A contact shot is a

gunshot A gunshot is a single discharge of a gun, typically a man-portable firearm, producing a visible flash, a powerful and loud shockwave and often chemical gunshot residue. The term can also refer to a ballistic wound caused by such a discharg ...

wound incurred while the muzzle of the

firearm A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions). The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes ...

is in direct contact with the body at the moment of discharge. Contact shots are often the result of close range gunfights,

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

, or

execution Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the State (polity), state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to ...

Terminal effects

Wounds caused by contact shots are devastating, as the body absorbs the entire discharge of the

cartridge Cartridge may refer to: Objects * Cartridge (firearms), a type of modern ammunition * ROM cartridge, a removable component in an electronic device * Cartridge (respirator), a type of filter used in respirators Other uses * Cartridge (surname), a ...

, not just the

projectile A projectile is an object that is propelled by the application of an external force and then moves freely under the influence of gravity and air resistance. Although any objects in motion through space are projectiles, they are commonly found in ...

. In this case the injection of rapidly expanding

propellant A propellant (or propellent) is a mass that is expelled or expanded in such a way as to create a thrust or other motive force in accordance with Newton's third law of motion, and "propel" a vehicle, projectile, or fluid payload. In vehicles, the e ...

gasses may cause significantly more damage than the bullet itself. Even a

blank cartridge A blank is a firearm cartridge that, when fired, does not shoot a projectile like a bullet or pellet, but generates a muzzle flash and an explosive sound ( muzzle report) like a normal gunshot would. Firearms may need to be modified to allow a bl ...

can very easily cause lethal wounds if fired in contact with the body, so powerheads, which are intended to fire at contact range, are still very effective when loaded with blanks, while being relatively safe if accidentally discharged from a distance. Firearms such as

muzzleloader A muzzleloader is any firearm into which the projectile and the propellant charge is loaded from the muzzle of the gun (i.e., from the forward, open end of the gun's barrel). This is distinct from the modern (higher tech and harder to make) design ...

s and

shotgun A shotgun (also known as a scattergun, or historically as a fowling piece) is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed to shoot a straight-walled cartridge (firearms), cartridge known as a shotshell, which usually discharges numerous small p ...

s often have additional materials in the shot, such as a patch or

wadding Wadding is a disc of material used in guns to seal gas behind a projectile (a bullet or ball), or to separate the propellant from loosely packed shots. Wadding can be crucial to a gun's efficiency, since any gas that leaks past a projectile as it ...

. While they are generally too lightweight to penetrate at longer ranges, they will penetrate in a contact shot. Since these are often made of porous materials such as

cloth Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...

and

cardboard Cardboard is a generic term for heavy paper-based products. The construction can range from a thick paper known as paperboard to corrugated fiberboard which is made of multiple plies of material. Natural cardboards can range from grey to light b ...

, there is a significantly elevated risk of

infection An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable dise ...

from the wound.

Characteristics

In the field of

forensic ballistics Ballistics is the field of mechanics concerned with the launching, flight behaviour and impact effects of projectiles, especially ranged weapon munitions such as bullets, unguided bombs, rockets or the like; the science or art of designing an ...

, the characteristics of a contact shot are often an important part of recreating a shooting. A contact shot produces a distinctive wound, with extensive tissue damage from the burning

. Unlike a shot from

point-blank range Point-blank range is any distance over which a certain firearm can hit a target without the need to compensate for bullet drop, and can be adjusted over a wide range of distances by sighting in the firearm. If the bullet leaves the barrel para ...

, the powder burns will cover a very small area right around the entry wound; often there will be a distinct pattern, called ''tattooing''. Star-shaped tattooing is often caused by the

rifling In firearms, rifling is machining helical grooves into the internal (bore) surface of a gun's barrel for the purpose of exerting torque and thus imparting a spin to a projectile around its longitudinal axis during shooting to stabilize the pro ...

in the gun barrel, and distinct patterns may also be made by

flash suppressor A flash suppressor, also known as a flash guard, flash eliminator, flash hider, or flash cone, is a muzzle device attached to the muzzle of a rifle that reduces its visible signature while firing by cooling or dispersing the burning gases that ...

s or

muzzle brake A muzzle brake or recoil compensator is a device connected to, or a feature integral to the construction of, the muzzle or barrel of a firearm or cannon that is intended to redirect a portion of propellant gases to counter recoil and unwanted ...

s. The shape of the tattooing may help identify the firearm used. In many cases, the body's absorption of the muzzle blast will act as a silencer, trapping the propellant gases under the skin and muffling the sound of the shot.

References

* * * {{cite journal , vauthors=Rothschild MA, Maxeiner H , title=Unusual findings in a case of suicide with a gas weapon , journal=Int. J. Legal Med. , volume=106 , issue=5 , pages=274–6 , year=1994 , pmid=8068574 , doi=10.1007/BF01225420 , s2cid=22841782
Chest Injury in Close-Range Shot by Muzzle Loader Gun: Report of Two Cases
Ballistics Firearm terminology

Terminal effects

Characteristics

See also

References