[Biomechanical-clinical interpretation of firearm wounds. General problems. IX. Propedeutic ABC of terminal ballistics].

In this chapter, the leading role is played by the mechanical-thermal-ballistic device, issued as a long-barrelled regulation firearm to modern armies. The most accurate description of this type of firearm and its present and possible future development seeks to be in line with the objective comparison between the biological matter and the mechanical material, which constitutes the essential basis for any optimal nosological, aetiological, or pathogenetic classification of bullet wounds. We should not forget that the advent of the M 16 A 1 has aroused great technical interest, particularly--though not only--as regards the hydroshock aspect, and that the technological developments in future can hardly fail to increasingly confirm the singular nature of bullet wounds, which refuse to be encompassed merely within the somewhat limited sphere of their strictly local effects, but carry a broader significance in a critical context open to further verification in the future. There can be no denying that this unique nature of modern bullet wounds makes them ideal candidates bearing witness to a new interpretation of traumatism, which at present is only in its infancy.