THE CHEMISTRY OF DEATH BY GUNSHOT

When a firearm is discharged, a complex series of events takes place w ithin an interval of approximately 1 millisecond. Many of these events are associated with chemical as opposed to mechanical processes, and an understanding of these processes, and of the materials involved in these processes, may be of value in the reconstruction of the factual circumstances at the instant of discharge. These chemical processes in clude the formation of uprange and downrange gunshot residues of sever al diverse sorts. Proper analysis and interpretation of gunshot residu es and other components of ammunition may provide useful information i n the investigation of shooting incidents.