ABSTRACT
This chapter describes common characteristics of handgun and rifle wounds. When a handgun or rifle is discharged, flame, smoke, a bullet, and burned and unburned powder exit the barrel. Gunshot wounds exhibit different appearances that depend on the proximity of the weapon to the target and the bullet's direction of travel. Most entrance wounds are surrounded by reddish zones of abraded skin, regardless of firing distance. This is referred to as a margin abrasion. When the muzzle of a gun is held against a body at the time of firing, gas, soot, powder, and metallic particles from the bullet are forced into the wound track with the bullet. As a bullet travels through a body, it may tumble, deform as it strikes objects, or tumble and deform, in which case the exit wound will often appear larger and more irregular than an entrance wound.
