In order to achieve automated identification of the ballistics signatures

speeded-up robust features（SURF） and related algorithms are introduced into the feature matching implementation on cartridge case impressions. SURF is applied to extract three-dimensional（3 D） topography features of breech face impression

and random sample consensus（RANSAC） algorithm is adopted to complete further matching optimization. The relationship between parameter adjustment in SURF keypoints detection and final matching result is mainly discussed

and the optimal parameters and identification conditions are verified with the help of the test samples provided by the National Institute of Standards and Technology（NIST） of USA. The experimental results strongly support the effectiveness of SURF algorithm on feature extraction and description of 3 D breech face impressions

and indicate a matching rate of more than 90 % on the test samples.