>>64210394I'd guess they'd be able to get an approximation of the pellet size used, if it was steel or lead, etc. I don't know if anyone could tell a 12 gauge from a .410 unless they were able to recover all of the pellets, which might be unlikely depending on the area, even then I'd guess minishells or handloads would be a curveball. Obviously if you keep the shell after firing they don't have that to work off of, which is easy to do with a break action or pump or if you got some brass catcher set up. I'd guess they'd be able to tell if the barrel was rifled or smooth bore depending on the shot pattern.
>>64210394>How much forensic evidence do shotguns leave?Fake CSI: show forensics? Same as a rifle. They know how many cells are in your pinkie finger now.Real forensics? Same as a rifle. They have reason to believe a firearm may have been used.
>>64210394>>64210482>>64210514there will also be a lot of dna evidence of the victim. potentially in many places.also the coroner will have an approximate distance and estimated height of the shooter based upon the direction of the shot travel and primary wound location. the closer the distance, the more accurate the estimate.obviously there would also be reports from the neighbors of the approximate time they heard the shotgun being fired. yes, they heard the shotgun being fired. the sound from the shotgun does count as forensic evidence even if it's not that valuable.any residual powder residue will make the shooters location fairly obvious at the time of the event, this does include if the shooter has distance. also the wad is rarely picked up when policing your brass but it most definitely counts as forensic evidence. now that I think about it, I'm a little surprised nobody ever talks about putting identifying markers on the wad. without question it will be relatively intact. a custom or reloaded round would definitely have potential forensic evidence on the wad.
>>64210482shotguns shoot out a plastic wad that holds all the shot, so it's actually trivially easy to figure out what gauge of shotgun your attacker used, unless they take the time to pick it up when they are done.You would know this if you had ever shot a shotgun.
>>64210394
>>64210807It's even possible to draw reasonable conclusions about what gauge was used without a wad if buckshot is involved. Buckshot size and pellet count is a math problem: packing spheres in a cylinder. Certain size combinations work and others don't. For example you will not find 000 in a 20ga. Also, if someone finds a wad they can tell the approximate shot size from the impressions it leaves behind in the plastic, what kind of shot it was, and likely the brand of the shell as well. Big name ammo makers use proprietary wads, and the wads vary by the type of shell too. A Winchester AA target shell has a very different wad than a Winchester pheasant load.
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