The Examination & Comparison of Cartridges, Cartridge Cases, Shotshells & Fired Shotshells

During this course, students will examine marks produced by various firearms on cartridges, cartridge cases, shotshells and fired shotshells. Striated and impressed marks from both cycling and firing a firearm will be examined and their probative value will be discussed. Although the class focuses on the marks routinely encountered in casework (breechface marks, firing pin impressions, chamber marks, ejection port marks, extractor marks, ejector marks and magazine marks), many less common marks will also be examined and compared. The firearms used to produce many of the exemplars will be available for students to examine. The evaluation of class, individual, and potential subclass characteristics will be addressed, and options for the wording of casework reports will be discussed.

Comparison & stereo microscopes, projector/screen for PPT.