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whagan@hotmail.com · New Member

I’m new to the forum, and have no experience with shooting sports. Instead, I’m shamelessly hoping to tap into some of the expertise on this board.

In 1985 (age 11), I was the victim of a drive-by shooting. I was struck in the back of the neck by three separate projectiles (~1/4” (x1) and ~1/8” (x2)) – all of which entered the same tiny “puncture” entrance wound. The projectiles were left in my neck due to the danger of surgery so close to the spinal cord (I was less than an inch away from probable paralysis). I’ve recently felt aching in the wound area, and have renewed my interest in the type of gun and ammo involved (nobody was ever caught).

For the following reasons, I have always assumed that an air rifle was used:

1. The shot produced only a “ping” noise (vs. a loud “bang”)
2. The projectiles are all perfectly round. I know nothing about guns, but believe that a shotgun is the only “powder” gun with perfectly round ammo. If this is the case, how could a “spray” of rifle shot miss my nearby companions?
3. A single, tiny entrance wound was created, rather than the finger-sized holes associated with Hollywood.
4. There were two sizes of projectiles involved (see sizes above). In my limited research, I haven’t found this to be an option with air rifles (or really at all).

On the other hand, the shot came from ~30 yards away, and the projectiles hadn’t even begun to disperse when they hit (again, they entered the same tiny puncture). To me, this seems beyond (1985) air gun capability.

I would greatly appreciate any posts regarding the possible type of gun and ammo involved. In return, I can only wish you the best of luck fighting the legislation that seems to be plaguing your sport. In my admittedly limited research, it seems clear that you all have a tight-knit and active community.
Many thanks…

AirGunEric · Site Admin

The fact that you had 1/4" and 1/8" projectiles stuck in you indicates it was not likely an "airgun" per se, but something else. As they all entered the same hole in a "drive by" it also seems unlikely that it was more than one shot- as in it was a single projectile that broke into multiple pieces. Didn't the medical people tell you what they were looking at?

The only possibilities I see are a standard firearm with a suppressor (thus the "ping") or maybe a paintball gun loaded with some misc. crap. What was the distance from you to the shooter?

What were these projectiles made of? It seems awfully strange the medical people couldn't be more precise on this.

whagan@hotmail.com · New Member

Thanks alot for the response. The docs took x-rays from multiple angles and the projectiles were spherical from all views. This means they were three single entities (~inch apart from one another), and not fragments of a single entity.

The projectiles were left in due to their precarious location, their tendency to migrate outward (away from the spine), and the hope that they're stainless steel.

The shot came from ~30 yards away.

donec · Senior Member

My house was the target of a drive by shooting but the angle was high, broke a window and left holes in the wood work outside. How ever the pattern was too small to have been a normal shotgun also the pattern was quite erratic and only had a few projectiles about 10 and both highly scattered and bunched. The gun that fired the shot was a pistol firing snake shot also the pellets were of different size which I hear is not unusual for snake shot especially if the round is home loaded. Further more there was not much sound when the gun was fired but a plastic 1 liter soda bottle was found on the street with the bottom blown out of it very jaggedly. I know it was my step daughters boyfriend's friends that did the shooting and she said they were sorry and that they had used the bottle to silence the shot but would not name them so they got away with it. So maybe that is what you got shot with. this was about 1995 in SD CA.

whagan@hotmail.com · New Member

Thanks for sharing your experience. In my quick research, it looks like snake shot is designed to scatter somewhat (particularly after ~30 yards). Is this something that could be modified such that three pellets of differing sizes could hold a single-file line over distance? As a non-shooter, I wasn't aware of the homemade/modified side of the sport, so I'm not sure how crafty the "inventors" can get...

Thanks again.

donec · Senior Member