I don't know much about guns, but...

Question

I'm writing a mystery story in which a person dies and they know it isn't suicide b/c the shells from the bullets are on the other side of the room of the person.

Do all guns drop shells? Do they all drop the shells right under the gun itself? What kind of gun should I use for this story?

I'm sorry if these sound like stupid questions; I just don't know much about guns.

Answer 1

Are you sure your not planning a murder?!*

Answer 2

It's necessary that the shell locations are evidence?

Most auto-loading pistols will scatter the shells about quite liberally.

They're thrown fast and bounce oddly.

A .45 commonly tosses them 15-20 Ft. from a standing shooter,

but only in one direction.

The shells are tossed to the shooters right if that's any help to your scenario.(The shells might 'hide' in the cushions of an overstuffed sofa?)

Answer 3

Shells can be ejected eight to ten feet (say 'across the room').  Only semi-automatic pistols automatically eject spent shells.  Some semi-automatic rifles eject the spent shells straight down, like the Browning Automatic .22 rifle which does exactly that.  Others are side or angle eject.  Some older pistols eject straight up but most are side or angle eject.

Hope that helped.

H

Answer 4

some rifles can throw a spent casing 10 feet or more, some handguns can as well. if it was a revolver or bolt action the casing would still be in the gun, the casing would have to be on the opposite side from where it should eject. right hand ejects right, left hand ejects left.  

Answer 5

good question.

revolvers lie everyone says it holds the shells it keeps the shells in it untill the shooter takes them out himself.

and semi-automatic gun will eject shells

rifles very from bolt actions to lever actions to semi-auto to fully-auto. if you have a bolt action or lever-action then your shooter will have to either pull the lever on the lever action, or, pull back the bolt BEFORE THE SHELL EJECTS.....................

if i were you and i wrote storys i would give my shooter a gun that doesnt eject a shell and give more mystery to the book. and have the and leave it up to dna like a finger print or a hair or somthing. but its your book you can write what you want

hope i help

Answer 6

Only a semi-automatic is supposed to eject a shell immediately after it is shot off. Any other kind of gun you could shoot once, not touch it in any way and the round would just stay in the gun. If you had to take a second shot, then only a revolver or double-barrel shot gun wouldn't have to eject a shell. I would say some sort of semi-auto pistol in .45 woukd work fine. It would drop the shell no more then two-three feet from the person, but could roll further.

Answer 7

I would say that pretty much any semi-automatic pistol would work.  A revolver does not drop casings so it would not work.

Answer 8

handguns that eject shell casings are called automatics. Automatic handguns can throw a spent casing anywhere from 5-6 inches to 10-15 feet. Most will go 5-7 feet. 45 auto from a colt 1911 pistol will often go less than 4 ft, in my experience, especially out of a "tuned" or modified gun. I have seen 9mm cases go over 15ft.

Here are some of the most well known automatic calibers.

Small caliber:

25 auto   (popular pocket gun, very small)

32 auto   (james bond favorite)

380 auto (very popular)

large caliber

9mm auto      (very popular)

38 super auto (rare)

40 S&W auto (very popular)

10mm Auto    (very high powered)

45 auto          (very popular)

Revolver casings could also be found on the floor if the murderer reloaded the gun after firing, but it sounds like you needed automatic info for your story.

Answer 9

First, it can't be a single-shot or a revolver, because the case stays in the gun until it's removed. Autoloaders may throw them a pretty unpredictable distance, but that shouldn't be a problem in the story, if the room's of good size and/or full of furniture. Right below the gun would be a coincidence, with the case bouncing that way when it hit the floor.

It will help your story if you use 45 ACP (it's short for "automatic Colt Pistol), as the original 45 Colt is a revolver cartridge, and there are several other 45 caliber cartridges as well.

Answer 10

As the above answer stated, not all guns eject the shells. Revolvers are an example of a pistol that does not. All other semi-auto pistols do eject the shells. The shells will not necessarily be dropped an the feet of the shooter. Most guns will eject the shell at least a few feet to the right of the shooter.

And yes, a .45 1911 style pistol would eject the shells.

Answer 11

What Boker sed...

Answer 12

a) only shot guns use "shells", other guns use cartridges (pistols, rifles).

b) a bullet is only the projectile that is shot out of the gun, not the cartridge itself.

c) empty cartridges are called jackets or casings.

d) most guns eject a casings at least 4 or 5 feet.

e) i don't know of any gun that ejects a casing right below the gun, unless the gun was shot sideways.

Answer 13

Most, if not all semi auto pistols eject spent casing to the right side of the pistol, in your mystery, if the spent casings were somehow far to the left of where the shooting took place, you would have valid grounds for assuming the case is a murder instead of a suicide.

Answer 14

Not all guns drop shells. Revolvers do not drop shells unless you empty the shells. the cylinder just rotates and holds onto the empty shells.

As for the guns that do eject shells, most of them do not drop them right next to or under the gun. The majority of shell ejecting rifles throw them to the side-ish. Most handguns throw them sort of to the side and back, because of the way the pistol tilts back when fired.

Hope this was of some help. :)