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Forensic Firearms Team

Key Forensic Services have a team of highly-skilled, experienced firearms specialists who work from our impressive on-site firearms facilities. We are accredited to the ISO 17025 standard, ensuring we offer a first-class, robust service.

Specialists in the analysis of firing marks, firing distance, trajectory & gunshot wounds

The Firearms team has considerable depth of experience across a wide range of firearm casework, using specialist equipment and testing within validated and accredited processes.

Our Firearms team have worked on many major and sensitive investigations, as well as historic reviews, and are accustomed to the complex nature and urgent requirements of large-scale enquiries. Our wide casework experience covers all stages of a shooting incident investigation and any subsequent trial.
KFS have a range of professional facilities at our disposal, including a forensic firing range with water tank, full firearms forensic workshop facilities and a microscopy unit.
We have a detailed, up-to-date knowledge of the relevant firearm legislation and case law. This enables us to provide fair, reliable consultation and reports, with the ability to identify alternatives where the legislation is unclear or where the court decision is not easily predicted.

The KFS team focuses on the effective evaluation of evidence by identifying the relevant issue and assessing the probability of the findings under two competing propositions

This approach is followed by very few forensic firearms institutes worldwide and helps ensure useful evidence is not dismissed as inconclusive, while providing a robust and balanced report.

The team work in close collaboration with other KFS forensic experts located at the same site, for example in relation to DNA/trace evidence recovery and interpretation.

Our team specialises in the assessment of:

  • Comparison of firing marks
  • Firing distance using the pattern of shot pellets or residues
  • Trajectory (track) of a fired bullet or pellet, allowing for deflection or ricochet
  • Gunshot wounds and suspected gunshot damage
  • Impacted material and damage on fired bullets or pellets
  • Mechanical operating condition and trigger pull force
  • Examining converted or modified guns and ammunition, particularly reactivated firearms and converted blank-firing guns