Citation

Marini F, Carolo F, Radin S, Dagradi V, Mangiante G, Giarolli M, Tenci A, Massari S, Tosi D, Merico G. Chir. Ital. 1993; 45(1-6): 161-168.

Vernacular Title

Lettura biomeccanico-clinica della ferita d'arma da fuoco. Problematica generale

Affiliation

Istituto di Patologia Speciale Chirurgica e Propedeutica Clinica, Università di Verona.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1993, Societa Italiana di Chirurgia, Publisher Istituto per la Diffusione di Opere Scientifiche)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

7923489

Abstract

Any discussion of firearms which failed to take due account of the complex interaction between the weapon and its user would be missing the point. This interaction takes on a major role, particularly in the case of military ordinance weapons; their "optimal" use demands the maximum control of this interaction, which is of the utmost importance for the tactical role of the soldier-weapon system. The use of the latest long-barrelled ordinance firearms is more acceptable precisely because of their smaller calibre (which also means reduced interaction with the user). Today the traditional primacy of the long-barrelled weapon (now getting progressively shorter) is threatened by the short-barrelled gun cartridge, which we have seen used on an extensively scale in recent militia warfare. Paradoxically, it is precisely this cartridge, whose main shortcoming is its low propellant content (and thus reduced kinetic energy) which is expected to provide the kind of killing performance capable of snuffing out even "the dead man's last five seconds".