Wounding properties of steel pellets with different velocities and quality on soft tissue of dogs.

The characteristics of the soft-tissue wounds of the hind legs of 155 dogs produced by stainless steel spheres with four different masses and at various impact velocities were observed. It was found that when the mass of the spheres was identical, the velocity became the main factor to determine the severity of the damage; when the mass of the spheres was different but their kinetic energy was similar, then a smaller but faster sphere produced more severe damage than a larger but slower one. Shallow but wide and severe wounds usually resulted. The rate of disability of extremities with such wounds was very high. These wounding properties of steel spheres have caused some new problems in the treatment of war injuries.