How individual are mass-produced guns? If a man buys a .38 for himself, likes it, and buys the same model for his daughter, would they look the same, ballistics wise?
Guns that are the same make and model will have similar characteristics, the same number of lands and grooves with the same direction of twist. However, the tools used to cut the rifling wear down each time they are used and every time a gun is fired the rifling changes a little so all guns are microscopically unique. Depending on how far apart the two barrels were cut the differences can be very slight or quite noticeable.
One thing to remember, though: ballistics is an inexact science. It's not like DNA, it's more like fingerprinting. Each individual is unique, but there are similarities that are open to interpretation by humans and therefore open to human error. There have been cases where suspects were pulled in based on partial fingerprinting matches who did not commit the crime and could not possibly
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