[Marks on clothing and skin in absolutely and relatively close distance gunshots with fright weapons].

Based on an actual case to be examined-the victim had sustained burning and powder tattooing of the abdominal skin--test shots were performed with blank cartridge guns (Mauser and Umarex revolvers, cal. 380) in order to study the changes occurring on textiles in the area of contact and close range shots. As expected, the extent of burning and smoke soiling depended on whether the propellant of the blank cartridges consisted of nitrocellulose (Nc) or black powder. At the same distance the smokeless nitro-powder caused less soot soiling and burning than black powder. Contact or near contact shots produced tear-like tissue damages due to the pressure of the discharged muzzle gases. When black powder cartridges were used, burn holes larger than the caliber were observed; with Nc blank cartridges the thermal effects were most pronounced if textiles made of thermolabile synthetics were shot at.