The other day I came across this published study from Forensic Science International. I found the conclusions very interesting. One man shot himself under the chin 7 times with the exact same type of ammunition and weapon as the Anschutz.
Influence of ballistic and autopsy parameters on the manner of death in case of long firearms fatalities from the Clinical Research Unit, Ambroise Pare´ Hospital
Concerning the number of shots,
previous series showed that multiple entrance wounds
suggested homicide When suicide, there is commonly
a single gunshot, but cases who fired more than once was not
infrequent in our study (about 11% of the suicide cases). Some
cases of suicide with multiple gunshot wounds have been
reported in the literature [18–26]. This is due to the fact that
immediate incapacitation occurs only if essential centers in the
CNS or upper cervical spinal cord are injured, rapid
incapacitation occurring when hits produce massive bleeding
(heart, major vessels) [27–29]. In our study, all cases with
multiple gunshot wounds involved small caliber long arms
(0.22 rimfire), which have a lower temporary
cavitation and less lethal effect than high caliber weapons. The
suicide case with seven shots included in our study
corresponded to a 50-year-old man who fired himself in the
under chin area 7 shots using a small caliber (0.22 rimfire)
semi-automatic rifle. There was a penetration of four bullets in
the skull in the frontal brain lobes, the other shots leading to
fractures of facial bones without entering the skull. A smallcaliber
bullet can involve the frontal lobes without producing
instantaneous incapacitation
