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Study finds less than 1.2 percent error rate in matching bullets fired from Glock semiautomatic pistol barrels to the actual firearm.

How is Ballistic Evidence Used in Court? Any bullets left at the scene of a crime are collected by investigators and analyzed by forensic ballistics experts. These analysts examine rifling in the spent bullet, which can help identify the firearmor at least the type of firearmused in the commission of the crime.

If investigators recover bullets or cartridge cases from a crime scene, forensic examiners can test-fire a suspect's gun to see if it produces ballistic fingerprints that match the evidence.A fired bullet with rifling impressions from the barrel of a gun (left). A fired cartridge case and fired bullet (right).

To match a bullet to a particular firearm the examiner looks for two criteria using comparison microscopy: class characteristics and individual characteristics. Class characteristics are measurable features of a specimen that indicate a restricted group source.

A barrel will produce individual markings in addition to a bullet's land and groove impressions as the bullet passes through, and it is these unique markings that an examiner evaluates to determine whether a given bullet was fired from a particular firearm.

The bullet as in projectile fired from a gun? No. The only way a projectile can be traced back to a particular firearm is if a recovered projectile is in a mostly intact condition. It can be slightly deformed at the tip, but the base and shank must be intact for microscopic comparison.

The science of projectiles and firearms is defined as 'ballistics' and it can be divided into three distinct categories: internal, external and terminal.