Ballistic Fingerprinting will be a joke soon, or why the Moose can't admit the shooter has a AK-74

The fetid mind of TC Rider ^ | 10-16-02 | TC Rider

[tacticalogic]

Something I've been wondering - if you could capture a round that's been fired from one gun (in a water tank, for instance), reload it, and fire it from another gun, would you end up with a pattern that didn't match either one?

[donozark]

AK-47 fires 7.62X39MM. The NATO 7.62 is 51MM long. It does get confusing for someone like me-I own all these types of rifles. So many rifles...so little time to shoot them. And oh so much ammo.

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

no, there is a firearm called the AK-74.

[lsee]

Okay, I heard a radio talk-show host discussing this issue this morning. One of his callers said that the only AK-74's he's ever heard of that use 223 were out of Egypt or Russia. He concluded it was probably the kind the terrorist(s) trained with and would have been smuggled into the country.

Super links at bottom for all kinds of gun info

[wjcsux]

There is another issue here as well. New CNC machining technology can make hundreds, if not thousands of rifle barrels that are virtually identical. The older barrels had the rifling broached using human labor causing some very slight variance in the grooves and lands in the barrel. New technology uses robotics that makes the same identical part over and over again.
The "ballistic fingerprinting" is just another anti-gun ploy just like "cop killer bullets", "Saturday night specials" and the rest of the crap we have heard from the Gun-Grabbers through the years.

[copycat]

Chief Moose would do well to sit some of his officers down with this "witness" and ask him how he could identify an AK-74 from 40 yards away at 9:30 PM in October.

My guess is that they showed witnesses a "catalog" of military style rifles and asked them to pick out the one they saw. They picked AK-47/AK-74, and it must be 74 consistent with the bullet size.

What's the chances a Muslim or Muslim-American training in Afghanistan might do his training with an AK variant, I wonder?

[meadsjn]

go for the simpler solution

Simpler would have the higher probability. Unless the government decides to start actually telling the public the truth about anything, all we're supposed to do is speculate, and wait our turn.

[aristeides]

Did the mujahedin in Afghanistan get used to firing AK-74's captured from the Russians?

[longtermmemmory]

There is an article on worldnetdaily that says the actual firearm could be a pistol chambered to fire the exact same round. In other words, the mainstream media and is as clueless as always.

[billhilly]

Fancy meeting you here.

[copycat]

An AK-47 fires a 7.62mm bullet:

An AK-74 fires a 5.45mm bullet:

Same idea as the Mini-14 and the Mini-30. Mini-30 in stainless will be ny next rifle.

[TC Rider]

Does it matter whever it is one or the ovver?

Good question. Yes it does.

From a matter of finding the sniper, let's quit harrassing owners of Ar-15s and start checking out owners of AK-74s.

My larger political point is..

The gun grabbers are making the case, and the media is parroting it with a megaphone, that if we only had ballistic fingerprints of every weapon in America, the sniper would be in jail by now.

If the weapon is an AK-74, it shows that 'ballistic fingerprinting' failed to identify not only the correct weapon, but also failed to ID the correct ammo.

It shows from the schoolyard shooting that they either incorrectly ID'd the brass, or found some old brass that they passed off as newly fired. (Discarded brass is common in woods where hunters have hunted for years. I find it all the time on walks in the woods.)

In this particular case, if it is old brass, with 'ballistic fingerprinting' they could have falsely charged some old farmer with this horrible crime.

Admittedly, the differences are very subtle, but they are telling us that even more subtle differences, microscopic marks, will lead them to the correct owner.

[TC Rider]

The "ballistic fingerprinting" is just another anti-gun ploy just like "cop killer bullets", "Saturday night specials" and the rest of the crap we have heard from the Gun-Grabbers through the years.

Don't forget the 'plastic' guns. (like a Glock would pass airport security)

[TC Rider]

My guess is that they showed witnesses a "catalog" of military style rifles and asked them to pick out the one they saw. They picked AK-47/AK-74, and it must be 74 consistent with the bullet size.

Exactly my thought.

[tracer]

Does crow go well with Moose? And is a red or white whine best????

[longtermmemmory]

are us saying that modern barrels and fireing pins have no microscopic variation?

[Palladin]

Excellent, informative posts. Did you send them to Chief moose and the BATF (Babies And Toddlers First)?

[tracer]

"Perch and Turf," you might say....

[TERMINATTOR]

AK-101 -5.56X45 (.223), Long barrel, folding stock

AK-102 -5.56X45 (.223), Short barrel, folding stock

[TC Rider]

Did you hear the Moose on Meat the Press with Russert?

Russert: Are you trying to build a rapport with the sniper?

Moose: We will release no rapport on the sniper until its ready.