Entry and fate of plastic tips from hunting bullets into game meat – their remaining and distribution in gelatine as a ballistic simulant

To improve certain properties, hunting bullets are fitted with so-called ballistic tips made of plastic or metal alloys from the group of non-ferrous metals and aluminium. When shot, these or their fragments are entering the body of the game. A lead-free deformation bullet with a plastic tip was therefore used to investigate the distribution of plastic particles in the ballistic simulant gelatine. The results showed that the plastic fragments are distributed around the bullet channel in gelatine up to a depth of approximately 30 cm and can have a radial distance of more than 70 mm. The bullet tips examined were made of polyacetal or nylon.