Forensic firearms examiners and anyone interested in firearms will find this book a useful reference text. Various chapters cover firearms development and history, pressure, canting, proof and proofmarks, interrupted firings, exterior ballistics, intermediate ballistics and recoil.

This book aims to be the definitive text on gunshot residue (GSR) analysis for forensic scientists, lawyers and academics. It is part of the 'Current Methods in…' series and is intended by its authors to bridge the gap between increasing awareness of GSR analysis as a powerful forensic technique, and the lack of comprehensive literature on the subject. The authors begin by discussing the significance of GSR evidence before presenting a classification scheme. A detailed description of the most important method for analysing GSR, scanning electron microscopy energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM/EDS), forms the majority of Chapter 3. Chapter 4 details a study of "plume" concentrations while Chapter 5 is devoted to an overview of the types of firearm most commonly available. In the final chapter, the authors put forward some guidelines for note-taking, report writing and acting as an expert witness.

The technical aspects of firearms are covered, from their development to their effects on the target, and their legal status is discussed. Useful comments are made in the parts dealing with work at the scene of crime and at the post-mortem. A section on comparison microscopy is included in the chapter on the laboratory examination of exhibits. The presentation of evidence comes towards the end of the book with advice to new witnesses. The final sections contain information on proof marks, date codes and manufacturer¼s codes. Each chapter ends with a list of further reading and the text is supported by some 140 photographs. The book will be of particular value as an aid to those training in the forensic examination of firearms.

Buy it

Written by the nation's foremost authority on gunshot wounds and forensic techniques as they relate to firearm injuries, this book provides critical information on gunshot wounds and the weapons and ammunition used to inflict them. The author describes practical aspects of ballistics; wound ballistics; the classification of various wounds caused by handguns, rifles and shotguns; autopsy technique and practice; and laboratory evidence relating to weapons and gunshot evidence.

Please note this book is also listed under Forensic Medicine

Buy it

Firearms technology is explained in language easily understood by the layman and there are useful glossaries, both at the end of each section and forming the final chapter. The author establishes the basis on which bullets and cartridges can be matched to the gun in which they were fired, and he attempts to establish a mathematical proof for the individuality of marks made by firing, by way of a helpful analogy. Some techniques, which are infrequently encountered are discussed, as are some that have been mostly discarded, together with an explanation for their demise. This book will provide an interesting read for firearms enthusiasts and it could be helpful to police officers, barristers, the judiciary and forensic scientists from other disciplines who seek to learn about the general principals behind forensic firearms examination.

Buy it