Talk:Ballistics

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[edit] Proposed merge

I don't think ballistics is used outside the field of forensic science, so I suggest we merge forensic ballistics to the more commonly used and shorter ballistics to get rid of the unneeded "forensic". - Mgm|(talk) 09:22, September 9, 2005 (UTC)

Your suggestion seems to me to imply that all firearms use is in criminal activities. Forensic ballistics is a tiny application of external and terminal ballistics; by far the bulk of firearms ballistics work is done by firearms and ammunition companies, handloaders, target shooters, police and militaries. Ballistics in a broader sense also applies to airguns, paintball guns, archery, darts, baseball, football, frisbee, and any other sport where and object is shot or thrown through the air--while those aren't touched on here, they are still part of the science of ballistics, and definately unrelated to forensic ballistics. scot 12:17, 9 September 2005 (UTC)

Just to quote Calvin Goddard from an article that originally appeared in the Chicago Police Journal in 1936.

"In the November-December issue of Army Ordnance for 1925, I published my first article upon the comparison microscope and its uses in bullet and shell identification. This was entitled "Forensic Ballistics," and for that phrase I take full credit - and blame. We had long been concerned with developing a name for our work which would be reasonably short, concise, and at the same time descriptive. Apparently there was none which adequately fulfilled these requirements. The one chosen, and of which I was the author, seemed to come closer than any other. It was obviously faulty, in that ballistics deals with the motion of projectiles, and the forces which cause and affect these, whereas arms identification concerns as a rule only missiles in a state of rest. Yet, some familiarity with simple ballistic principles is essential to the success of the arms expert, and the exposition of his findings in court assembled is very properly termed "forensic." Unfortunately, the public took up the expression with great rapidity, but finding "forensic" a rather tongue twisting (and to the average man, unintelligible, word) soon came to omit this and refer to arms identification simply as "ballistics." This put an entirely new face upon the matter, for ballistics, as we have seen, and arms identification, are far from being one and the same. I have, therefore, found it necessary to abandon completely the use of the term "forensic ballistics," and to adopt the simpler - and more readily comprehensible ones of "firearm identification" or "arms identification," to which I shall adhere in the pages which follow. "

--Rickochet 01:52, 10 July 2006 (UTC)

Balistics is used for firearms and ammo. This is not forensic ballistics. 70.230.160.60 18:57, 3 December 2006 (UTC)

I vote no on changing to forensic balistics 70.230.160.60 18:59, 3 December 2006 (UTC)

I work in a crime lab with our firearms examiners. Ballistics is most definitely NOT a forensic term. Ballistics is the physics of trajectory and has next to nothing to do with the examinations conducted in relation to a case. It should be dissociated from forensics firearms examination in each instance they appear together. TimothyPilgrim 21:42, 8 February 2007 (UTC)

It may not be completely correct, but the term "forensic ballistics" is a commonly accepted term in modern society, used in reference to toolmark analysis applied to firearms. Because the public has accepted the term, it has started making its appearance in the forensics field, such as http://www.e-gunlab.com/. Also, I would argue that some portions of forensics applied to firearms are in fact correctly labled forensic ballistics; for example, attempting to determine the location of the shooter from the evidence at the point of impact does involve reverse-engineering the ballistics of the cartridge; 800 fps impact may have been a .44 Special at close range, or a .44 Magnum at long range. scot 22:22, 8 February 2007 (UTC)

ballistics is 95% mechanics at least, its component sciences fall under it in most, if not all, college curricula

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Ballistics is the study of an objects travel through air. Most common it is refering to weapons, because that is where it is used, but ballistics as a term is not a weaponological one. If you are talking about weapons then you have to specify you are talking about ballistics for weapons. The reason i found this article is because i'm looking for a scientific formula for the racio between acceleration, angle, gravity and wind (simple ballistics), which is what should be in an article called "ballistics" and then maybe a huge part of the article should be on the use of it weaponologicly, but if you don't understand the basics, then the weaponological angle is a lot harder to work with.

There should at least be a link to this article... Trajectory is the path the ballistic objects takes, ballistics is what explaines the path.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trajectory

--- —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bloodlazio (talk • contribs) 17:23, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Modification proposed

My opinion is also that ballistics as to do more with ammunition manufacturing than forensic science. To me this very first page concerning this subject should be amended so that each areas (internal, transitional, external, final) be described a bit more thoroughly.

If nobody sees objection, I shall prepare a modified version of this page during january 2008.

--Mdeby (talk) 23:42, 28 December 2007 (UTC)