Rifling Data Search 8

Rifling Data Search 8 is the latest version of the rifling search database application for Microsoft Access 2000, XP, 2003, or 2007.

This version updates the data to include all data contained in the 2008 FBI GRC release.

If you are a firearm examiner and don't have access to the new federally released database you may find this database very helpful in casework.  However, this application is not being released publicly. 

Please submit a request for this application via the Help Desk.  

If you are not a Firearm and Toolmark Examiner DO NOT BOTHER ASKING FOR THIS APPLICATION.  I will not respond unless I can verify you work in the discipline.

I reserve the right to limit the availability of this database application.  All requests will be considered but I cannot guarantee your request will be approved.

Delivery of the database will be via an approximately 2.6 MB downloadable .exe file or .zip file.


It was fun while it lasted!

Welcome to FirearmsID.com!  Things around here have been a little slow for the last few months.  On July 31st, 2007 I retired from my Firearm and Toolmark Examiner position with the Kentucky State Police.  Having worked 28 1/2 years I decided I needed a break.  So for the last six or seven months I've sort of been on what I refer to as my self-imposed sabbatical, laying around the house, painting, cleaning out the garage, doing yard work and playing a bunch of golf.  Man, what a life!

In doing so I've sort of taken a break from this website.  I've tried to answer all help tickets over the period and kept the site running along but I've not spent much time trying to add new content.  There's a lot here already if you've taken the time to look around!  In addition to this site I am also the webmaster for the Association of Firearm and Toolmark Examiners (AFTE) and a member and webmaster of the Scientific Working Group on Firearms (SWGGUN).  So it's not like I've had a lot of idle time on my hands!

Anyway, after having run out of things to do around the house I started to miss working in FirearmsID and I decided to go back to work.  So, Monday, March 3rd, I start my new career working for the Kentucky State Police as a Firearms and Toolmark Examiner.  Yeah, can you believe it?  They actually wanted me back! 

I'm really looking forward to getting back into case work and working for the Kentucky State Police! With the new job and my return to the Firearm and Toolmarks discipline I hope to start adding new content to the site soon.

So, there you have it!  It was fun while it lasted!

Scott Doyle
 


RIFLING BY FLOW FORMING
by BARIŞ GÜN and ILHAN GÜVEL

"Flow forming of a barrel can be described as a special application of forward flow forming which is used to form grooves and lands inside the barrel while also forming outside of the barrel."

"In rifling by flow forming, a barrel preform over a special mandrel containing reverse image of desired grooves and lands are flow formed by rollers. During the process, the barrel material flows in axial and radial directions. Axial flow elongates the barrel and radial flow forms the rifling."

Read More...


New Server!

Since our recent move to the new web host there have been some lingering problems with a few sections of the website.  Two pretty big issues have (we hope) been cleared up.

  1. The search features on the site are now back up and running.  In addition to the overall site search engine located in the upper right corner of all pages we have three online data search engines for you to utilize:
  2. Also, we have had issues with email sent from our server to some email accounts.  Primarily affected were Hotmail, MSN, and Live mail users.  We somehow got placed on a spam list and these services were blocking our mail.  This was particularly troublesome for individuals registering to use our Resource Area.  This too should now be fixed!

We continue to try to identify any problems on the site, hopefully now the biggest problems are out of the way.  Please be sure to let us know if you run into any problems using the resources on FirearmsID.com!

Thanks- Scott Doyle and Erik Dahlberg


Firearm Owner's Manuals

A new resource for firearm examiners, students and gun enthusiasts has been added to the resource area.  Over 700 firearm manuals provided by manufacturers and other sources! 

Manuals allow you to understand both safety and functional aspects of your firearms.  Also, most will provide parts schematics in case you need a specific part to repair a firearm.

Login and view the manuals!


 
Examiners of the World

Meet Zolzaya who works in National Center of Forensic Investigation of Ministry Justice and Home Affairs of Mongolia. Zolzaya has been a firearms examiner for 10 years.

His laboratory was founded in 1954 year and employs four examiners.  The lab is located in Ulaanbaatar city.  Zolzaya writes, "Ulaanbaatar is capital city of Mongolia.  I think you know that Mongolia is situated Central Asia between Russia and China. We are examine firearms, bullets, and cartridge cases that have been found at crime scenes or seized from suspects or criminals".

If you are a firearm examiner from outside the USA and would like to say hello to the world, send your picture to FirearmsID.com and you may be the next featured "
Examiner of the World"!


