A report from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) revealed that a bullet jacket from a .30 caliber round was found during the autopsy of Charlie Kirk.
Kirk was killed on September 10, 2025, and the following day, Breitbart News reported on statements from FBI Special Agent Robert Boles, who confirmed that authorities had retrieved the rifle believed to be used in the incident.
Boles characterized the weapon as a “high-powered bolt-action rifle.”
According to the New York Post, the rifle in question is a “.30-06 caliber Mauser bolt-action rifle.” The .30-06 has been a widely used bullet for big game hunting in the United States and falls under the .30 caliber classification.
The ATF report indicated that Kirk’s autopsy uncovered “a deformed/damaged bullet jacket fragment and four lead fragments” categorized in the .30 caliber range.
Legal expert Andrea Burkhardt noted, “The jacket fragment exhibited characteristics consistent with those of Tyler Robinson’s Mauser 98 rifle, making it a possible candidate for firing the bullet. However, the fragment lacks definitive markings that would identify it to one specific rifle over others of the same type.”
The state of Utah notified the defense team representing Tyler Robinson, accused in Kirk’s assassination, that “the FBI laboratory will perform virtual comparison microscopy (VCM) analysis on the bullet jacket fragments to investigate the patina left by the rifle. This method is non-destructive and uses technology that captures multiple images of the fragments.”
“Additionally, metallurgical testing will be conducted on at least one of the lead fragments recovered. This will involve making small scrapes for analysis, with careful attention to avoid areas that might interfere with further ballistic analysis through VCM or LCM,” the state stated in a court document.
Alongside the bullet and lead fragments, both the ATF and FBI recovered one spent .30-06 cartridge and three unspent .30-06 rounds following the assassination.
