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GSR (Gunshot Residue)

Definition

Primer-combustion products (classically lead-barium-antimony compounds, now also non-lead formulations) deposited on the bone surface at close or contact range; detected by SEM-EDX analysis and used as an independent range indicator complementing the osteological morphological findings.

Related terms

Bearing Surface Diameter
The diameter of the projectile face in contact with the bone surface at the moment of impact; smaller than the resulting defect...
Contact Wound
A firearm wound produced when the muzzle is pressed against or within a few centimetres of the target surface. Characterised by a...
External Beveling
The cone-shaped defect geometry at an exit gunshot wound in bone: the inner table diameter (entry face of the defect) is smaller...
Internal Beveling
The cone-shaped defect geometry at an entrance gunshot wound in bone: the outer table diameter (entry face) is smaller than the inner...
Keyhole Defect
An asymmetric gunshot defect produced by a projectile striking bone at a shallow angle; one end shows a conventional beveled entry geometry...
Puppe's Rule
The 1994 formalisation of the principle that radial fractures from a subsequent gunshot terminate at fracture lines already produced by a prior...
Secondary Projectile
A bone fragment or other material driven at high velocity through adjacent tissue by the primary projectile's passage through bone; produces irregular,...
Stellate Fracture
A set of radial cracks extending outward from the main gunshot defect, produced by compressed propellant gas pressure radiating under the scalp...
Trajectory Reconstruction
The forensic procedure that integrates the osteological bevel direction, angle-of-impact estimate, and the physical scene evidence to reconstruct the relative positions of...

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