New aluminum-jacketed ammunition: the case of the "invisible" jacket

The recovery of the metallic jacket fired from higher-velocity weapons is crucial for ballistics testing. Therefore, even when exit wounds are present, radiographs should routinely be made. The use of the new Winchester Western Silvertip ammunition may present a problem to the forensic pathologist because of the use of aluminum-jacketed bullets. Aluminum is only faintly radiopaque and may easily be overlooked on x-ray. An illustrative case is reported.