U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

Firearms Examiner Training

Nose Construction

Home  |  Glossary  |  Resources  |  Help  |  Contact Us  |  Course Map
 

Nose Construction

Nose construction describes the many variations encountered on all types of ammunition, for example:

soft point bullets
Soft point bullets
Courtesy of Ronnie Freels (see reuse policy).
Hollow point bullets
Hollow point bullets
Courtesy of Ronnie Freels (see reuse policy).
Semijacketed hollow point bullets
Semijacketed hollow point bullet
Courtesy of Ronnie Freels (see reuse policy).
metal point bullet
Metal point bullet
Courtesy of Ronnie Freels (see reuse policy).
 
full metal jacket
Full metal jacket
Courtesy of Ronnie Freels (see reuse policy).

Open point bullets (soft point, hollow point, and semijacketed bullets) offer opportunities to identity the manufacturer or source based on the construction of nose cavities. The details of the interface between jacket, core, and cavity are often proprietary in nature and readily observable.

Nose Cavity Details of
Open Point Bullets
Details Type

Serrations in the nose portion of the bullet jacket.

Silver tip

Petals of jacket material folded into the cavity to help retain the core within the jacket even after impact with a target.

Hollow point

Center-post design

Hydra-Shok

 

serration
Serrations
Courtesy of Ronnie Freels (see reuse policy).
folded hollow point
Folded hollow point
Courtesy of Ronnie Freels (see reuse policy).
hydra-shok bullet
Hydra-Shok
Courtesy of Ronnie Freels (see reuse policy).

 

Nose Shape

Bullet nose geometry generally includes the following configurations:

Round nose bullet
Round nose bullet
Courtesy of Ronnie Freels (see reuse policy).
Spitzer bullet
Spitzer bullet
Courtesy of Ronnie Freels (see reuse policy).
wadcutter bullet
Wadcutter bullet
Courtesy of Ronnie Freels (see reuse policy).
Flat nose bullet
Flat nose bullet
Courtesy of Ronnie Freels (see reuse policy).
Semiwadcutter bullet
Semiwadcutter bullet
Courtesy of Ronnie Freels (see reuse policy).
Truncated bullet
Truncated bullet
Courtesy of Ronnie Freels (see reuse policy).

 

Cannelures

Type

As previously mentioned, there are two types of circumferential grooves:

  • Knurled
  • Smooth
Knurled grooves
Knurled grooves
Courtesy of Ronnie Freels (see reuse policy).
Smooth Groove
Smooth groove
Courtesy of Ronnie Freels (see reuse policy).

Cannelures may or may not serve a functional purpose on a given bullet. They are very useful in determining the manufacturer and, in some cases, the stock number of bullets that are used only for specific purposes.

Number

Cannelure Distance
Cannelure distance
Courtesy of Ronnie Freels (see reuse policy).

It is useful to document the number of cannelures found on each type of bullet; this further limits the number of candidates when searching for similar examples in reference resources (primarily in a laboratory Standard Ammunition File [SAF]).

Location

The location of each cannelure in terms of its height above the base of a bullet is another physical feature or set of physical features used as an additional filter to limit the field in searching reference files.

 

Back Forward