Can anybody provide proof of a successful reenactment of Oswald's feat?

[Bruce Backlund]

In Marina's statement to Dallas PD 11/22/63, she was shown a rifle at headquarters allegedly owned by her husband, but could not positively ID it as she did not remember a telescopic sight mounted on it. However, she allegedly took some photographs of Lee holding it  6 months earlier. She also makes a comment about Lee using a rifle in Russia for hunting at an earlier time.  If Lee bought the mail-order Carcano rifle with a telescopic sight and received it in late March 1963, why the discrepancy after taking photos of him holding it? At that point, there would be nothing to hide.
BB

[Bruce Backlund]

Paul,
 I know there is an exact date Oswald P/U the rifle and .38 at the post office. Without looking it up, it was sometime the last week of March 63. According to the post mark, he ordered the rifle on March 12, 1963. By April 23, 1963 he was on his way to New Orleans, followed a month later by Marina driven there by Mrs Paine. Marina was back in Texas by late September 63. Oswald  was back in Texas on October 3, 1963. The photo of Oswald was allegedly taken Sunday, March 31, 1963 by Marina. The last time Marina saw the rifle was when she opened the blanket containing a rifle, while looking for parts to a crib I believe in Paine's garage about two weeks prior to the assassination.  Any reason why you ask?
BB

[John Iacoletti]

I know there is an exact date Oswald P/U the rifle and .38 at the post office.

If there is, then it's somebody's wild-ass guess and not based on any actual evidence that Oswald ever picked either of these things up.  Also, the alleged revolver was allegedly picked up at Railway Express, C.O.D.

The last time Marina saw the rifle was when she opened the blanket containing a rifle, while looking for parts to a crib I believe in Paine's garage about two weeks prior to the assassination.  Any reason why you ask?
BB

It was six weeks earlier (late September, early October).  And she didn't open the blanket, she peered into the end of a tied-up blanket and saw part of a wooden stock that she took to be a rifle.

[Jack Trojan]

Absolutely correct, a lot of people call it nothing less than a potshot.

Name 1 of those "potshot" people that have re-enacted this feat using a MC and a wonky scope. What those people will tell you is that accurate marksmanship requires constant and consistent practice with a particular rifle. Otherwise, a rusty marksman is only good as a patsy and not an assassin. And Oswald was the former because he never even fired the MC.

There is no way Oswald would have practiced with the MC and not sighted in the scope. Since he was a military marksman, Oswald knew a non-sighted scope would be useless to him, in which case, there is no way Oswald would have left the scope on the rifle after he disassembled it and placed its parts into a paper bag. But even if the scope was sighted in before disassembly, it would need to be re-calibrated after reassembling the rifle in the SN. The only way to do that was by firing the rifle. Oswald knew this yet he kept the useless scope on the rifle when he knew he would be using the iron sights instead.

The LNers like to think that Oswald took the 1st shot thru the wonky scope and missed. Then he switched to the iron sights and scored a 2 for 2 including a head-shot in 5 secs flat! "That's damn fine shooting soldier! Especially with that piece of crap scope and rifle you got there. But you should have used this Mauser over here."

[Walt Cakebread]

Did somebody see a scope on the rifle in the window?

The liars told us that the commie and arch Villain Lee Harrrrrvey Osssswald ( BOOOOOO --HISSSS ) used a rifle that was deadly accurate because it was equipped with a telescopic sight....

[Bruce Backlund]

If there is, then it's somebody's wild-ass guess and not based on any actual evidence that Oswald ever picked either of these things up.  Also, the alleged revolver was allegedly picked up at Railway Express, C.O.D.

It was six weeks earlier (late September, early October).  And she didn't open the blanket, she peered into the end of a tied-up blanket and saw part of a wooden stock that she took to be a rifle.

