Firearm Magazine in Water

[ekuadam]

I have an item coming for processing that has been in a bucket of water for a while now. The proper way would be to take it out of the water and process the magazine with SPR. Has anyone ever tried letting items dry and processing them in a normal non porous processing? Any papers that have shown that one works vs the other. I haven't really had luck with SPR honestly, unless in a controlled training environment.

[Dr. Borracho]

I would suggest buying a similar magazine, putting it into a bucket of water, and experimenting with it before you remove the evidence from its water. Be sure and use the same kind of water (creek water, tap water, whatever).

Good luck.

[josher89]

SPR has worked well for us at scenes when processing property crimes on surfaces that have been, or are currently, exposed to rain. As far as using it in the lab, it has only been for demonstration purposes.

I would think that even whiteout purchasing the same type of magazine, you could take something made out of similar materials (aluminum if it's not magnetic or galvanized metal or other magnetic surface if it is) and do as the good Dr. suggests.

[ekuadam]

I was able to get a couple of reference magazines from our firearm section and go tthe container with the water and magazine in it and was able to put the reference magazines in the water. I will take them out on monday and process them two separate ways to see if one is better than the other.

Thanks for the help!

[Dr. Borracho]

I'm glad to hear it. That way, whatever the results when you process the evidence, you will feel more comfortable doing it and your results will be defensible in court if it comes to that.

Good luck!