Morphological study of class and individual characteristics produced by firing 2500 cartridges in a .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol

There is limited research pertaining to the rate of mechanical wear for pistol parts and the effects they have on class and individual characteristics after prolonged use of the weapon. This study was conducted to determine if the tool marks on cartridge cases changes significantly after firing 2500 rounds of ammunition in a .45 calibre semi automatic pistol. The ammunition was fired sequentially and a cartridge case sample collected at each 100 round interval. An examination and evaluation of the class and individual characteristics revealed that there were some differences in the characteristics examined; however, the sequential changes were not significant in matching the cartridges to the weapon.