Oswald's sack in the Sniper's nest.

[Walt Cakebread]

Turning surplus military rifles into hunting rifles was and is a economical and popular thing in gun cultures like Texas.

This is very true...However ....One of the primary reasons that gun buffs convert military rifles to high powered or hunting rifles is due to the fact that some military rifles were of superior quality.   A sportsman could build a very high quality rifle at a economical price.   BUT   Not many sportsmen started with an inferior, smaller caliber, hard to reload,  rifles, like the Mannlicher Carcano.      The Carcano wasn't worth the time and effort......

If he is lying, many of those listening would know he is. He also knows he won't be challenged by anyone.

This is also very true....A good example of the naivete  and gullibility of the reporters, is DA Henry Wade telling them that the DPD had found Lee Harrrrrrvey Osssssswald's ( Boooo Hisssss) prints on the rifle.    Which was a bare faced lie.....But the reporters swallowed his lie without asking for verification.

Detective J.C. Day said....."Just looking at it, I thought the chances were slim that we’d find any prints on the rifle itself. It had what we call a wartime
finish on the barrel which would lift out of the stock. That type of surface didn’t take prints well, nor did the wood stock which was too course or rough.

And DA Liar Henry Wade said....."Oh, By the way.... Did I mention that they've found  Oswald's print's on the gun"

So we have Detective Day saying that he didn't think there would be any prints found ( this was long after 2:00 pm Friday afternoon when he had dusted the carcano looking for prints and never found any identifiable prints.) While liar Wade is telling reporters that Day had found prints.

[Jack Nessan]

Turning surplus military rifles into hunting rifles was and is a economical and popular thing in gun cultures like Texas.

This is very true...However ....One of the primary reasons that gun buffs convert military rifles to high powered or hunting rifles is due to the fact that some military rifles were of superior quality.   A sportsman could build a very high quality rifle at a economical price.   BUT   Not many sportsmen started with an inferior, smaller caliber, hard to reload,  rifles, like the Mannlicher Carcano.      The Carcano wasn't worth the time and effort......

There is a million WW1 Austrian soldiers that will attest to the quality and accuracy of the Carcano.

[Martin Weidmann]

There is a million WW1 Austrian soldiers that will attest to the quality and accuracy of the Carcano.

And they are all dead and buried, so you can easily make such an unverifiable and meaningless claim......

[Walt Cakebread]

There is a million WW1 Austrian soldiers that will attest to the quality and accuracy of the Carcano.

So you believe that there are a million Austrian veterans still alive and willing to attest to the quality if a mannlicher carcano?   This is proof that you believe in the damnedest BS imaginable.....

Nobody said that the Carcano wasn't an effective weapon......But It sure as hell is grossly inferior to the Mauser or the Springfield.......

[Charles Collins]

There is a million WW1 Austrian soldiers that will attest to the quality and accuracy of the Carcano.

From “Live by the Sword” by Gus Russo:


The Rifle’s Capability

If Oswald was up to the task, surely his cheap ($13) rifle was incapable of such a performance, other critics assert. Upon close examination, this too proves to be an inaccurate oversimplification. Originally manufactured in 1891 for the Italian Army, the bolt-action 6.5 mm Mannlicher-Carcano rifle Oswald owned has been widely maligned as too inferior to be used in the assassination. The truth is that this weapon is so powerful—and accurate—at the range of the Kennedy murder that it should be among the last choices for a weapon someone would want pointed at them from that distance. At the turn-of-the-twentieth-century, for example, the Mannlicher-Carcano was the weapon of choice for those competing in 1,000-yard shooting contests! It was preferred because it was one of the first to incorporate the new idea of “gain twist,” popularized by the famous 19th century American gun-barrel maker, Harry Pope. Gain twist means simply that the grooves inside of the rifle barrel were designed to make the bullet spiral as it exited, much like a well-thrown football. Just as in football, the imparted spiral, or twist, increases the stability and accuracy of the bullet. The Mannlicher has a slightly higher twist ratio (1:8”) than the current military issue M-16 (1:7”). The rifle has been further ridiculed because of its bolt-action mechanism, which obviously impedes the ability to fire off multiple shots in rapid succession—presumably necessary under the circumstances. This criticism, however, ignores the fact that the knob on the end of the bolt is not there for either aesthetic reasons or comfort. This practical addition allows the well-practiced shooter minimal hand movement when cycling from the trigger to the bolt— essentially rotating the trigger hand in one plane past the knob, with no extraneous movement. This is easier demonstrated than described. Someone skilled in the weapon’s use could recycle the weapon in under two seconds, much less than was actually needed in the Kennedy case. Oswald may very well have been so skilled. I noted earlier in the text that Marina Oswald was disturbed by Lee’s repeated dry-firing speed drills on their New Orleans front porch. Witnesses in Dallas recall the speed and accuracy with which he performed at the shooting range in the days just prior to Kennedy’s murder. Oswald’s ammunition was similarly deadly. The Mannlicher Carcano bullets are full-metal jacketed, hyper-velocity (2,700 fps—feet per second), and heavy-loaded (160 grains—twice the amount of today’s bullets of the same caliber). In addition, they are extremely long projectiles, giving them (especially in combination with the gain twist rifle barrel) increased stability. HSCA ballistics expert Larry SPersonivan testified that the Mannlicher-Carcano bullet is “one of the most stable bullets we have ever done experimentation with.” After the infamous dum-dum bullets (which caused massive fatal injuries) were outlawed at the end of World War I, this Mannlicher rifle/bullet combination became extremely popular because of its amazing penetrating abilities, which are legendary among big game hunters and ballistics experts. Outlawing the combination was in fact welcomed by military planners because even though the bullet, when striking the torso, caused fewer fatalities, it often disabled two or more soldiers—this, combined with the two men who had to carry out the wounded, showed how economical and strategic one well-placed bullet could be. Mannlicher ammunition has often been the ammunition of choice for big game hunters because it penetrates even the thick skulls of elephants. In experiments conducted by Dr. John Nichols and Dr. John Lattimer, using identical bullets (and rifle) as Oswald’s, the bullets cleanly penetrated four feet of ponderosa pine and two feet of elm wood, emerging undamaged. Furthermore, these bullets are considered “over-stabilized,” meaning that after the first penetration, they begin spinning like helicopter blades, which causes even more injury to the second person hit. Sound familiar? In the Kennedy killing, the penetrating abilities of this ammunition allowed one bullet to wound two victims, with the second victim, Governor Connally, suffering massive torso damage from the spinning, “over-stabilized” bullet. In summary, the Mannlicher Carcano, when combined with its accompanying ammunition, is clearly a weapon to be reckoned with.

[Charles Collins]

The timing of 3:00 pm is correct within just a few minutes, based on the doorway shadows in this Allen photograph compared with my 3D model. The simulation runs from 2:45 to 3:15.

Nice work James! Thanks!

[Charles Collins]

Thanks James....  It certainly appears that the time that Montgomery and Johnson departed the TSBD with that huge paper sack was around 3:00pm.

I wonder if you've used the shadows to determine what time Detective Day left the TSBD with the carcano.     I believe that Day departed at about 2:10 and returned to the TSBD about an hour later.....  Or around 3:15.....  If that is true, then Montgomery left with the paper sack before Day returned, and Day never saw this bag in the imaginary "Sniper's Nest"

From Sixth Floor Museum Oral History interview of Carl Day by Bob Porter (8/15/1996):


I put a, I think I put a little powder on the gun at the time, but I told Captain Fritz this is not the place to try to work on this gun. I took it back to the City Hall and locked it up. This must have been maybe 2 p.m., best of my memory.
.
.
.

When I was going to City Hall with Mr. Odom, with the gun, I asked him then, how badly is he hit? He said the president is dead. Well that was the first I knew that the shot had been fatal. And then of course when I got back to the building, after taking it up there - I guess it took me 30 minutes to go up there and back - Mr. Truly told me that one of his men had been arrested. And I didn‟t at that time know that Mr., Officer Tippit had been killed.
Bob:

[Bill Chapman]

There is a million WW1 Austrian soldiers that will attest to the quality and accuracy of the Carcano.

Does that include Hitler?
Got his phone number in Argentina?