Comparison of injuries caused by the pistols Tokarev, Makarov and Glock 19 at firing distances of 25, 50, 75 and 100 cm

Firings in the horizontal direction at cloth targets and at human skin from autopsy material were performed using the pistols 7.62 mm Tokarev (TT), 9 mm Makarov (PM) and 9 mm × 19 mm Glock 19 with common ammunition.On cloth targets, soot was more visible in the case of the TT up to firing distance of 50 cm and there were faint soot flecks on some synthetic cloths even at a distance of 75 cm. In the case of the PM and the Glock, the soot was seen on some synthetic cloths at a distance of 50 cm. The gunpowder particles were dispersed over the targets (TT and PM) or concentrated mostly around the bullet entrance hole (Glock 19). Up to a distance of 75 cm, the Glock 19 left the greatest and the PM the smallest number of gunpowder particles. At a distance of 100 cm, there were only some gunpowder particles on the cloths.On skin targets, starting from a distance of 25 cm (Glock 19) and 50 cm (TT and PM), no more soot was macroscopically visible. Histological examination revealed few dotted deposits of soot (TT and PM) and finer soot particles (PM) on the skin surface up to 50 cm. At a distance of 25 cm, the gunpowder particles were found in the epidermis and deeper in the dermis (TT and Glock 19), and a distance of 50 cm they were on and in the stratum corneum. Starting from a distance of 50 cm, in the case of the PM we detected many partially burnt gunpowder grains not connected with the skin surface. At a distance of 75 cm, the gunpowder particles were on the skin surface, except one or two of them found in the stratum corneum (TT and PM), and at a distance of 100 cm, the particles were only on the skin surface.