Forensic ballistics is concerned with analysing bullets and firearms that have been used in crimes. Whilst it is not always possible to offer a 100% guarantee that a bullet came from a specific gun, it is relatively easy to identify the manufacturer if nothing else.

Rifling 

Identification of a bullet became possible with the advent of rifling as far back as the 1400s. Rifling is a process of applying grooves to a gun barrel in order to increase the range and accuracy of bullets fired from it. These grooves cause the bullets fired to have distinctive grooves, indentations and scratches upon them. These marks on the bullets are, to a degree, unique to the weapon that fired them.

The first recorded case of firearm identification being used to identify the shooter was back in 1835 here in England. A suspect was caught with a bullet mold in his possession. On examination this mold proved to be an exact match for the bullet removed from his victim. The suspect promptly confessed to the crime.

Oliver Wendell Holmes

In 1902 Oliver Wendell Holmes became the first person to produce ballistics information in a court of law. Having done some reading on firearm identification he used a gunsmith to fire the suspected firearm into cotton wool. This test bullet was then compared to the one recovered from the victim. Under microscope it was proven that both had been fired by the same gun.

Calvin Goddard

Calvin Goddard, an ex army officer, compiled a database of all the guns available from twelve different manufacturers, including test firing data. He later invented the comparison microscope that allowed two bullets to be viewed side by side for ease of examination.

In 1925 Goddard wrote a piece for the “Army Ordnance” in which he described in detail the use of his comparison microscope for firearm investigations. He titled this article “Forensic Ballistics”, a term which has been retained ever since.