View source for US History - John F. Kennedy assassination rifle

{{about||a discussion of this Italian carbine type's history and technical specifications|Carcano|a broad discussion of the Kennedy assassination|Assassination of John F. Kennedy}}

[[File:CarcanoRifleNARA.gif|thumb|250px|The 6.5 mm Carcano carbine owned by [[Lee Harvey Oswald]]]]
[[File:Ce141.jpg|thumb|250px|CE-141, or Warren Commission Exhibit 141, the unfired 6.5x52 mm round of ammunition left in the assassination rifle above.]]

In March of 1963, [[Lee Harvey Oswald]], using the alias "A. Hidell," purchased by [[mail order]] a [[6.5x52mm Mannlicher-Carcano|6.5 mm]] [[Carcano]] '''Model 91/38''' [[carbine]], also improperly called Mannlicher-Carcano, with a 4x scope.<ref>Warren Commission Report, p. 118-119.</ref> He also purchased a [[handgun|revolver]] from a different company, by the same method. Both weapons were signed for in the name of Lee Harvey Oswald.<ref>Warren Commission Report, p. 567-571.</ref> It is officially accepted that the rifle was fired from the [[Texas School Book Depository]] in [[Dallas, Texas]] to [[Assassination of John F. Kennedy|assassinate]] United States President [[John F. Kennedy]] as his motorcade drove by on November 22, 1963.<ref>Warren Commission Report, p. 18-19.</ref> Photographs of Oswald holding the rifle, a [[Fingerprint|palmprint]] found upon examination of the rifle, and detective work tracing its sale, all eventually led to Oswald.<ref>Warren Commission Report, p. 122-123.</ref> Marina Oswald later testified she was told by Lee that the rifle was also used before in an attempt to assassinate retired U.S. Army General [[Edwin Walker]] in Dallas.

==History of rifle==

The Oswald rifle is an Italian ''Fucile di Fanteria'' (Eng: Infantry rifle) ''Modello 91/38'' (Model 1891/1938) manufactured at the Royal Arms Factory in [[Terni]], Italy, in 1940. Its serial number identified it as the single weapon of its type made with that number. The so-called Model 91 bolt action rifle had been introduced in 1891 by Salvatore Carcano for the Turin Army Arsenal. After 1895, the Modello 91 used an ''en bloc'' ammunition clip similar, but not identical, to the Austrian [[Mannlicher]] ammunition clips, and hence the names of Mannlicher and Carcano came to be associated with the Oswald rifle; this included association with them by the [[Warren Commission]]. The ammunition used in the clip was the 6.5x52mm ''Cartuccia Modello 1895'' rimless cartridge (designed in 1890), also sometimes called [[6.5x52mm Mannlicher-Carcano|Mannlicher-Carcano]] ammunition, after the rifle designer and the general type of clip it used.

In 1938, the basic Model 91 long rifle design was discontinued in favor of a new short rifle design, the Model 38, with a new type of ammunition: a spitzer-pointed 7.35x51mm round. The 7.35mm M38 was manufactured from 1938-1940. In 1940, with the war well under way and unable to stockpile sufficient amounts of 7.35x51mm ammunition, the short rifles were re-designated ''Modello 91/38'', and were again manufactured to fire the original round-nosed 6.5x52 mm ammunition. The serial-numbered C2766 rifle, sent to Oswald as a surplus "Italian carbine" in 1963, was a short rifle of this type, manufactured for the 6.5x52mm cartridge. The 6.5mm Carcano M91/38 was only manufactured for one year, 1940, and discontinued in favor of a new 6.5mm long rifle, the M91/41, which was made until the end of the war.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.surplusrifle.com/carcano9138/index.asp |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20110716095857/http://www.surplusrifle.com/carcano9138/index.asp |archivedate=July 16, 2011 |title=Collecting and Shooting the Italian Mannlicher-Carcano 91/38 Rifle |publisher=Surplusrifle.com}}</ref>

==Purchase of the revolver and Carcano==
[[File:KleinsAd1963.jpg|thumb|Magazine advertisement through which Oswald purchased the rifle (left column, third from top)]]

On October 9, 1962, Lee Harvey Oswald rented [[post office box]] number 2915 in [[Dallas, Texas]].<ref>Warren Commission Report, p. 118-119, 185.</ref> On January 27, 1963, Oswald ordered a [[Smith & Wesson Model 10|Smith & Wesson "Victory" Model]] [[.38 special]] [[revolver]] from a different source, using the same post office box, for $29.95 plus postage and handling. It was shipped to him on March 20.<ref>[http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wr/html/WCReport_0099b.htm The Killing of Patrolman J.D. Tippit: Ownership of Revolver], Warren Commission Report, p. 174.</ref>

On March 12, 1963, Oswald (under the assumed name Alek Hidell) ordered the rifle with an attached [[telescopic sight]] from Klein's Sporting Goods located in Chicago, paying $19.95 plus postage and handling. It was also shipped to him on March 20.<ref>[http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wr/html/WCReport_0071b.htm Ownership and Possession of Assassination Weapon], Warren Commission Report, p. 118–119.</ref>

