Identifying the distance of the shot on the shot spread, when shooting cartridges equipped with wad containers
Authors:   Saratov State Law Academy, Voronkov Leonid Yu. 
Published: June 2022

Introduction. Most often, in cases of crimes related to the use of firearms, in addition to establishing that an object belongs to a firearm and resolving the issue of its serviceability and suitability for shooting, it is necessary to solve other non-identification tasks, such as establishing the direction and distance of the shot. As a rule, these two tasks are set together and the identification of such significant data as the distance of the shot and the angle at which the gunshot damage was inflicted allows us to give a correct criminal-legal assessment of the events that occurred. In this work, the results obtained by the A. F. Lisitsyn nomogram were compared with the real data obtained when shooting cartridges, factory equipment with wad containers. Experimental part. The experiment was conducted in a closed shooting range, targets made of 1 mm thick metal sheets, chipboard and wallpaper were selected. The shooting was carried out from three distances: 5, 10, 15 meters; half of the targets were located at an angle of 90 degrees, the second half was placed at an angle of 75 degrees. A total of 54 shots were fired: 18 shots at targets made of wallpaper, 18 shots at metal sheets and 18 shots at chipboard. The weapon used in the experiment was a copy of the IZH-27M 12-caliber hunting rifle. The shooting was carried out from the upper barrel with a muzzle narrowing “choke” with cartridges of the Russian company “NPF “AZOT” the model “Azot Russian Hunter B/K”. Discussion of results. The obtained results of the scattering diameters of shot spread were used to determine the distance of the shot using the A. F. Lisitsyn nomogram. The calculated intervals of distances were compared with the actual shooting distances. The results of the comparison show that the values of the intervals of the shot distance obtained by the A. F. Lisitsyn nomogram give a significant error – the actual values of the shot distance are about a third greater than the upper limit of the interval of the shot distance determined by the A. F. Lisitsyn nomogram. According to the results of the study, a proprietary nomogram was derived to determine the shot distance from the traces of shot spread. Conclusions. If there is a trace of the wad container, to determine the distance of the shot, it is better not to use the Lisitsyn nomogram, but to build an experimental dependence of the maximum and minimum values of the diameters of the shot spread at specific distances for a gun from the scene of the incident or a similar model of weapon. There is a need to improve and update currently existing methodological research, since the use of outdated information hinders the rational implementation of the tasks assigned to forensic ballistics. It is necessary to conduct research to establish the firing distance of a poly projectile when using a weapon with a specific drilling of the Lancaster barrel bore. The latest developments in the weapons industry – such models as the TR 366 TKM with a “Paradox” type barrel drill, in which a 366 TKM shotgun cartridge with an oval capsule for a police squad can be used, require further improvement of methods for establishing the distance of the shot.