ISSN: 0022-1198
CODEN: JFSCA
Published Online: 1 January 1977
Page Count: 9

Rifle Wounds from High Velocity, Center-Fire Hunting Ammunition
Zumwalt, RE
Medical examiner and assistant medical examiner, Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences, Tex.

DiMaio, VJM
Medical examiner and assistant medical examiner, Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences, Tex.

(Received 14 May 1976; accepted 28 May 1976)

Abstract

Wounds from high velocity, center-fire rifles are relatively uncommon. Such wounds are markedly different from those caused by handguns or .22 rim-fire rifles. Injuries from pistol or .22 rim-fire rifle bullets are confined to tissue and organs directly in the wound track. In contrast, high velocity rifle bullets can injure structures without actually contacting them. Discussion of rifle wounds in the medical literature is concerned almost exclusively with injuries from military ammunition [1–3]. Wounds encountered by medical examiners, however, almost always involve hunting ammunition, whose design and construction is radically different from that of military ammunition. Because of these differences, the wounds produced by hunting ammunition are much more devastating.

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Paper ID: JFS10376J
DOI: 10.1520/JFS10376J
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