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Movie question -- about bullet tracing

bobm

Silver $$ Contributor
Watched a movie last night...Memory with Liam Neeson. Pretty good flick. During the film he uses a PPK .32 with suppressor for his trade. Flatfoot detectives put together same bullet used for multiple terminations by suppressor marks on the bullet.

Marking possible or Hollywood BS ?
 
Not sure about “suppressor marks” as your bullet shouldn’t touch your suppressor because that’s known as a baffle strike. But there is a thing called NIBIN that is 98.9% accurate and can match fired bullets/casings from a gun. However, they would have had to have the gun in for testing to match the casings/bullets.

General practice is recovered bullets and casings from crimes are submitted for NIBIN as long as they are suitable. However it’s probably just Hollywood BS for the movie.
 
If a suppressor is properly fitted and manufactured, it should leave no marks on a fired bullet. I have no science to prove that but have witnessed folks using them at the range, and some have fired very good groups. Any bullet striking a suppressor would be somewhat deformed and would therefore not be as accurate. To me this is just common sense. I have a suppressor on a AR15 and see no difference in accuracy.
 
Hollyweird has no idee how a suppressor works. Just listen when they shoot a rifle/pistol with one in a movie. My cat farts louder then a shot out of a suppressed FA
 
I also vote for wipes. Just like how diamonds are still sometimes a valid thing to steal and fence (nope, trade too closely controlled, not plausible even by the 70s) lots of movies either take their inspiration from or are direct movie versions of old books. Sometimes they do period pieces, but too often they skip that for budget but never really update the script. So, no one /really/ has a mobile phone in 2023 for example.

The book the movie (already a remake of a euro movie which may be better) is based on was first published in 1985, toss in a decade for out of date tech as is the way and 1970 suppressors: sure, wipes.

B&T still makes a (very very quiet) dedicated suppressed pistol with wipes, FWIW:
AC6E7EE6-221F-4CAF-AD5A-F558E6C3E776.jpeg


Anyway, old school wipes were quite consumable and /I believe/ this line more or less makes sense not from wipe wear but residue. Suppressors were never super common so it would be a lot more like a clue than the fingerprint that bullet comparitors are supposed to give us. .32, suppressed: probably our guy.
 
What is this movie thing of which you are speaking? Sounds like fantisies for people with nothing better to do, done by people incapable of actually being usefull.
 
I also vote for wipes. Just like how diamonds are still sometimes a valid thing to steal and fence (nope, trade too closely controlled, not plausible even by the 70s) lots of movies either take their inspiration from or are direct movie versions of old books. Sometimes they do period pieces, but too often they skip that for budget but never really update the script. So, no one /really/ has a mobile phone in 2023 for example.

The book the movie (already a remake of a euro movie which may be better) is based on was first published in 1985, toss in a decade for out of date tech as is the way and 1970 suppressors: sure, wipes.

B&T still makes a (very very quiet) dedicated suppressed pistol with wipes, FWIW:
AC6E7EE6-221F-4CAF-AD5A-F558E6C3E776.jpeg


Anyway, old school wipes were quite consumable and /I believe/ this line more or less makes sense not from wipe wear but residue. Suppressors were never super common so it would be a lot more like a clue than the fingerprint that bullet comparitors are supposed to give us. .32, suppressed: probably our guy.
Nice informative post. Thanks for taking the time.
 

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