The Side Mounted Scope on the 6.5 mm Carcano

[Bob Prudhomme]

In a few of the previous posts, I have made passing reference to a phenomenon observed in shooting that would most definitely influence the ability of a shooter to hit a target at the downward slope 0f 20° from the 6th floor of the TSBD to the limo on Elm St.

Let us say we have a rifle zeroed in to be able to hit a target at 100 yards on level ground. If we take this rifle and attempt to hit a target at a 45° slope 100 yards away from us, uphill OR downhill, our bullet will land high of our aiming point. The effect increases with the increasing degree of slope and increasing distance.

The solution is to aim slightly lower than where you want your bullet to hit. This sounds easy but judging distance and angle of slope in wooded mountainous ground is one of the most difficult things in hunting. A second solution is to wait until the target is on a level with you, and a third is to stalk your target and move yourself into a position where you are level with your target. This is still difficult as one must still estimate range. Also, it is not always easy to tell if you are looking at something on the level.

The fourth, and best, solution is to make use of advanced technology and let it do your thinking for you.

The simplest form of rangefinder scope is accomplished with lines below the horizontal line of the scope crosshairs. For this, you must have a rough idea of the height of the target you are shooting; in this case, a deer.



The simplest slope indicator is of the pendulum type, and is usually mounted on the left side of the rifle scope.



Then we get into the real expensive scopes that employ lasers and microprocessors, such as the Leupold RX-III. It will give you the following display:



This scope not only tells you the range to your target and the slope you are shooting at, it tells you how much to compensate for in order to hit the target.

Oswald had none of these features on his Ordnance Optics 4x18 scope that was designed for a .22 calibre rifle. Chances are, he did not have a lot of training in shooting at downhill moving targets, either. While the amount the bullet would have gone high, at the furthest shot of 88 yards, might have only been an inch, it must be remembered that this was rapid shooting at a very small moving target (JFK's head) with a rifle which, by SA Frazier's own testimony, shot "three to five inch groups" at 100 yards.

Adding a rifle shooting high, due to the downhill slope, complicates an already very difficult shot.

And, for those who feel he may have used the open sights, there are problems here, as well. Not only is it extremely awkward to look around a side mounted scope to see open sights, the open sights on the M91/38 were fixed, and did not have the variable rear scope seen on earlier Carcano models. The front sight and rear sight of the M91/38 were aligned in such a way to make this rifle zeroed at 200 metres. If aimed at a target at 100 metres, the bullet would, again, hit a target about 1.5-2" high, as this is the apex of a parabola of this bullet if shot at a 200 metre target. Once again, Oswald would have had to aim low, compounded with already aiming low to compensate for shooting downhill AND compounded with having to aim low because the scope could not be adjusted enough to prevent it from hitting 2.5-5" high of a bullseye at 100 yards.

Once again, not even considering the likelihood of the FBI lying to the WC about Oswald's rifle hitting 2.5" high of the bullseye at 15 yards and thus hitting a mininmum of 16" high of the bullseye of a 100 yard target on level ground, we have demonstrated the impossibility of the rifle found on the 6th floor being the weapon that assassinated JFK.