Oswald asked his wife [[Marina Oswald Porter|Marina]] in late March to take several photographs of him posing in their backyard with the rifle and pistol and holding copies of the newspapers ''[[Daily Worker|The Worker]]'' and ''[[The Militant]].''<ref>Warren Commission Report, p. 125–128.</ref> Three of the photographs were discovered among Oswald's belongings on November 23.<ref>[http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh7/html/WC_Vol7_0101b.htm Testimony of Richard S. Stovall], Warren Commission Hearings and Exhibits, vol. 7, p. 194.</ref><ref>The third photograph disappeared while in the possession of the Dallas Police, before the photographs were transferred to the FBI in late November 1963. Two first-generation prints of the missing third photo were recovered by the House Select Committee on Assassinations. [http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/hsca/reportvols/vol6/html/HSCA_Vol6_0074a.htm HSCA Appendix to Hearings, vol. 6, p. 141].</ref>

==Walker shooting==
{{main|Edwin Walker}}
Marina Oswald testified that Lee told her on April 10, 1963 that he had used the rifle earlier that night in an attempt to assassinate retired U.S. Army General [[Edwin Walker]], a controversial political activist, at Walker's home in Dallas.<ref>[http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/hsca/reportvols/vol2/html/HSCA_Vol2_0118b.htm Testimony of Marina Oswald Porter], HSCA Hearings, vol. 2, p. 232–233.</ref> The bullet was deflected from hitting Walker when it struck a window frame. Oswald escaped, hiding the rifle and retrieving it a day or two later.<ref>Marina Oswald, ibid.</ref> Jeanne De Mohrenschildt, an acquaintance of the Oswalds, testified that when she and her husband [[George De Mohrenschildt|George]] visited the Oswalds on April 13, she saw a rifle, that "looked very much like" the Carcano, standing in the corner of a closet. When she told George what she had just seen, he joked to Lee, "Did you take a pot shot at Walker by any chance?"<ref>[http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh9/html/WC_Vol9_0161b.htm Testimony of Jeanne De Mohrenschildt], Warren Commission Hearings and Exhibits, vol. 9, p. 314–317.</ref>

The De Mohrenschildts later found a copy of one of the backyard photographs, autographed on the back with the message "To my friend George from Lee Oswald," in a record album they had loaned to Marina before the De Mohrenschildts moved to Haiti in May 1963.<ref>[http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/hsca/reportvols/vol6/html/HSCA_Vol6_0074a.htm Photograph Authentication: The Oswald Backyard Photographs], HSCA Appendix, vol. 6, p. 141.</ref><ref>George De Mohrenschildt, ''[http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/hsca/reportvols/vol12/html/HSCA_Vol12_0129a.htm "I Am a Patsy! I Am a Patsy!"]'', HSCA Appendix, vol. 12, p. 253–257.</ref>

==Discovery==
The [[Warren Commission]] found that in the weeks before the assassination, Oswald kept the rifle wrapped in a blanket and hidden in the garage of friends [[Michael Paine (engineer)|Michael]] and [[Ruth Paine]], where Marina was living at the time, and Oswald would occasionally visit. Michael Paine described "a package wrapped in a blanket," which he thought was camping equipment. He did find this odd, saying to himself "they don't make camping equipment of iron pipes any more."<ref>Warren Commission Hearings, [http://www.jfkassassination.net/russ/testimony/paine_m1.htm Testimony Of Michael R. Paine]</ref> Marina testified that after she and Lee moved their belongings to the Paine home in September 1963, she found the rifle in the blanket while searching for a part for her child's crib.<ref>[http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh1/html/WC_Vol1_0019b.htm Testimony of Marina Oswald], Warren Commission Hearings and Exhibits, vol. 1, p. 26.</ref>

The Commission concluded that Oswald had smuggled the rifle into the Texas School Book Depository on the morning of the assassination, November 22, 1963, in a brown paper package, which he had told a co-worker contained "curtain rods,"<ref>[http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh2/html/WC_Vol2_0117b.htm Testimony of Buell Wesley Frazier], Warren Commission Hearings and Exhibits, vol. 2, p. 226.</ref> although Oswald later denied this, and said that he carried only a lunch bag that day.<ref>"[http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wr/html/WCReport_0314b.htm Reports Relating to the Interrogation of Lee Harvey Oswald at the Dallas Police Department]", Warren Report, p. 604–605.</ref><ref>"[http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wr/html/WCReport_0325b.htm Reports Relating to the Interrogation of Lee Harvey Oswald at the Dallas Police Department]", Warren Report, p. 626.</ref> He also said that he did not own a rifle.<ref>"[http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wr/html/WCReport_0313a.htm Reports Relating to the Interrogation of Lee Harvey Oswald at the Dallas Police Department]", Warren Report, p. 601.</ref><ref>"[http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wr/html/WCReport_0322a.htm Reports Relating to the Interrogation of Lee Harvey Oswald at the Dallas Police Department]", Warren Report, p. 619.</ref><ref>"[http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wr/html/WCReport_0323b.htm Reports Relating to the Interrogation of Lee Harvey Oswald at the Dallas Police Department]", Warren Report, p. 622.</ref>

