Contact or distant?

Gunshot wound types are divided into four main categories; contact wounds, near contact, intermediate and distant. 

Contact wounds:
A contact wound is when the gun is held against the body at the time of shooting. There are different categories of contact wounds as well;  hard contact, loose contact, angled contact and incomplete contact.

Near contact wounds:
The inbetween contact and intermediate range gunshot wounds, these can sometimes be mistaken for loose contact wounds. Powder tattooing is seen on near contact wounds, aswell as blackening of the skin from where the skin has been burnt and seared.

Intermediate range contact wounds:
The gun is held away from the body at the time of the shooting but is close enough that the gunpowder leaves "powder tattooing" around the skin. These markings are a key clue found with intermediate range contact wounds.

Distant wounds:
When the gun is shot from a long distance the only mark left upon entering is the hole from the bullet itself. 


I am going to do a near-intermediate range contact wound on my model to follow the story I have created of how she came to be killed. After researching entrance wounds and how the injury differs depending on the distance the gun was shot from, I feel confidence with how I think my wound should look. 

Near contact wound and intermediate range powder tattooing:

http://www.tdcaa.com/sites/default/files/page/5%20FRI%20INV%20Molina%20Gunshot%20Wounds.pdf