TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2023//
TI  - The systemic error in the vertical component of handgun bullet trajectory reconstructions
JO  - Journal of forensic sciences
A1  - Kerkhoff, Wim
A1  - Broekhuis, Frits R.
A1  - Mattijssen, Erwin J. A. T.
A1  - Riva, Fabiano
SP  - ePub
EP  - ePub
VL  - ePub
IS  - ePub
N2  - Establishing the path or trajectory of a fired bullet is an often recurring part of shooting incident reconstruction. The current study describes how gravitational pull causes a systemic error on the vertical component of a trajectory reconstruction. Bullet drop, drop angle, and vertical offset are explained and calculated for 10 different handgun/ammunition combinations over a range of distances up to 100 m. The presented results are intended to provide forensic firearm examiners with a reference frame for the magnitude of error introduced on handgun bullet trajectory reconstructions over distance. Threshold values of 20 and 30 m are proposed as conservative distances up to where bullet trajectories can be modeled as straight lines with subsonic/transonic handgun bullets and with supersonic handgun bullets respectively. Both the bullet drop and vertical offset will be below 5 cm at these distances for those categories. The drop angle will be below 0.3°.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0022-1198
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1556-4029.15431
ID  - ref1
ER  -