About half an hour after the assassination of President Kennedy, a floor-by-floor search of the Texas School Book Depository Building was commenced by Dallas police, joined by sheriff's deputies.<ref>[http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh4/html/WC_Vol4_0106b.htm Testimony of J.W. Fritz], Warren Commission Hearings and Exhibits, vol. 4, p. 204–205.</ref> The rifle was found by Deputy Sheriff Seymour Weitzman and Officer Gene Boone among cartons on the sixth floor.<ref>[http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh7/html/WC_Vol7_0058a.htm Testimony of Seymour Weitzman], Warren Commission Hearings and Exhibits, vol. 7, p. 107.</ref><ref>[http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh3/html/WC_Vol3_0151a.htm Testimony of Eugene Boone], Warren Commission Hearings and Exhibits, vol. 3, p. 293.</ref>
[[File:CE514.jpg|thumb|Position of rifle when found on the 6th floor of the Depository Building]]
The two officers who found the rifle&nbsp;— and later Captain Fritz&nbsp;— picked it up by the sling, but did not handle it until the arrival of Lt. Carl Day of the crime scene search section of the identification bureau.<ref>Testimony of Weitzman, Boone, and Fritz, ibid.</ref> Lt. Day then held the rifle by the stock, in one hand, "because it was too rough to hold a fingerprint" and inspected the rifle with a magnifying glass in his other hand.<ref>Warren Commission Hearings, [http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/day1.htm Testimony of J.C. Day].</ref> He checked that the bolt had no prints on it before Fritz ejected a live round.<ref name="Day testimony, ibid">Day testimony, ibid.</ref>

Also found in the same vicinity were three 6.5x52mm brass cartridge cases believed to have been fired from Oswald's rifle. One of the empty cases, CE 543, was dented in the area of the neck. Ballistic experts testified to the HSCA that this likely occurred when the rifle was rapidly fired and the case was ejected. When four test bullets were fired from the rifle, one of the four had a dented neck on its ejected case similar to CE 543.<ref>[http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/viewer/showDoc.do?docId=95&relPageId=457] HSCA, vol. 1, p. 453-4</ref>

The rifle was subjected to further forensic examination at the laboratory.<ref name="Day testimony, ibid"/> A palm print was discovered on part of the rifle that could only have been put there when the rifle was not fully assembled. Such a palm print could not be placed on this portion of the rifle when assembled because the wooden foregrip covers the barrel.<ref name="Day testimony, ibid"/> He did not complete his investigation, however, because he was told to stop, and to hand the rifle over to [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] Agent Vince Drain, because the FBI would finish the investigation.<ref name="Day testimony, ibid"/> He later did his own research, however, and concluded that the prints were Oswald's, because by then he had Oswald's prints on file.<ref name="Day testimony, ibid"/><ref>CE 638 and CE 639, [http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh17/html/WH_Vol17_0159a.htm Photograph of Oswald's right palmprint card with a circle around a portion of the palmprint, and photograph of the lift in CE 637], Warren Commission Hearings and Exhibits, vol. 17, p. 291.</ref>

Police Chief Jesse Curry testified that&nbsp;– despite believing that the FBI had no jurisdiction over the case&nbsp;– he complied with FBI requests to send the rifle and all other evidence to their laboratories in Washington.<ref>[http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/curry1.htm Testimony of Jesse Edward Curry] Retrieved 26 May 2010</ref> During the night after Kennedy's murder, the rifle was taken by FBI agent Vincent Drain from Dallas to Washington D.C., who then gave it to FBI agent Robert Frazier. He testified that he kept it in the FBI office until November 27, 1963, whereupon it was sent back to Dallas and given back to someone at the Dallas Police Department for reasons unclear. It was later sent back to the FBI headquarters in Washington.

Sebastian Latona, supervisor of the Latent Fingerprint section of the FBI’s identification Division,<ref>Warren Commission Report, [http://jfkassassination.net/russ/testimony/latona.htm p.123].</ref> testified that the palm print found on the barrel of the rifle belonged to Lee Harvey Oswald. Experts agree that palm prints are as unique as fingerprints for purposes of establishing identification.

Initially misidentified as being a German-made Mauser rifle, the Dallas police, upon examination in their lab, determined it to be an Italian-made Carcano. The Warren Commission concluded that the initial identification of the rifle as a Mauser was in error.<ref>http://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-5.html Page 235</ref> The House Select Committee on Assassinations investigated claims from researchers that the rifle in fact was a Mauser. The Committee compared photos taken by the Dallas police of the rifle in place, a news film of the rifle being recovered, news photos of the rifle being carried from the Depository, numerous news photos and films of the rifle being carried through the halls of the Dallas police headquarters, as well as photos later taken by the FBI and the Dallas police, and compared them to the Carcano rifle held at the National Archives. They concluded the rifle depicted in the photos and films was the same rifle held in the Archives and therefore was the Carcano and not a Mauser.<ref>http://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/select-committee-report/part-1a.html Page 51</ref>

==Rifle==

[[File:Lee Harvey Oswald's order form and envelope (exhibit CE773).jpg|thumb|Order form and envelope used by Oswald to purchase the Carcano rifle]]
This surplus-sold rifle had the markings: "CAL. 6.5," "MADE ITALY," "TERNI," (the city of the manufacturer: the Royal Arms factory) stamped with the Italian royal crown, and "ROCCA" (the manufacturer of the bolt cocking piece); it also had the serial number '''C 2766''' and the numerals "1940" and "40" (the year of manufacture).