THE VALENTINE DAY MASSACRE: A STUDY IN AMMUNITION-TRACING

by CALVIN H. GODDARD

At about 10:30 A.M. on the morning of February 14th, 1929, seven men were gathered in the garage of the S.M.C. Cartage Company at 2122 North Clark Street, Chicago. Five of these were known as members of the so-called "Bugs" Moran gang; one was an automobile mechanic who worked upon the various motor cars which the "gang" used in gaining an honest livelihood, and one was an optometrist who found excitement in associating with gentlemen reported to be "tough" and in boasting of this to his friends. On this particular day, he was destined to meet with more excitement than he had bargained for.

Read More...


The Manufacture of Smokeless Powders and their Forensic Analysis: A Brief Review

"Smokeless powders are a class of propellants that were developed in the late 19th century to replace black powder. FIGURE 1: Image showing drawings of 6 shapes--a perforated disk, a disc, a tube, a rod, a ball, and a lamel.The term smokeless refers to the minimal residue left in the gun barrel following the use of smokeless powder. In forensic analysis, smokeless powders are often encountered as organic gunshot residue or as the explosive charge in improvised explosive devices."  

 

Read More...



Murder in the Museum!

Investigate a mysterious crime!

Monday 9.15 am. Our director has been discovered murdered in his office. What happened and why?

Mission: Play the part of the investigator. Subject the crime scene to a thorough analysis. Enter a professional laboratory and follow the traces (objects, prints, blood stains, corpse…).

Read More...


 

National Museum of the Marine Corps Tour

I am a member of the Scientific Working Group for Firearms and Toolmarks (SWGGUN.org) and have just returned from our fall meeting.  SWGGUN is just one of the many scientific working groups sponsored by the FBI.  We meet twice a year to discuss issues related to the discipline of Firearm and Toolmark Identification.  Our fall meeting was held in Stafford, Virginia which sits just outside the US Marine base located in Quantico, Virginia.

Lucky for us the new National Museum of the Marine Corps had just been completed and opened to the public on November 10, 2006.  So, on November 15, 2006 the other SWGGUN committee members and I had the pleasure to tour the new US Marine Corps Museum located in Quantico, Virginia. 

Read More...


 

Cambodian Street Gangs : A Case Study of Six Crime-Guns in Stockton

"Stockton is California’s 12th largest city with a population of approximately 280,000. It consists of 56 square miles along the Interstate 5 / 99 corridors. Stockton is a multi-ethnic city and is home to a large Hispanic and Southeast Asian population. Between December 1999 and November 2003, a very productive partnership was nurtured between the Stockton Police NIBIN Lab, various Investigative Units within the Stockton Police Department and a California Department of Justice Forensic Laboratory.  IBIS Specialists at the Stockton Police NIBIN Lab worked in collaboration with Stockton Investigators and forensic experts at the California Department of Justice, Bureau of Forensic Services in Ripon, using IBIS and the NIBIN database to cultivate actionable intelligence from test fires from recovered firearms and a collection of various items of ballistics evidence. The work focused on an abhorrent series of violent crimes that were committed by Cambodian street gangs."

Read the full publication prepared by Forensic Technology in collaboration with the Stockton Police Department



The Scientific Foundations of Firearms and Tool Mark Identification, A Response to Recent Challenges

Recently, an article was published in The Columbia Science and Technology Law Review entitled “A Systemic Challenge to the Reliability and Admissibility of Firearms and Toolmark Identification."  Distinguished AFTE Member Ron Nichols has written a critical review of this article. 

Read his review and view a PowerPoint Summary. 



Shotshell Component Search

Do you want to find out who makes a shotshell with a copper slug?  Or one that uses plastic wadding?  Now you can search through over 500 shotshells for those features and more!  Pictures of the sectioned shotshell and headstamps are included.


Shotshell Component Search



Bullet Basics and Bullet Search 2006

Two new additions to firearmsID.com feature information related to the identification bullets.  For the novice, start with the short tutorial that describes the basic shapes and materials used in the manufacture of bullets.  Be sure to take the quiz at the end!

For the more advanced, be sure to check the new Bullet Search 2006 application.  Search a database of over 1100 known bullet types with data from your "unknown" bullet.  It may help you narrow down your bullet's caliber and manufacturer.

Bullet Basics 

Bullet Search 2006




School Stats on FirearmsID.com

Over 140 high schools and colleges are now using the classroom features of FirearmsID.com to teach their students the basics of comparison microscopy and forensic firearm identification.  Visit a new "stats" page to see how your school is doing or to see the "top 10" schools training future forensic firearm examiners!

"School Stats on FirearmsID.com"


Hi-Point Video Illustration

Click here to se the Video!If you have visited the Graphic Libraries in the Resource Area you probably have seen the Hi-Point 3D illustrations.  We have taken these illustrations and created a little movie that describes the components and operation of the Hi-Point Pistol.  Click the button on the right to view this FLASH movie!

Visit the Graphic Libraries!