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An extract from chapter 3 The events of 13 March 1996
3.39 The examination of the scene showed that Thomas Hamilton had fired 105 rounds of 9 mm ammunition by means of pistol A. He had with him 25 extended box-type magazines, each of which was capable of holding 20 rounds of 9 mm ammunition and suitable for use with either pistol. (The standard magazine for such pistols was capable of holding 13 cartridges.) Stickers had been attached to each magazine, a yellow sticker to the front and an orange to the back, presumably in order to ensure that it was inserted into the butt of the pistol the correct way round. The magazines were found to contain a total of 393 cartridges, 18 of the magazines being fully loaded with cartridges and 3 being partially loaded. The remaining 4 were empty. Mr Chisholm and DC Scobie reached the conclusion that Thomas Hamilton had arrived at the school with a total of 501 rounds of 9 mm ammunition which, with the exception of one round in the chamber of pistol B, were contained in the 25 magazines. They noted that in the majority of the magazines which still contained ammunition the cartridges had been loaded in uniform sequence - with metal jacket soft-nosed hollow point type at the bottom of the magazine; full metal jacket semi-wadcutter types in the middle; and full metal jacket round-nosed types at the top. In evidence Mr Chisholm and Mr Alastair Paton, another firearms expert, stated that they had never come across such an arrangement in the course of their experience. However Mr Paton accepted that putting round-nosed types at the top of the magazine could have been done with a view to avoiding the risk of a cartridge sticking between the magazine and the chamber.
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