An unusual hunting-related death due to a Brenneke® SuperSabot shotgun slug

Abstract

Hunting accidents are a underestimate cause of injuries and death. Brenneke® slugs are the most common used shotgun ammunitions in hunting. A particular type of Brenneke® slug is the SuperSabot, characterized by high speed, high energy and very good precision. Deaths due to a Brenneke® SuperSabot are rarely described in literature. Three hunters were carrying out a wild boar hunting expedition. During the hunting a wild boar suddenly appeared in the middle of the group. The hunter who was behind the group instinctively fired to the beast using a semiautomatic gauge 12 shotgun. The bullet hit the wild boar, made a through-through wound and then hit the hunter who was just ahead the animal, killing him. At the external examination of the beast, an entry wound and an exit wound were found. At the postmortem examination of the hunter, an entry wound, a perforating wound and even an exit wound were identified. After a thorough research, a spent shell wad and a live slug were found, later identified as Brenneke® SuperSabot shotgun slugs. This case highlights the importance of thorough scene investigation and postmortem examination to identify all of weapons and projectiles used, in order to distinguish among homicide, suicide and accident.

Shotgun slug wads as a marker of range of fire: A case report and novel firearm testing data

“…These are heavy solitary projectiles, typically used for hunting big game, with some parallels with bullets used in rifled weapons, but which are packed into a shotshell and are typically intended for use in smooth‐bored firearms. In many instances, the projectile will have grooves on its lateral aspect, which as well as potentially helping to impart a degree of spin around the long axis during its transit down the barrel of the firearm, perhaps more importantly also permits a degree of “give” in a choked barrel [5].…”

“…Although they separated from the slug/sabot sooner, the lightweight wads rarely impacted the target at distances greater than 40 ft (12 m)” [8]. Various other shotgun slug design configurations also exist, including the “Brenneke Super Sabot” slug, which utilizes a sabot‐type system with some similarities to the Remington sabot [5].…”