Dear Paul
Thanks for the information: I will look into those other inserts (do you have measurements for all of them by any chance?).
More info on the complete Tokarev insert I have here:
Length: 0.54" (13.71mm)
Shaft Diameter: 0.224" (5.69mm)
Bulge Diameter: 0.267" (6.78mm)
Weight: 41.8 gn
The complete Tokarev bullet weighs 85.4 gn
Today I X-rayed an intact Tokarev insert at various angles, supported by a radiolucent sponge, and I was able to duplicate almost exactly the radiological appearance of the insert in the victim's ankle. In the attached picture, A is the original ankle radiograph, cropped to the insert and rotated so we have a vertical insert axis. B and C are radiographs of the sample insert I have here, taken at an exposure of 55kV and 5mAs. This is an equivalent exposure to what was used to produce the radiograph of the ankle. Note that the photographs do not represent the X-ray beam angle, the X-ray beam was perpendicular to the cassette surface upon which the insert rested in each case. The radiographs have been rotated so that the insert image axis is vertical, to facilitate comparison.
It is my view that the insert in the ankle matches the insert that I X-rayed today, which is a Tokarev insert. I think the equivalent angle of the insert relative to the X-ray cassette is somewhere between what you see in B and C in order to match exactly the radiographic appearances in A. Nevertheless I am confident that the insert in the victim's ankle is identical to the one I X-rayed.
What this tells me, is that if I am to consider any other proposal for a likely candidate to substitute for the Tokarev insert in this case, it will have to have the exact same dimensions as the sample I have X-rayed, and also the same radiological density (made from the same metal).
It seems to me that unless those same inserts are used in another type of bullet, the victim who was shot in the ankle was hit by components of a Tokarev bullet with a steel insert.