Terminal ballistics of the Russian AK 74 assault rifle: two wounded patients and experimental findings.
OBJECTIVE
To study the effects of the Russian AK 74 assault rifle missile (5.45 x 39 mm) on an experimental model and on two wounded patients.


METHODS
Experimental and clinical study.


METHODS
Brodarski Institute, Marine Research and Special Technologies, Zagreb, Croatia, and General Hospital, Karlovac, Karlovac, Croatia.


METHODS
Twenty gelatin blocks used as tissue stimulants and two patients with gunshot wounds caused by AK 74 assault rifle missiles.


METHODS
After being fired at, gelatin blocks were filmed with a high-speed television camera and radiographs were made of the blocks. Wounds of our patients were treated with minimal excision and drainage.


METHODS
The correlation between the wound profile method and our experimental model, and the correlation between the wound profile method and the wounds of the patients we treated.


RESULTS
Bullets were not found to deform or fragment in tissue stimulant. The bullet path through the gelatin block was found to differ from the path predicted according to the wound profile method.


CONCLUSIONS
Gelatin disruption in the initial 8 to 11 cm of the bullet path is minimal. Even the highest-velocity military missiles, like the AK 74 5.45 x 39 mm bullet, may cause only minimal tissue disruption in this initial part of tissue penetration.
Korać
Z
Z
Department of Surgery, General Hospital Karlovac, Karlovac, Croatia.
Kelenc
D
D
Mikulić
D
D
Vuković
D
D
Hancević
J
J
D005389:Firearms; D006801:Humans; D014948:Wounds, Gunshot / Q000473:pathology*