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Spent brass question in NIB revolver purchase

bnailonbnailon Member Posts: 460 ✭✭✭
edited December 2008 in Ask the Experts
Santa just brought me a new revolver in .44 special. It's nice. Inside the box there's a small brown envelope with a single .44 special spent brass. I know that the the primary purpose of the spent brass is to document that the revolver has been test-fired.

Could it also be that the purpose of the brass is to document that a bullet "fingerprint" scan was taken off of that revolver with lands, grooves, and twist patterns to keep on file at the ATF in case my revolver is stolen at some point and used in the commission of a crime?

I guess I have been watching too much CSI. It's interesting, though.

Thanks in advance.
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Comments

  • nmyersnmyers Member Posts: 16,890 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    No, the fired case has nothing to do with documenting that it has been test fired. It is included because a few states prohibit the sale of new guns without submission of a sealed, fired case that can be used for "ballistic fingerprinting", a pseudo science that has been discredited. Even California, the first state to require this, has dropped the program.

    Neal
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  • dcs shootersdcs shooters Member Posts: 10,870 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Some NAZI states on the east coast require that when you register the handgun, they get a spent case.
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  • bnailonbnailon Member Posts: 460 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    NMyers, ok-- I understand you correctly that the test-firing proof is not the rationale at all. Is it the "ballistic fingerprinting" on the bullet itself that came from this case or is it the fingerprinting done on the case itself?

    Thanks.
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  • Horse Plains DrifterHorse Plains Drifter Forums Admins, Member, Moderator Posts: 40,161 ***** Forums Admin
    edited November -1
    Yes, fingerprinting the case itself. I took mine and turned it into a round bead with my cutting torch.
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  • nmyersnmyers Member Posts: 16,890 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    The techniques you see on CSI are based on science, but are largely science fiction. Unfortunately, some of our politicians have confused science fiction & reality.

    The science of matching fired bullets (projectiles) works pretty well, especially so if you have bullets that aren't deformed.

    The problem that "ballistic fingerprinting" was supposed to solve is the fact that fired cases left at the scene are often the only thing police have to work with. In theory, you catch someone with a gun & match the microscopic defects in the brass & the firing pin produced by the the gun with the brass found at a scene. In theory. In practice, it doesn't work very well. Maryland has had a "ballistic fingerprinting" requirement for 5 years (at an annual cost of $2 million per year), but the "science" has not solved a single crime in the state.

    On the plus side, the "scientists" peddling this snake oil have made several million dollars.

    Neal
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