Can you trace bullets like fingerprints?

[arnieisblack]

Can someone explain it to me how the police can trace bullets like fingerprints? And can you do it without the actual gun? Reason I'm asking is b/c in No Country For Old Men, lewelyn has a rifle and he's t he g ood guy,kinda. So why would he have a rifle to fight the bad guys when it could trace back to him? Many movies are like this.

 

[Leo123]

As I understand it, from being a TV detective, they can match 2 bullets by the rifling marks they leave on the bullets. That way they can tell the bullets came from the same gun but, without the gun they can't trace those bullets back to the gun that fired them. Unless there is some 'rifling' data base I don't know about. Criminals use stolen guns that can't be traced to them typically.

 

[arnieisblack]

So how could the Coen Bros not know that? Is this a fairly new advanced thing? That movie came out about a decade ago or so? Not really sure, how do you explain on movies when the good guy is killing people with a registered gun? now if it's something like Goodfellas they would be using illegal guns anyways.

 

[OhPleaseJustQuit]

As I understand it, from being a TV detective, they can match 2 bullets by the rifling marks they leave on the bullets. That way they can tell the bullets came from the same gun but, without the gun they can't trace those bullets back to the gun that fired them. Unless there is some 'rifling' data base I don't know about. Criminals use stolen guns that can't be traced to them typically.

You're a TV detective?

 

[Leo123]

So how could the Coen Bros not know that? Is this a fairly new advanced thing? That movie came out about a decade ago or so? Not really sure, how do you explain on movies when the good guy is killing people with a registered gun? now if it's something like Goodfellas they would be using illegal guns anyways.

In the movies the 'good guy' is killing in self defense or, is killing a perp so bad, no one cares......I guess....

 

[Leo123]

You're a TV detective?

Not what I meant. I meant I get my detective knowledge from TV and movies. I am not a real detective.

 

[OhPleaseJustQuit]

Not what I meant. I meant I get my detective knowledge from TV and movies. I am not a real detective.

Dang! I was going to ask if you could get me Columbo's autograph.

 

[Baron Von Murderpaws]

Some bullets........depending on the manufacturer............can have engraved numbers on them and are tracable back to who bought that particular package with that bullet in it.

Some ammo has stamped images that are the copyright of the manufacturer, and can be traced through that line.

But I'd say most ammo has to be traced back to the weapon that used it, as every gun leaves different markings on the bullets when fired.

Or so I've been told.

 

[Leo123]

Dang! I was going to ask if you could get me Columbo's autograph.

No......But.......'Just one more question'

 

[johngaltshrugged]

Can someone explain it to me how the police can trace bullets like fingerprints? And can you do it without the actual gun? Reason I'm asking is b/c in No Country For Old Men, lewelyn has a rifle and he's t he g ood guy,kinda. So why would he have a rifle to fight the bad guys when it could trace back to him? Many movies are like this.

The only rifle I recall him using was against the antelope at the very beginning.
You can match ballistics through the rifling (twisting) of the barrel of the rifle but that wasn't applicable since it was used for hunting purposes only.

Otherwise, he bought & used a shotgun.
A rifle is different than a sho gun in that here are no ballistic matches on shotgun pellets because there is no rifling of the barrel to make the necessary markings.

 

[Concerned American]

So how could the Coen Bros not know that? Is this a fairly new advanced thing? That movie came out about a decade ago or so? Not really sure, how do you explain on movies when the good guy is killing people with a registered gun? now if it's something like Goodfellas they would be using illegal guns anyways.

It all depends on how deformed the bullet is, but the forensic examination of bullets and matching them to the firearm used has been used for at least forty years. But, as Leo said, if they don't have the gun, they can't match it.

 

[OhPleaseJustQuit]

Is the new sock planning on shooting somebody?

 

[arnieisblack]

Yeah but in the movie he did fire at the bad guy towards the end of the movie. Didn't he know the police could track it? They wouldn't just not care b/c it's a bad villain, they still do their job. At least most cops do.

 

[JGalt]

Can someone explain it to me how the police can trace bullets like fingerprints? And can you do it without the actual gun? Reason I'm asking is b/c in No Country For Old Men, lewelyn has a rifle and he's t he g ood guy,kinda. So why would he have a rifle to fight the bad guys when it could trace back to him? Many movies are like this.

I always cast my bullets out of ice, so they melt and can't be traced back to me.

Sometimes I put cherry-flavored Kool-Aid in them, so I can suck on them when I'm not shooting people.

File:WaySniper5.jpg - Internet Movie Firearms Database - Guns in Movies, TV and Video Games

 

[arnieisblack]

It all depends on how deformed the bullet is, but the forensic examination of bullets and matching them to the firearm used has been used for at least forty years. But, as Leo said, if they don't have the gun, they can't match it.

HBO doc that came out in 2017 said they don't need the gun.

 

[Concerned American]

Can someone explain it to me how the police can trace bullets like fingerprints? And can you do it without the actual gun? Reason I'm asking is b/c in No Country For Old Men, lewelyn has a rifle and he's t he g ood guy,kinda. So why would he have a rifle to fight the bad guys when it could trace back to him? Many movies are like this.

Didn't Benicio Del Toro use some kind of compressed air rig to kill the first victims in that movie?

 

[evenflow1969]

Can someone explain it to me how the police can trace bullets like fingerprints? And can you do it without the actual gun? Reason I'm asking is b/c in No Country For Old Men, lewelyn has a rifle and he's t he g ood guy,kinda. So why would he have a rifle to fight the bad guys when it could trace back to him? Many movies are like this.

Can't be traced back to the rifle with out taking samples of bullets from the rifle.

 

[Leo123]

I always cast my bullets out of ice, so they melt and can't be traced back to me.

Sometimes I put cherry-flavored Kool-Aid in them, so I can suck on them when I'm not shooting people.

File:WaySniper5.jpg - Internet Movie Firearms Database - Guns in Movies, TV and Video Games

What about glass bullets?

 

[JGalt]

Didn't Benicio Del Toro use some kind of compressed air rig to kill the first victims in that movie?

No, Benicio Del Toro was "The Collector" in Guardians of the Galaxy. I think.

 

[OhPleaseJustQuit]

Can't be traced back to the rifle with out taking samples of bullets from the rifle.

Thinks he came up with something profound.