The 4-power telescope, made by Ordnance Optics, had been attached to the rifle by the gunsmith at Klein's Sporting Goods, an American retailer, shortly before being sold as a single unit with the surplus rifle, to Oswald.<ref>Testimony of William Waldman, Warren Commission Hearings and Exhibits, vol. 7, [http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh7/html/WC_Vol7_0188b.htm p. 368.] Attachment of the scope to the rifle</ref>

Joseph D. Nicol, superintendent of the Illinois Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation, and Robert A. Frazier, FBI special agent, testified to the Warren Commission.<ref>Warren Commission Report, p. 84</ref> A distinctive gouge mark and identical dimensions also identify it as the rifle Oswald is holding in several photographs taken in his backyard by his wife in March 1963.<ref>Warren Commission Report, Appendix X: Expert Testimony, "[http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wr/html/WCReport_0308b.htm Photographs]", pp. 592–597. House Select Committee on Assassinations, Appendix to Hearings, Vol. 6, Chapter 3: The Assassin, "[http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/hsca/reportvols/vol6/html/HSCA_Vol6_0035a.htm The Alleged Assassination Weapon]", pp. 63–107.</ref>

A 6.5&nbsp;mm (.264 in) {{convert|160|gr|abbr=on}} round-nosed fully copper-jacketed bullet, of a type normally used in 6.5&nbsp;mm military rifles (such as the Carcano) was found on Governor Connally's [[gurney]] in Parkland Hospital. This bullet (CE 399, see [[single bullet theory]]), and two bullet fragments found in the presidential limousine, were ballistically matched to the rifle found in the book depository building. A partial palm print of Oswald was also found on the barrel of the gun.<ref>[http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh4/html/WC_Vol4_0016b.htm Testimony of Sebastian F. Latona], Warren Commission Hearings and Exhibits, vol. 4, p. 24.</ref><ref>Commission Exhibit 2637, [http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh25/html/WC_Vol25_0464a.htm Letter dated September 4, 1964, from FBI to Commission attaching photograph showing comparison of irregularities on lift of palmprint from barrel of rifle and on rifle itself] p. 897.</ref>

* Rifle
:6.5 × 52 mm Italian [[Carcano]] M91/38 bolt-action rifle with a six-round [[Magazine (firearms)|magazine]]
:Serial number C2766. Overall length when assembled: 40.12 inches (102.1 cm); longest piece when disassembled: 34.8 inches (88.4 cm)<ref>[http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh3/html/WC_Vol3_0202a.htm Testimony of Robert A. Frazier], Warren Commission Hearings, 3 H 395.</ref>
:Western Cartridge Co. ammunition with a 160 grain (10.37 g) round nose bullet
:Side-mounted Ordnance Optics 4 × 18 telescopic sight
[[File:Carcanoclip.jpg|thumb|150px|En bloc clip used in Oswald's Carcano rifle.]]

Agents of the FBI learned on November 22, 1963 from retail gun dealers in Dallas that Crescent Firearms, Inc., of New York City, was a distributor of surplus Italian 6.5-millimeter military rifles.<ref>[http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh11/html/WC_Vol11_0109a.htm Affidavit of Albert Yeargan], Warren Commission Hearings and Exhibits, vol. 11, p. 207.</ref><ref>[http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh11/html/WC_Vol11_0108b.htm Affidavit of J. Philip Lux], Warren Commission Hearings and Exhibits, vol. 11, p. 206.</ref><ref>[http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh7/html/WC_Vol7_0186b.htm Testimony of William Waldman], Warren Commission Hearings and Exhibits, vol. 7, p. 364.</ref> When contacted, Crescent Firearms said that they had shipped the rifle with the serial number C2766 to Klein’s Sporting Goods Co., of [[Chicago]]. On the morning of November 23, Klein's found the order coupon and shipping record, showing the rifle was ordered by and shipped to "A. Hidell" at post office box 2915 in Dallas, Texas.<ref>[http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh21/html/WH_Vol21_0364a.htm Waldman Exhibit No. 7], Warren Commission Hearings and Exhibits, vol. 21, p. 703.</ref><ref>[http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh21/html/WH_Vol21_0364b.htm Waldman Exhibit No. 8], Warren Commission Hearings and Exhibits, vol. 21, p. 704.</ref><ref>[http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh7/html/WC_Vol7_0189b.htm Testimony of Mitchell J. Scibor], Warren Commission Hearings and Exhibits, vol. 7, p. 370–371.</ref> That box had been rented under the name of Lee H. Oswald.<ref>CE 791, [http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh17/html/WH_Vol17_0353a.htm Portion of an application for Post Office Box 2195, Dallas, Tex., dated October 9, 1962], Warren Commission Hearings and Exhibits, vol. 17, p. 679.</ref> Oswald was carrying two forged identification cards with the name "Alek James Hidell" in his wallet at the time of his arrest.<ref>CE 795, [http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh17/html/WH_Vol17_0354a.htm A spurious Selective Service System notice of classification card in the name of "Alek James Hidell"], Warren Commission Hearings and Exhibits, vol. 17, p. 681.</ref><ref>CE 806, [http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh17/html/WH_Vol17_0358a.htm A counterfeit certificate of service card in the U.S. Marine Corps in the name of "Alek James Hidell"], Warren Commission Hearings and Exhibits, vol. 17, p. 689.</ref><ref>CE 2011, [http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh24/html/WH_Vol24_0220a.htm FBI report dated July 7, 1964, at Dallas, Tex., re tracing various items of physical evidence], Warren Commission Hearings and Exhibits, vol. 24, p. 421.</ref>

