DonnyBrook13
Member
- Joined
- Jul 1, 2013
- Messages
- 30
The 10-yr.old zombie thread about Oswald and the Mannlicher-Carcano rifle somehow got resurrected to center stage (http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=37915) I read the whole thread -- a lot of speculation with little of the known facts of the case presented. As we are approaching the 50th anniversary of the assassination, here's a redux, examining only the rifle, ballistics and shooter/bullet evidence, not the whole conspiracy minefield:
1. Oswald as "sharpshooter" in the Marines. There are 3 grades in descending order: Expert, Sharpshooter, Marksman. In 1956, Oswald scored 212, barely qualifying for Sharpshooter. In 1959, he scored 191, reducing his rating to Marksman.
2. The 6.5mm round fired from the Mannlicher-Carcano was a copper-jacketed round nose bullet, with an exposed base, weighing 161 grains on average. Fired from the Mannlicher-Carcano, it attains an average muzzle velocity of 2,195 fps.
3. The Mannlicher-Carcano was notorious for having a sticky, difficult bolt and a stagey trigger, not conducive to rapid firing with any degree of accuracy. Ronald Simmons, of the Infantry Weapons Evaluation Branch of the Army’s Ballistics Research Laboratory, supervised a series of tests by NRA Masters-rated rifleman with Oswald's Carcano. They all commented about "the amount of effort required to open the bolt." Simmons stated: "In our experiments, the pressure to open the bolt was so great that we tended to move the rifle off the target..."
4. Several tests have been conducted over the years by other expert rifleman (including Simmon's team) attempting to duplicate Oswald's alleged feat. Many have been able to get off 3 rounds in 6 seconds with the Carcano, but most of these tests were at still targets. Few, if any, have been able to hit with any accuracy a moving target at the specified distances in the time required.
5. The cheap Japanese scope on the Carcano was misaligned. It actually required a shim that was not installed. FBI firearms expert Robert Frazier testified to the WC about the results of tests with Oswald's Carcano:
At 15 yards:
2.5 to 4 inches too high;
1 inch too far to the right
At 25 yards:
4 to 5 inches too high;
1 to 2 inches too far to the right
At 100 yards:
2.5 to 5 inches too high;
2 to 5 inches too far to the right
It was not explained how the deviation at 100 yards was only marginally greater than the deviation at 25 yards. According to one ballistics calculator, if it was off 4" high at 25 yards, it would have been off 18" high at 100 yards. It's been assumed that Frazier's team began compensating for the scope misalignment at the longer range.
6. The 3 shots that Oswald was alleged to have fired by the Warren Commission, deduced from the Zapruder film, were from distances estimated at 58, 80 and 88 yards.
Photos and examination of the bullet and bullet fragments recovered to come...
1. Oswald as "sharpshooter" in the Marines. There are 3 grades in descending order: Expert, Sharpshooter, Marksman. In 1956, Oswald scored 212, barely qualifying for Sharpshooter. In 1959, he scored 191, reducing his rating to Marksman.
2. The 6.5mm round fired from the Mannlicher-Carcano was a copper-jacketed round nose bullet, with an exposed base, weighing 161 grains on average. Fired from the Mannlicher-Carcano, it attains an average muzzle velocity of 2,195 fps.
3. The Mannlicher-Carcano was notorious for having a sticky, difficult bolt and a stagey trigger, not conducive to rapid firing with any degree of accuracy. Ronald Simmons, of the Infantry Weapons Evaluation Branch of the Army’s Ballistics Research Laboratory, supervised a series of tests by NRA Masters-rated rifleman with Oswald's Carcano. They all commented about "the amount of effort required to open the bolt." Simmons stated: "In our experiments, the pressure to open the bolt was so great that we tended to move the rifle off the target..."
4. Several tests have been conducted over the years by other expert rifleman (including Simmon's team) attempting to duplicate Oswald's alleged feat. Many have been able to get off 3 rounds in 6 seconds with the Carcano, but most of these tests were at still targets. Few, if any, have been able to hit with any accuracy a moving target at the specified distances in the time required.
5. The cheap Japanese scope on the Carcano was misaligned. It actually required a shim that was not installed. FBI firearms expert Robert Frazier testified to the WC about the results of tests with Oswald's Carcano:
At 15 yards:
2.5 to 4 inches too high;
1 inch too far to the right
At 25 yards:
4 to 5 inches too high;
1 to 2 inches too far to the right
At 100 yards:
2.5 to 5 inches too high;
2 to 5 inches too far to the right
It was not explained how the deviation at 100 yards was only marginally greater than the deviation at 25 yards. According to one ballistics calculator, if it was off 4" high at 25 yards, it would have been off 18" high at 100 yards. It's been assumed that Frazier's team began compensating for the scope misalignment at the longer range.
6. The 3 shots that Oswald was alleged to have fired by the Warren Commission, deduced from the Zapruder film, were from distances estimated at 58, 80 and 88 yards.
Photos and examination of the bullet and bullet fragments recovered to come...