John,
 Correct. The Monday, March 25, 1963 pickup of the rifle has never been verified officially. More likely, it arrived at PO Box 2915 Dallas, TX "the week of March 25th"  As far as I know, there is no one remembering Oswald taking possession of the rifle at the post office.  Then again, it's an 8-month delay if officials subsequently did question employees at the post office. If the commission is correct and Marina took  Oswald's rifle photos on Sunday, March 31, 1963, it would fit in with the time period. Kleins received the order on March 13, 1963, and shipped the rifle on March 20, 1963. If it's 1963, one would probably take the parcel card that was placed in the box, go to the window and say Box 2915, and leave with the parcel without having to show ID or sign for it. The attack on General Walker then came shortly thereafter, about 10 days.

As far as the S&W revolver, return address was A. Hidell, age 28, PO Box 2915, Dallas, Tx. I have not read anything about an Railway Express collect or pickup.

I assume is Oswald was in possession of these two weapons, and went with him to New Orleans. Again, I will have to research it. Specifically, how he transported the rifle to and from New Orleans.

Concerning the rifle, you are correct according to official statements, Marina loosened the blanket, looking for crib parts, observed a rifle butt and repacked the blanket. Michael Paine also moved the blanket several times to get at his tablesaw in the garage, and thought it contained pipes or tent pole parts. Never looked inside according to his statement.

What does it all mean? Nothing! The damning part is the fool should have destroyed the A. Hidell ID card earlier, allegedly found on Oswald's person at Police HQ. Even if Oswald was innocent, or even a patsy, that stuff would have buried him before a jury.
BB

[John Mytton]

Especially with that piece of crap scope and rifle you got there.

No.

Oswald's rifle when tested was as accurate as the then current American M-14.

Mr. EISENBERG. I should ask first if you are familiar with this weapon.
I have handed the witness Commission Exhibit 139.
Mr. SIMMONS. Yes. We fired this weapon from a machine rest for round-to-round dispersion. We fired exactly 20 rounds in this test, and the dispersion which we measured is of conventional magnitude, about the same that we get with our present military rifles, and the standard deviation of dispersion is .29 mil.
Mr. EISENBERG. That is a fraction of a degree?
Mr. SIMMONS. A mil is an angular measurement. There are 17.7 mils to a degree.
Mr. EISENBERG. Do I understand your testimony to be that this rifle is as accurate as the current American military rifles?
Mr. SIMMONS. Yes. As far as we can determine from bench-rest firing.
Mr. EISENBERG. Would you consider that to be a high degree of accuracy?
Mr. SIMMONS. Yes, the weapon is quite accurate. For most small arms, we discover that the round- to-round dispersion is of the order of three-tenths of a mil. We have run into some unusual ones, however, which give us higher values, but very few which give us smaller values, except in selected lots of ammunition.
Mr. McCLOY. You are talking about the present military rifle--will you designate it?
Mr. SIMMONS. The M-14.



JohnM

[Joe Elliott]

Since he was a military marksman, Oswald knew a non-sighted scope would be useless to him, in which case, there is no way Oswald would have left the scope on the rifle after he disassembled it and placed its parts into a paper bag.

 

Nonsense. We have no way of knowing, for certain, what Oswald would or would not have done. And there are perfectly good reasons for Oswald to leave the scope on.

1.   When the rifle is found, it would look more like a tool of an ?expert?. Oswald may have left the scope on for the same reasons he had pictures taken of himself with Communist newspapers holding a rifle and handgun. For image.

2.   The scope does not prevent him from using the iron sights. He might as well leave it on.

3.   If nothing else, the scope would help confirm which vehicle contained the President. He doesn?t know, in advance, how many vehicles are in the motorcade, which one President Kennedy is in or if any secret service agents or Congressmen may resemble Kennedy. The scope would give him a ?close? look at Kennedy for 30+ seconds before he has to switch over to the iron sights to aim.



We cannot conclude that if Oswald was the shooter, he would have removed the scope. Maybe he would have. Maybe he wouldn?t have.