The handwriting on the order coupon perfectly matched that of Oswald's when compared to his passport application and letters he had written. The Italian Armed Forces Intelligence Agency reported that the rifle with the serial number of C2766 was unique in its records.<ref>Warren Commission Report, p. 119.</ref>

In 1979, photographic analysis by the [[House Select Committee on Assassinations]] found that the rifle in the [[National Archives and Records Administration|National Archives]] was photographically identical, in a number of distinctive marks, to the one found in the book depository and photographed at the time by numerous journalists and the police. The rifle was also identical in its dimensions to the one seen in the Oswald backyard photos, and both had the same damage mark on the stock.<ref>[http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/hsca/reportvols/vol6/html/HSCA_Vol6_0035a.htm The Assassin: The Alleged Assassination Weapon], HSCA Appendix, vol. 6, p. 63–107.</ref>

==Revolver==
[[File:OswaldRevovlerNARA.jpg|thumb|The revolver Oswald was carrying at the time of his arrest]]
The snub-nosed [[Smith & Wesson Model 10|Smith & Wesson "Victory" Model]] [[.38 Special]] [[revolver]], serial number V510210, that Oswald had in his hand when he was arrested in a movie theater eighty minutes after the assassination, was identified by model and serial number as the one purchased by mail order to the same P.O. Box as the rifle, and also by an “A.J. Hidell”, with handwriting that matched Oswald’s. The Warren Commission concluded that Oswald used the revolver to shoot and kill Dallas police officer [[J.D. Tippit]] about forty-five minutes after the assassination when Tippit stopped Oswald on a residential street.<ref>[http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wr/html/WCReport_0100b.htm The Killing of Patrolman J.D. Tippit: Conclusion], Warren Commission Report, p. 176.</ref>

==Shirt==

On the day Kennedy was killed, Oswald was wearing a shirt of dark blue, grey-black and orange-yellow cotton fibers over a white [[T-shirt]], the same type of fibers that were recovered from the rifle after close examination by experts.

In the crevice between the butt-plate and the wooden stock of the rifle, a tuft of several cotton fibers of dark blue, grey-black and orange-yellow shades were found.

After tests of colors, shades, and weave patterns of the fibers found on the gun, Paul Stombaugh, a special agent of the FBI Laboratory's Hair and Fiber Unit, matched the fibers found on the gun to the fibers from Oswald’s shirt.<ref>[http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wr/html/WCReport_0074b.htm Warren Commission Report], p. 124.</ref>

==Firing range==

During his Marine Corps service in December 1956, Oswald scored a rating of ''sharpshooter'' (twice achieving 48 and 49 out of 50 shots during rapid fire at a stationary target 200 yards [183 m] away using a standard issue [[M1 Garand]] semi-automatic rifle), although in May 1959, he qualified as a ''marksman'' (a lower classification than that of ''sharpshooter''). Military experts, after examining his records, characterized his firearms proficiency as "above average" and said he was, when compared to American civilian males of his age, "an excellent shot".<ref>Warren Commission Report, Chapter 4: The Assassin, p. 191, [http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wr/html/WCReport_0108a.htm Oswald's Marine Training AARC Library site].</ref>

However, Nelson Delgado, a Marine in the same unit as Oswald, used to laugh at Oswald's shooting prowess and testified that Oswald often got "Maggie's drawers"; meaning a red flag that is waved from the rifle pits to indicate a ''complete miss'' of the target during qualification firing. He also said that Oswald did not seem to care if he missed or not.<ref>Warren Commission Hearings, [http://jfkassassination.net/russ/testimony/delgado.htm Testimony Of Nelson Delgado JFK Assassination Net].</ref> Delgado was first stationed with Oswald in Santa Ana, California at the beginning of 1958 meeting him for the first time there and a little more than a year after Oswald first made sharpshooter.<ref>[http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?rls=GGLG,GGLG%3A2007-25,GGLG%3Aen&hl=en&q=cache:Nke3uqSZRQYJ:http://www.wf.net/~biles/jfk/delgado.htm+Nelson+Delgado+joined+the+Marines+in&ct=clnk Google webcache of the ''TESTIMONY OF NELSON DELGADO'' on April 16, 1964, at the U.S. Courthouse, Foley Square, New York, N.Y., by Mr. Wesley J. Liebeler, assistant counsel of the President's Commission.]</ref>

