type used for chair legs.
  8. The handle is made of wood. (Note that this handle looks like the letter “J”. Much like the letters you would find at in a craft or hobby store and used for signs.)

If anyone has further information, please contact me at the e-mail address below.

Thanks,

Carlo J, Rosati
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Firearms/Toolmarks Unit
labfsirs@fbi.gov  attn: Carlo J. Rosati

 

 

Firearm ID Help Needed

I am in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, East Africa, working with the Tanzania Police Force.  We have received this firearm and are unable to determine:

  • manufacturer
  • country of manufacturer
  • type of firearm
  • model of firearm
  • military firearm or not


click to enlarge

Please reply to the email address below.

Thank you. I appreciate your help.

Carla Noziglia
Senior Forensic Manager
USDOJ/ICITAP
Tanzania Police Force
skipncar@aol.com

 

 

Ruger P94 Rifling Change?

I recently fired a 40 S&W caliber Ruger P94. When examining the test bullets, I found that the rifling marks were significantly different than what I expected. The land impressions were approximately half the size (0.038 to 0.040 inches) than normal (0.085 inches). Note the clean land/groove edges.

The barrel has the Ruger proof mark. I contacted Ruger and asked if they had changed the rifling for the 40 S&W P94 and the answer was no.

The interior barrel diameter was 9.90 mm and was measured using a pin gage. A barrel cast was made and the barrel showed no signs of being double broached.

 

Has anyone else seen this? Comments?  Please Post Feedback Here

Michelle N. Kuehner
Firearms Examiner
Allegheny County Coroner’s Office
Forensic Laboratory Division
10 County Office Bldg.
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
mkuehner@county.allegheny.pa.us

 

 

 

Triple Projectile Load?

Here's a photo of a load I'm trying to identify. It was removed from the body of a victim with only one entrance wound. Three old crusty looking .22 bullets from a previous shooting were also removed from this victim. There is a remote chance that the two "pellets" are also from the prior shooting but their top and bottom contours all seem to line up. Per the detective, the stubby wadcutter looking piece was definitely from the current shooting.

  • The stubby wadcutter is 38 (.357) caliber and weighs 52 grains.

  • The middle pellet is approx .325" in diameter and weighs 34.6 grains

  • The top pellet is approx. .290" in diameter and weighs 34.5 grains

Note: There are small fragments of blue plastic embedded in the "wadcutter" and the bottom pellet.

Thanks,

James Krylo
Las Vegas Metro Police Department

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Firing Pin Bounce?

Any ideas of a 9 mm firearm that would leave a combination of a rough breech face, firing pin drag and what appears to be a firing pin bounce at 3 o'clock just to the end of the firing pin drag?


(click for image for larger view)

Thanks,

Evan Thompson

Please Post Feedback Here

 Unusual Breech Marks

We need help at our unit analyzing a cartridge casing that was recovered in New York City. Any information that can be obtained will greatly be appreciated.

Attention should be given to the firing pin, and the marks from the primer onto the breech. 

Thank you very much.

Please Post Feedback Here or contact:
 
Detective Bruno R. Valenti NYPD
 Detective Anthony Pelliccio NYPD
FIREARMS ANALYSIS SECTION
(718) 558-8715

 Unknown Wad

Need help, please in identifying this wad.  Base (flat end) has a "61 or 19" in center and measures ~.765"-.783" in diameter. 

No impression(s) of powder or shot.  Has no powder particles on it.  Tested positive with plumbtesmo.

The lead slug from same scene weighs ~347 grains.

   

Thanks,

Stephanie Stewart
FDLE

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 Unusual Firing Pin Impression

Our laboratory is currently working on a case in which four (4) fired FC 25 AUTO caliber cartridge cases were among the items of evidence submitted.  The cartridge cases were identified as being fired in the same firearm.  However, what I find to be "unusual" is the firing pin impression.  It appears like a "paw print" of some sort with three (3) round "toes".  I am wondering if this "paw print" is a class characteristic of any known firearm.  To help narrow the search it should be known that the evidence bullet in this case is a 6L .25 caliber TMJ of 49.4 grains.  Any and all assistance is appreciated.

Capt. Kevin A. Judge
Firearm Examiner
Lake County Police Department
Crime Laboratory
Crown Point, Indiana 46307

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 Unknown Shotshell Slug

Also submitted as one of the items of evidence is an unknown shotshell slug.  We are hoping to identify the manufacturer and obtain some of the shotshells for test firing in a sawed-off shotgun which was also submitted.  The lead slug is a copper jacketed hollow point design, with a hollow base.  The dimensions are: (height .70 inch) (diameter .65 inch) (weight 436.4 grains).  Any and all assistance is appreciated.

Thank You,

Sgt. Henry Hatch
Firearm Examiner
Lake County Police Department
Crime Laboratory
Crown Point, Indiana 46307

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 Pen Gun

I need help in getting information on the item featured in the photos.

I have contacted ATF technology branch, but they have basically told me the same information that I already knew just from looking at the gun. What I am needing is information on the gun itself. I would love any literature I could add to our reference information here.

What I do know is the the body of the pen contains a firing pin that is released by a spring actuated action (image 1B, the rod in the middle of the pen). The "cap" of the pen screws on and off and appears to have a primer at its base (image 3 and in my case has a firing pin impression). The top of the cap would be where the tear gas is expelled (image 4), but with the hard plastic coating I don't know if it has been expelled/fired or not). The "cap" of the pen is marked Tear Gas June 1966 and the body of the pen is marked Defender.

Basically all I have found out so far is that it is not a firearm (does not expel a projectile) which came from the ATF Technology Branch.

What I am looking to find out is primarily, do the "cartridges" have to be changed each time they are fired, meaning are they only used once then the "cap" of the pen has to be replaced. Secondly, how do you know if it has been fired? The "cap" seems to have a firing pin impression present, but the hard plastic covering is still present which would seem to indicate it was not fired. Thirdly, where do you find these types of guns and where do you find the replacement "caps".

Thanks,

Andy Smith
FDLE--Orlando Firearms Section

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