ABSTRACT
Internal ballistics concerns what happens within a time span of in the region of 2 ms between the impact of the firing pin or striker and the exit of the bullet or shot charge from the muzzle end of the barrel. This short span of time has profound implications for the forensic scientist. I have also decided to include within this chapter the consequences of events immediately before and after this prestated time span within the firearm. As previously stated, all modern firearms are, in reality, heat engines of Victorian design. They burn a fuel within them to produce a momentary emission of extreme heat and high pressure gases. The energy so released is utilised to accelerate a single missile or a number of projectiles down the barrel to exit from the muzzle at high velocity. The kinetic energy of the bullet or missiles so discharged is a function of their velocity, and in turn is a manifestation of a portion of the energy released by the powder charge.