Skeptics have argued that expert marksmen could not duplicate Oswald's shooting in their first try during re-enactments by the Warren Commission (1964) and CBS (1967). In those tests the marksmen attempted to hit the target three times within 5.6 seconds. This time span has been heavily disputed. The Warren Commission itself estimated that the time span between the two shots that hit President Kennedy was 4.8 to 5.6 seconds. If the second shot missed (assuming the first and third shots hit the president), then 4.8 to 5.6 seconds was the total time span of the shots. If the first or third shot missed, that would give a minimum time of 7.1 to 7.9 seconds for the three shots.<ref>Warren Commission Report, p. 117.</ref> Modern analysis of a digitally enhanced [[Zapruder film]] suggests that the first, second, and final shot may have taken 8.3 seconds.

Many of [[CBS]]'s 11 volunteer marksmen, who (unlike Oswald) had no prior experience with a properly sighted Carcano, were able to hit the test target two times in under the time allowed, although they were all afforded multiple attempts. The only man who scored three hits was a firearms examiner from Maryland by the name of [[Howard Donahue]].

==FBI tests==

The FBI tests of the Carcano's accuracy showed:

1) FBI firearms expert Robert A. Frazier testified that "It is a very accurate weapon. The targets we fired show that."<ref>Warren Commission Hearings, [http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/frazr1.htm Testimony of Robert A. Frazier].</ref> From {{convert|15|yd}}, all three bullets in a test firing landed approximately 2½&nbsp;inches high, and {{convert|1|in|mm|sing=on}} to the right, in the area about the size of a dime.<ref>Warren Commission Exhibit CE-549.</ref> At {{convert|100|yd}}, the test shots landed 2½ to {{convert|5|in|mm}} high, within a 3 to {{convert|5|in|mm|sing=on}} circle. Frazier testified that the scope's high variation would actually work in the shooter's favor: with a target moving away from the shooter, no lead correction would have been necessary to follow the target. "At that range, at that distance, {{convert|175|ft|m}} to {{convert|265|ft|m}},<ref>The Warren Commission estimated that President Kennedy was {{convert|176.9|ft|m}} to {{convert|190.8|ft|m}} from the sixth floor corner window of the Depository when he was shot in the neck, and {{convert|265.3|ft|m}} when he was shot in the head.</ref> with this rifle and that telescopic sight, I would not have allowed any lead&nbsp;— I would not have made any correction for lead merely to hit a target of that size."

2) The rifle couldn't be perfectly sighted in using the scope (i.e., thereby eliminating the above overshoot completely) without installing two metal shims (small metal plates), which were not present when the rifle arrived for testing, and were never found.<ref>Warren Commission Hearings: 3 WCH 440-5.</ref> Frazier testified that there was "a rather severe scrape" on the scope tube, and that the sight could have been bent or damaged. He was unable to determine when the defect occurred before the FBI received the rifle and scope on November 27, 1963.

==Ballistics Research Laboratory tests==

In an effort to test the rifle under conditions that matched the assassination, the Infantry Weapons Evaluation Branch of the U.S. Army's [[Ballistics Research Laboratory]] had expert riflemen fire the assassination weapon from a tower at three silhouette targets at distances of 175, 240, and {{convert|265|ft|m}}.<ref>Warren Commission Hearings, [http://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh3/html/WC_Vol3_0226b.htm Testimony of Ronald Simmons].</ref> Using the assassination rifle mounted with the telescopic sight, three marksmen, rated as master by the [[National Rifle Association]], each fired two series of three shots. In the first series the firers required time spans of 4.6, 6.75, and 8.25 seconds respectively. On the second series they required 5.15, 6.45, and 7 seconds. The marksmen took as much time as they wanted for the first target at {{convert|175|ft|m}}, and all hit the target. For the first four attempts, the firers missed the second shot at {{convert|240|ft|m}} by several inches. Five of the six shots hit the third target at {{convert|265|ft|m}}, the distance of President Kennedy from the sixth floor window when he was struck in the head.<ref>Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 17, CE 586 [http://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh17/html/WH_Vol17_0145a.htm Table, based on figures obtained in tests with the assassination rifle, showing "Hit probability (with the rifle) as a function of range and aiming error"].</ref> None of the marksmen had any practice with the assassination weapon beforehand except to work the bolt.

