Experimental simulation of reentry shots using a skin-gelatine composite model.

A bullet that has passed in and out of one body segment may continue its way into another part of the body causing a second entrance ("reentry") wound, which is often said to have an atypical and sometimes confusing appearance. To analyze this problem in a systematical approach, 9-mm Parabellum full metal-jacketed projectiles were fired at skin-gelatine composite models simulating the consecutive passage of a bullet through two parts of a body. When there was a distance between the two segments, the primary exit and the reentry skin wounds did not show any distinctive features differing from usual gunshot injuries.

Textile fibres along the bullet path--experimental study on a skin-gelatine composite model.

In the past, the presence of textile fibres in the bullet track of gunshot injuries in body regions covered with clothes was used to differentiate between entrance and exit wounds; as with handguns, a displacement of textile fibres was considered possible only in the direction of the shot. In the present study, the transfer of textile fibres from the entrance and exit regions into the bullet path was systematically investigated with the help of a skin-gelatine composite model. For this purpose, the skin of the bullet entrance and exit region was covered with textile fabric (jeans or jersey material), before conducting four test series of ten test shots each firing a 9-mm Parabellum full-jacketed projectile from a distance of 2 m.