If it can be done, then why hasn't anyone done so? Or to put it another way we can put to rest the rumor that it has ever been done on video
I have seen such a show on the Discovery Channel several years ago but have not been able to find it on youtube.
About 10 years ago, Michael Yardley did a one-hour program for the Discovery Channel. It was not allowed to fire a real rifle at Dealey Plaza, but he aimed a rifle mounted with a laser pointer, that would momentarily light up when he pressed the trigger. He was able to hit a moving target on Elm Street this way.
A better test, he was able to hit a car that was towed by a cable, moving at 10 mph, at similar elevation and at the similar angles as the three alleged shots at roughly z153, z222 and z312. This test was done in the countryside, where he was allowed to fire a rifle. He fired 16 times and all 16 times he hit a melon size object. He never missed.
As I recall, the firing angle were more difficult for Michael Yardley than it would have been for Oswald, at least for the second and third shots. The car was not moving directly away from Yardley but at a significant angle.
The tests did show one problem. The rifle he was using, the same model Carcano of Oswald?s, tended to jam. He attempted 7 firing sequences with an attempt to fire 3 shots. But in 3 of the 7 sequences, the rifle jammed at some point. But in 4 of the 7, there was no jam and he got off all 3 shots and they always hit the melon size target. He managed to get off 16 shots altogether and all 16 hit the target.
It is possible, since Oswald owned the rifle, and his wife said he practice dry firing with it, Oswald may have been able to work the bolt more smoothly than Michael Yardley. In any case, even if Oswald was no better than Michael Yardley at avoiding jams, he had a 50-50 chance of getting off all three shots.
My most major problem with this test, was that they did not state, as I recall, if Michael Yardley was using the iron sights or the scope. My impression was he always used the scope. I would like to see a test where a shooter used the iron sights, because the scope was probably misaligned on Oswald?s scope. No special effort was made by the company that sold the rifle to align the scope. Oswald (I reasonably assume) would not have been able to align the scope and probably just used the iron sights. Since the shots were all under 100 yards, I assume that using the iron sights would not be a problem. But I would like to see this demonstrated.
In any case, at least using a Carcano rifle with a properly mounted scope, a good shooter can hit a moving target, at 10 mph, at under 100 yards, without the target moving directly away from the shooter.
This program is not to be confused with aother Discovery Channel programs Michael Yardley partipcated in. This better known show, which does NOT show the scenes I describe was:
?JFK: Inside the Target Car?
But the correct show was, I believe:
?Discovery Channel: Unsolved History - JFK Conspiracy?
Made about a year before the ?Inside the Target Car? show. I have not been able to find this show on Youtube.