CBS conducted a firing test in 1967 at the H. P. White Ballistics Laboratory located in Street, Maryland. For the test 11 marksmen from diverse backgrounds were invited to participate: 3 Maryland State Troopers, 1 weapons engineer, 1 sporting goods dealer, 1 sportsman, 1 ballistics technician, 1 ex-paratrooper, and 3 H. P. White employees. CBS provided several Carcano rifles for the test. Oswald's rifle was not used in this test. The targets were color-coded orange for head/shoulder silhouette and blue for a near miss. The results of the CBS test were as follows: 7 of 11 shooters were able to fire three rounds under 5.6 seconds (64%). Of those 7 shooters, 6 hit the orange target once (86%), and 5 hit the orange target twice (71%). Out of 60 rounds fired, 25 hit the orange (42%), 21 hit the blue portion of the target (35%), and there were 14 misses on the target (23%).

One volunteer was unable to operate his rifle effectively so the following statistics are based on the 10 remaining shooters. The average time of all 10 was 5.64 seconds. The mode was 5.55 seconds and the mean was 5.70 seconds. The average for the top five shooters was 5.12 seconds, and for the bottom five shooters 6.16 seconds. There was a high occurrence of jamming during the test. On average the rifles jammed after 6 rounds. The most rounds fired without jamming were 14, 11, 10 in a row. The least was 0 (back to back).

The first shooter to lead off the experiment was Al Sherman, Maryland State Trooper. The record of his effort:
5.0 sec: 2 orange, 1 blue / 6.0 sec: 2 orange, 1 blue / NT (jam at 3rd cartridge)/ 5.2 sec: 1 orange, 2 low / 5.0 sec: 1 orange, 2 blue. Sherman was able to fire 8 rounds before his rifle jammed. Of all shooters, the fastest times were: 4.1 sec, 4.3 sec, 4.9 sec, 5.0 sec. The best accuracy was 3 orange in 5.2 seconds. The rifles were oiled and allowed to cool down between shooters. CBS reporter [[Dan Rather]] attended this experiment.

During the investigation by the [[United States House Select Committee on Assassinations|House Select Committee on Assassinations]] (1976–1978), the lead attorneys for the Committee, Robert Blakey and Gary Cornwell, were allowed to use WC-139 at an FBI firing range. The attorneys wanted to see how fast the bolt action could be operated. Blakey was able to fire two rounds in 1.5 seconds and Cornwell fired two rounds in 1.2 seconds. This was an experiment to test a possible theory that Oswald in his excitement may have pointed and fired, as opposed to aimed and fired. Some critics of the Warren Commission had claimed it was impossible to fire a Carcano rifle in less than 2.3 seconds. Both the CBS and HSCA tests proved conclusively that the claim was not accurate.<ref>"The committee test fired a Mannlicher-Carcano rifle using the open iron sights. It found that it was possible for two shots to be fired within 1.66 seconds." [http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/hsca/report/html/HSCA_Report_0057a.htm HSCA Report, p. 83].</ref>

==Other research==

[[Vincent Bugliosi]] puts forward the hypothesis that Oswald fired the Carcano over open sights, which reduced the time necessary to take the three shots postulated by the Warren Commission. He notes that with the downward slope on [[Dealey Plaza]], President Kennedy's head would have appeared to Oswald to be a stationary target as the vehicle moved down and away at a slow speed. This suggestion also therefore makes any claim that the scope was defective to be meaningless with respect to Oswald's shooting ability.
However, with the M91/38 open sights being factory set to be accurate at 200 meters, the final shot being well under 100 meters and the M91/38 not being a very flat shooting rifle to begin with (up to ten inches high at 100 meters), this rifle would have been shooting quite high and would have made hitting JFK extremely difficult. This would have been further exacerbated by the steep downward angle from the sixth floor of the TSBD to the limo which would have made the shot go even higher than what Oswald would have been aiming at.<ref>Vincent Bugliosi, ''Reclaiming History'', W.W. Norton & Company, 2007. ISBN 978-0-393-04525-3.</ref>

In 2008, The Discovery Channel produced a documentary that played out several different versions of the Kennedy Assassination on a dummy that had been specifically designed for ballistics tests, recreating the elevation, wind speed and distance at a California shooting range. Their forensic analysis, backed by computer models, showed that it was most likely that the shot that killed President Kennedy came from the Texas School Book Depository. They also concluded that a shot from the grassy knoll would have completely obliterated Kennedy's skull, contrary to what is seen in the Zapruder Film. However, in this conclusion they assumed that an assassin on the grassy knoll would have used [[hollow point]] ammunition, which expands on impact to maximize damage. Thereafter, they attempted a second shot from the grassy knoll position, using a solid round. Analysis revealed that this bullet would have passed through Kennedy's skull from right to left, causing an exit wound on the left-hand side of the skull that did not match any postmortem reports. They also suggested that the bullet trajectory from this shot would have struck and likely killed Mrs. Kennedy.<ref>"[http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/11/13/jfk-forensics-tech-02.html Tech Puts JFK Conspiracy Theories to Rest]{{dead link|date=July 2013}}", "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szGciJo0iPo&feature=fvst JFK: Inside the Target Car - Grassy Knoll Field Test]"</ref>

