Purpose of S&W's spent shell casing???

NOTPARS

I recently purchased a Smith and Wesson Model 66, (.357 magnum in 4 inch) revolver. It came with a dirty cylinder and a spent .357 shell casing. I e-mailed Smith to thank them for testing the gun for me but I would have appreciated it had they cleaned it and what was up with the shell casing? Smith e-mailed me and said the cylinder was left dirty to show me that they had tested it. The spent casing was included because in some states the BATF required a sample fired casing. If I received my with the gun, and I did, that means I live in a state (Missouri) in which Smith is not required to give the casing to the BATF. My question is this, I understand collecting a fired bullet has its value in criminal cases. But what would the BATF, or anyone else for that matter, do with a spent shell casing from a revolver minus the bullet?

woodsrunner

If you lived in New York state, your dealer would have to send those casings to the state police, before it could be transferred to you. It's the ballistic fingerprinting crap they're talking about alot lately. I believe Maryland & California require this too.WOODS

idsman75

When the cartrige is fired, it still expands to the size of the cylinder. I am sure there are marks left on each casing that could be distinguishing from the expansion and the extraction of that casing. There is also the issue of the firing pin. When it strikes, it leaves a mark on the primer that is unique as well. The uniqueness, I assume, can be determined under a microscope.You may be wondering why this would be important. One often assumes that spent casings from a revolver wouldn't be found at a crime scene. This would be true in many circumstances unless the criminal reloaded the revolver and left the casings laying on the ground or evacuated the scene before picking up his spent casings. The act of reloading a firearm and continuing to fire has been instrumental, historically speaking, in proving 1st Degree Murder over 2nd Degree Murder. If you stop to reload, prosecution will be more likely to move for 1st Degree due to the fact that you actually took the time to reload. The time it takes to reload has often been considered sufficient to re-think your actions and stop what you are doing in the case of a crime of passion. When you reload, you are now PLANNING to continue committing the crime that you originally did in the heat of the moment.

JustC

maryland is the same way. Each breechface/bolt/etc leaves a unique mark on the face of the casing as well as extraction marks. This is your gun's fingerprint. You can't order a gun in MD without it. So if you are going to kill someone with the gun you legally went to the store and filled out paperwork on, you might want to re-think it. For all of us here who are contemplating a drive-by or some such other weekend fun. Hitler would be soooo proud. I guess next we will have GPS trackers in the guns as well as us, that way they know which one we have with us at any time. [This message has been edited by JustC (edited 03-12-2002).]

pabooger

Another use for the spent case is that someone out of state can purchase a handgun from a dealer in another state. For instance I live in Pa. on the Ny Border. A local pa gunshop owner sells new handguns at 10 percent over his cost. The only way someone in nearby Ny. can purchase one of these handguns from this dealer is if it has the spent case. assuming it does then the person from Ny. can drive a couple miles into Pa. purchase the handgun, and then the dealer can ship the handgun to a Licensed dealer in Ny. and the new owner can pick up the gun. As I understand it this is the only way some one in Ny. can purchase a handgun in Pa. is with the spent case. Not all manufactures are including the case with the gun, I do know that Ruger is doing it. It is also my understanding that the case must be in a sealed enveloped in order for this to be legit. You do not have to have a pistol permit to purchase a hand gun in the state of Penna. What really stinks is that Ny pistol permit owners can come over here and obtain a pistol permit in Pa. in a matter of minutes, but it is impossible for a holder of a Pennsylvania Permit to obtain a pistol permit in Ny. state.Hope this didn't confuse anyone to much. I work in Ny and several of my coworkers were able to purchase pistols from this dealer in Pa. at a substantial savings due to the spent case issue. Other wise I am told it would be impossible for them to purchase a pistol over here.

Shootist3006

pabooger; are you sure that some of your co-workers bought out-of-state handguns? I was under the impression that the Gun Control Act of 1968 outlawed the buying of handguns out-of-state.

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Quod principi placuit legis habet vigorem.Semper Fidelis

He Dog

This may vary some depending upon state law, but you can purchase handguns out of state. They must, however, be shipped from FFL to FFL. You cannot take them with you as you can with long guns.

dakotashooter2

I believe that the practice of firing a case and sending it in is going to be an exercise in futility. First, the data base will not include firearms made before it was inacted which will probably account for 95% of the guns out there. Second, I really question the reliability. Guns are subject to wear. Firing pins, ejectors, breech faces, chambers not only wear but may be dirty. Reloaded cases such as in remanufactured ammunition may have multiple markings from several different guns. AND firing pins, ejectors, breech faces, chambers and other parts are easy to alter with honing or polishing or even to replace. Even different loadings or brands of cases may show different signatures in the same gun. Actually it might be easier and more reliable to get the shooters fingerprint off a cartridge case.I will be suprised if this helps to solve one case per year.

nmyers

When a new gun is completed, the manufacturer doesn't know to which state it will eventually be shipped by a distributor. So, those who do include a fired case, do so for all handguns.Here in Maryland, several makes are no longer available because the manufacturer doesn't want to start making 50 different styles of each product to comply with 50 different stupid state laws. So far, this state has spent > $10 million on this program, and it has not solved a single crime; to Gov Parris Glendenning and Lt Gov Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, that just means that we need more restrictive gun laws.Neal

pabooger

Hedog is correct my friends have purchased handguns out of state but as he stated they must be transfered by ffl dealers. In this scenereo it is helpful to have a spent case shipped with the handgun. As a side note I do know that Ruger has color coded the labels on there handgun cases so that it is easy to tell if the enclosed handgun has a spent case. If the label is yellow it has the case if it is white it does not. So if you wish a handgun with the spent case be sure and tell your dealer to ask his distributor to send one with the yellow label. This again is only for Ruger I do not know what method the other manufactures are using to identify handguns with spent cases.