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Originally Posted by Highwayman  I’d like to hear from one of the folks familiar with rules of evidence if having a gunsmith fit a replacement bolt would be considered tampering with evidence or not. Perhaps it’s not allowed.
Either way I don’t think it will constitute negligence on the part of the investigators and the lack of ballistics probably will hold up under appeal. |
It depends on what you're trying to accomplish...
If you need to match the firing pin/extractor mark on the casing, obviously you would need the bolt in place during discharge of the crime.
If you're trying to match the rifling marks from a bullet entered into evidence to a specific barrel, I'd say it would be admissable.