ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with what takes place when the bullet, missile, or shotgun pellets strike the target, which can constitute living tissue or some other material. During this brief period of interaction the missile tends to suffer some degree of deformation, or disintegrates, and the target is pierced or otherwise damaged. The degree of destruction which takes place is dependent upon the mass of the projectile, its striking velocity, its design and construction and the nature of the target. Much has been written upon what a bullet or shot charge will do upon a human target, even to the degree of stating the precise volume of the anticipated temporary cavity or the quantity of haemorrhagic tissue which will be found within the wound track for each unit of kinetic energy expended by the bullet. However, over the years I have seen so many atypical or, some would say, freak effects, that I would hesitate to predict exactly how a missile will perform beyond stating generalisms. The human body is not a homogeneous block of material such as that typified by a block of 10% ordnance gelatine. In reality it contains hard bones exhibiting curved surfaces which can deflect a bullet or cause it to break up at velocity levels where one would expect penetration. Fatty tissue or liver will not offer the same resistance as would muscle. The lungs constitute a cavity within the body filled with air, which, in contrast to the tissue surrounding it, is compressible. On top of all this there is an overlying tendency for the unexpected to happen during these extremely brief, sometimes high-energy change interactions, which at times has caused me to wonder what exactly constitutes normality. A bullet can be deflected off a rib on a person’s back so it is directed along a circular path in the tissue covering the rib cage leaving the victim with a relatively trivial injury. A bullet can be deflected or break up on striking a relatively modest item of screening cover interposed between the firer and the intended victim, or some article inside a pocket of the coat worn by the victim. A heavy sheepskin coat and sweater can greatly reduce the lethal capabilities of a charge of birdshot fired from a shotgun even from a relatively short distance. A man can die after being struck by a lowenergy air rifle pellet, if it chances to strike a vulnerable exposed part of his body, while another man can survive extensive injuries to the body and head inflicted by a highpowered rifle or sawn-off shotgun.