==Later history==
[[File:Photo hsca ex 179.jpg|thumb|Oswald with the rifle, pistol, and two newspapers, in Dallas in 1963]]
The rifle remained in the possession of the FBI from November 1963 to November 1966, except for brief periods in 1964 when it was loaned to the Warren Commission and tested by the U.S. Army's Weapons Evaluation Branch. Likewise, the pistol was held by the FBI from November 1963 to November 1966, except for a brief period in 1964 when it was loaned to the Warren Commission.<ref name="constitution.org">''[http://www.constitution.org/2ll/bardwell/us_v_mannlicher.txt U.S. v. One 6.5 mm. Mannlicher-Carcano Military Rifle]'', 250 F.Supp. 410 (N.D. Tex. 1966).</ref>

In December 1964, Lee Oswald's widow Marina sold whatever right, interest, or title that she had in the rifle and pistol for $5,000; and in March 1965 she sold whatever power of sale she had in them for an additional $5,000. A $35,000 additional payment to Marina Oswald was contingent upon the buyer obtaining possession "free and clear of all adverse claims."

The buyer, Denver oilman and gun collector John J. King,<ref>"[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,835196,00.html The Guns of Dallas]", ''Time'', March 4, 1966.</ref> commenced an action in federal court in May 1965 for the recovery of the weapons from possession of the U.S. government. In response, the [[Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives|Alcohol and Tobacco Tax Division]] of the [[Internal Revenue Service]] began an ''[[in rem]]'' [[asset forfeiture|forfeiture]] proceeding against the rifle and the pistol.<ref name="constitution.org"/> The [[United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas|U.S. District Court]] held that Oswald had used fictitious names when purchasing the weapons, in violation of the [[Federal Firearms Act of 1938]],<ref>Federal Firearms Act, [http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode15/usc_sec_15_00000901----000-.html 15 U.S.C. §§ 901-909], and the regulations promulgated thereunder, 26 C.F.R. 177.51.</ref> which allowed for immediate seizure and forfeiture of any such illegally obtained weapons.

The lower court's decision was reversed upon appeal in July 1966, with the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit|appellate court]] holding that "There is no provision in the Federal Firearms Act requiring a purchaser to use his true name when ordering weapons from a dealer licensed under the Act", and that the government would have to acquire title to the weapons by [[eminent domain|condemnation]].<ref>''[http://bulk.resource.org/courts.gov/c/F2/364/364.F2d.235.23637.html King v. United States]'', 364 F.2d 235 (5 Cir. 1966).</ref> Thereafter, in November 1966, the [[United States Attorney General|U.S. Attorney General]], acting under the authority provided by Public Law 89-318,<ref>Act of November 2, 1965, 79 Stat 1185. The law provides:
:"Sec. 2. (a) The Attorney General is authorized to  determine, from time to time, which items should, in conformity with the declaration contained in the first section of this Act [concerning evidence in the Kennedy assassination], be acquired and preserved by the United States.  Each such determination shall be published in the Federal Register.

:"(b) Whenever the Attorney General determines that an item should be acquired and preserved by the United States, all right, title, and interest in and to, that item shall be vested in the United States upon the publication of that determination in the Federal Register."</ref> published his determination that the various items considered by the Warren Commission, including the weapons which were the subject of the forfeiture proceeding, should be acquired by the United States. Upon the publication of the Attorney General's determination, "all rights, title, and interest in and to" the weapons "vested in the United States."

The buyer sued the U.S. government for damages of $5 million for the taking of the weapons, but his claim was rejected by the court, which set the case for trial, and wrote,
:"The demand of plaintiff for $5,000,000 is on its face inequitable&nbsp;— in fact unconscionable&nbsp;— and would appear to be based on some projected market value which could only arise from the fact that these are curiosities which derive their character as such from the assassination and which can be exhibited on a profit basis. But the uniqueness of the items in question, in our opinion, precludes reception of evidence of market value. We can see no demonstrable market for these particular objects."<ref>''[http://www.constitution.org/2ll/bardwell/king_v_us2.txt King v. U.S.]'', 292 F.Supp. 767, 775 (D.C. Colo. 1968).</ref>

King's claim was heard at trial in federal court in 1969, where a twelve-person jury agreed with the government's contention that Lee Oswald had [[Abandonment (legal)|abandoned]] the rifle in 1963, therefore Marina Oswald had no claim to it or a right of sale. King received no compensation for the rifle's taking by the federal government, although he did receive $350 in compensation for the government's taking of the pistol found on Oswald at his arrest, which King had also purchased from Marina Oswald.<ref>"Pay for Oswald Rifle Is Denied", ''The Washington Post'', Feb. 25, 1969, p. A3.</ref><ref>Jury Bars Payment for Oswald's Rifle", ''The New York Times'', Feb. 25, 1969, p. 18.</ref>

The rifle and the pistol are now kept in a secure location within the [[National Archives and Records Administration]] Building in [[College Park, Maryland]].

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

{{Assassination of John F. Kennedy}}

[[Category:Assassination of John F. Kennedy|Rifle]]
[[Category:Individual weapons|Kennedy]]