Ricochet of AK bullets (7.62 MM X 39 MM) on glazed ceramic tiles: An empirical study in support of shooting incident reconstructions

Ricochet of 9 mm pistol bullets on glazed ceramic tiles: An empirical study in support of shooting incident reconstruction

“…The critical angle for the floor tiles was calculated to be 14.8 degrees, at which the bullet fragments on impact. The critical angle observed was slightly higher than the critical angle of 7.62 × 39 mm rifle bullets (10 degrees) on floor tiles in a previous ricochet study [10]. The ricochet angles generally complied with the current understanding of bullet ricochet on frangible and non‐yielding surfaces, where the ricochet angle tends to be less than the angle of incidence [2].…”

“…The experiment was designed to be as realistic as possible, so a Browning HP pistol was used instead of a 9 mm test barrel. Similar to a previous study [10], the tile samples used for the experiments were securely fixed onto concrete blocks using the standard masonry practice to give the bullets a more realistic impact.…”

“…It can be explained as a glancing rebound of fired projectiles off surfaces and is affected by various factors [1], including the ricochet surface type and its reaction, bullet angle of incidence, bullet type, shape and construction, and impact velocity are some of the main factors responsible for the ricochet behaviors of bullets [2]. Although existing literature presents theoretical explanations of how a bullet is generally expected to behave when ricocheting off different surface types [2, 3], recent studies have highlighted empirical results as the most viable source to understand the ricochet behavior and surface evidence of different bullet target combinations [4–11]. Further, these studies have reported novel findings related to ricochet angles and ricochet evidence of commonly reported bullet target combinations.…”

“…Moreover, these studies have presented novel ricochet marks on different surfaces with potential forensic value. “Double‐headed ricochet marks” on sheet metal [4] and “nucleus bullet impact marks” on ceramic tiles [10] are some of the interesting highlights of these studies, demonstrating the significant variability of ricochet evidence on different surface types.…”

“…In practice, these empirical findings are regularly used for ricochet‐related scene reconstructions by shooting investigators. Ricochet analyses are performed for this purpose during shooting reconstructions to understand the pre‐and post‐trajectories of ricocheted bullets or even the possibility of bullets ricocheting during a shooting incident, alongside analysis of the available physical evidence [10]. As most bullet ricochet incidents occur rapidly during shooting incidents (unexpectedly or unintentionally), eyewitnesses usually have different accounts of such incidents, depending on their observations and overall understanding [2].…”