Firearm Classification using Neural Networks on Ring of Firing Pin Impression Images

This paper implements two layer neural networks with different feedforward backpropagation algorithms for better performance of firearm classification us-ing numerical features from the ring image. A total of 747 ring images which are extracted from centre of the firing pin impression have been captured from five different pistols of the Parabellum Vector SPI 9mm model. Then, based on finding from the previous studies, the six best geometric moments numerical fea-tures were extracted from those ring images. The elements of the dataset were further randomly divided into the training set (523 elements), testing set (112 el-ements) and validation set (112 elements) in accordance with the requirement of the supervised learning nature of the backpropagation neural network (BPNN). Empirical results show that a two layer BPNN with a 6-7-5 configura-tion and tansig/tansig transfer functions with ‘trainscg’ training algorithm has produced the best classification result of 98%. The classification result is an improvement compared to the previous studies as well as confirming that the ring image region contains useful information for firearm classification.