Smoothbore
Definition
An unrifled barrel with no spiral grooves. Gives little or no stria on a fired projectile, which makes comparison microscopy of country-made bullets unreliable.
- Barrel feature
- No spiral grooves cut into the bore
- Effect on projectile
- Little or no striae imparted
- Consequence
- Unreliable comparison microscopy for country-made bullets
Common questions
Why are many country-made firearms smoothbore?+
Improvised or artisanal manufacture, as with kattas and tamanchas, typically lacks the tooling needed to cut rifling grooves, so the resulting barrel is smooth rather than rifled.
What alternative evidence helps identify a smoothbore firearm?+
Breech-face and firing-pin marks left on the cartridge case can still individualise the weapon even when the barrel itself leaves little useful marking on the projectile.
Related terms
- Arms Act 1959
- Principal Indian statute regulating manufacture, possession, transport and sale of firearms and ammunition. Possession of an unlicensed country-made firearm is punishable under...
- Country-Made Firearm
- An illicitly manufactured firearm, fabricated in unlicensed cottage workshops without quality control, typically smoothbore and chambered loosely. Generic Indian umbrella for katta,...
- Katta
- Single-shot crude pistol, usually.315 or 12 bore, with a break-action or screw-plug breech and a nail-head striking pin. Dominant illicit firearm in...
- Mikrosil Casting
- Two-part silicone casting compound used to make a negative replica of a chamber, breech face or tool-mark. Standard at Indian CFSL ballistics...
- Obturation
- The gas-sealing function of the cartridge case during firing, in which the case wall expands outward under propellant pressure to seal the...
- Pipe-Gun
- Single-shot improvised firearm built from a steel water pipe as the barrel and a sliding sleeve as the firing mechanism. Used as...
- Tamancha
- Generic Urdu / Hindi term for a small improvised pistol. Often used interchangeably with katta in case papers and FIRs.