i was trawling for info on bullet effects and after about 4 days of looking in my spare time i found this gem of a site!

http://deathmonkeybdm.tripod.com/deathmonkey/id17.html

I found it really useful for its tutorials on how to do slide movement, muzzleflash and casings in photoshop
only photoshop (or a similar program such as paint shop pro by Jasc) is needed!

Syras