This one's for Walt really, but anyone with a decent knowledge of rifles might be able to help me out (as I have literally zero practical knowledge of firearms).
In the picture below the bolt (more specifically, the part of the bolt that is gripped in order to reload) is picked out with a red arrow.
What does the position of this bolt mean (if that makes any sense)?
What would it mean if the MC was picked off the floor with the bolt in this position?
In the picture below the bolt (more specifically, the part of the bolt that is gripped in order to reload) is picked out with a red arrow.
What does the position of this bolt mean (if that makes any sense)?
What would it mean if the MC was picked off the floor with the bolt in this position?
What does the position of this bolt mean? Thanks for posting the photo ( frame from Tom Alyea's film) ....
Though there are few who will comprehend the information provided by the position of that bolt handle, I hope that I can shed a little light on the matter.
Referring to the picture..... The bolt handle clearly shows that the rifle definitely is NOT "ready to fire" as many LNer's think. They like to believe that the carcano was Lee Oswald's and he shot JFK with it and then discarded it with a live round in the chamber and ready to fire. If that were true the rifle could have been fired and possibly injured or killed an innocent investigator. This is just another way of making their villain,
Lee Harvey Osssssswald BOOOOOO HISSSS appear to be a irresponsible ner-do-well.
What does the position of this bolt mean? Answer: In a "nut shell" the position of the bolt handle in the photo clearly says that the Warren Commission were liars.
I can only speculate about the reason the bolt isn't closed and latched.....BUT Id wager the farm that the live round was in the chamber and that prevented the bolt from being closed and latched. (We have photos and testimony that the live round DROPPED OUT onto the floor at Captain Fritz's feet.) This means that the live round was NOT served up into the face of the bolt by the action of the cartridge elevator, but the live cartridge was in fact simply dropped into the chamber.....
The carcano cannot be loaded by simply dropping a cartridge into the chamber and then closing the bolt ( many bolt action rifles CAN be loaded in this manner but NOT THE CARCANO. ) The live round in the chamber blocks the bolt because the extractor is blocked from camming up and over the cartridge lip.
I doubt that many readers will understand the above....But I'm willing to wager a gold coin that nobody can close and latch the bolt on the carcano with a cartridge in the chamber. Anybody who tries will find that the bolt handle stops just as it's seen in the Tom Alyea film.
I hope this helps ......and it becomes clear that the live round that fell out on the floor was not fed into the chamber by the normal action of ejecting a spent shell and loading a live one.