Thanx Walt - but my problem is with this
this is NOT little more than a glimpse
Nov 23 1963
Weitzman FBI Report
Mr. Weitzman described the rifle was found as a 7.65 caliber Mauser action rifle, loads from a five shot clip is locked on the underside of the receiver forward of the trigger guard.
The metal parts of this rifle were of a gun metal color, gray or blue and the rear portion of the bolt was visibly worn.
The wooden portions of this rifle were a dark brown in color and of rough wood apparently having been used or damaged to a considerable extent.
The rifle was equipped with a four power 18 scope of apparent Japanese manufacture. It's also equipped with a thick brown- black leather bandolier type sling
five shot clip
locked on the underside of trigger guard
dark brown in color and of rough wood
rear portion of the bold visibly worn
wooden portions damaged to a considerable extent
four power 18 scope Japanese make
brown-black leather bandolier type strap
I don't think I could remember all those things on way back; even as a young man
...but if the first affidavit I write is on the 23rd, I'm gonna call over to Day and confirm the caliber
Let's break this down.
"loads from a five shot clip is locked on the underside of the receiver forward of the trigger guard. "
This sounds like the single-stack magazine of the Argentine M1891 7.65 Mauser. All subsequent Mausers use a double-stack magazine that doesn't stick out in front of the trigger guard. As I've already mentioned, A lot of these were being imported at the time. Also, the Carcano used a single-stack magazine, which also stuck out in front of the trigger guard. Someone with passing familiarity with the '91 Mauser but not with Carcano's could easily see the magazine housing of a Carcano and mistake it for a Mauser. It's not exactly a subtle feature of either weapon.
"dark brown in color and of rough wood"
Trivially noticeable even at a quick look. And, exactly how many rifles don't have dark brown stocks?
"rear portion of the bol[t] visibly worn"
That is, the bluing/finish given to the metal had worn away. Also trivially noticeable at a quick look.
"wooden portions damaged to a considerable extent"
See "dark brown in color and of rough wood"
"brown-black leather bandolier type strap"
How hard is is to tell if something is leather? And if it's "brown-black," is it brown or black? "Brown-black" doesn't sound too specific.
"four power 18 scope Japanese make"
Now, we're getting somewhere! That's really specific. And there's a reason it is specific.
Those white letters stand right out, don't they? I'll bet you saw them, and read them right away. Now, tell me where the stampings identifying the rifle are in the photo. I'll bet you can't. Much of that is due to the scope being in the way, some other due to the ID card in the foreground. The rest is because the stampings don't have the benefit of bright white paint.
