FBI Evidence Proves Oswald's Ammunition was not Capable of Sufficient Accuracy to Kill JFK

[Bob Prudhomme]

Wherever he got it from, he screwed up majorly. I searched high and low and the only 6.65 mm diameter bullet ever made was for an experimental Swiss rifle being designed for NATO.

Frazier made many other serious mistakes (accidental or deliberate, not sure which) in his testimony to the WC. In fact, it is hard to recall anything he actually managed to get right.

Here is one of my favourites from Frazier's WC testimony. As far as I know, I am the only person to have ever clued into this one, and I've been unable to generate any interest in it. In this excerpt, Frazier is discussing the mangled bullet recovered from the home of General Walker, how Frazier was able to measure that bullet, mathematically determine the bullet's diameter as .267" and establish from this that the bullet had to be a Western Cartridge Co. 6.5mm Carcano bullet.

"Mr. EISENBERG - Can you describe the general rifling characteristics which you referred to?
Mr. FRAZIER - Yes. They consist of impressions from four lands and grooves. The bullet is mutilated on a portion of its surface. However, it can be determined that there were four land impressions and four groove impressions originally on this bullet.
The width of the land impression is 7/100ths of an inch, that is 0.07 inch--whereas the width of the groove impression is 0.13 inch, or 13/100ths of an inch.
The bullet is flattened so that it was not possible to measure its diameter. However, by adding the land width to the groove width, and multiplying by the number of lands and grooves, you can determine the circumference of the bullet and mathematically determine its diameter, which in this case corresponds to 6.5 mm. ammunition, or approximately .267 inch."

So, remember the diagram I showed you of the barrel interior, showing the "lands and grooves" of the barrel's riflings? Frazier took the bullet and found part of the circumference of the base to be intact. On this section, he was able to measure the width of one land impression and found it to be .070" (1.778 mm) wide. He was also able to measure the width of one groove impression, and found it to be .130" (3.302 mm). As there were four land impressions and four groove impressions, establishing the circumference was as simple as:

4 x .070 + 4 x .130 = .800" as the circumference of the bullet

As you know, diameter equals circumference divided by pi (3.1416)

This is what Frazier did and, being the genius he was, arrived at a diameter again of .267". What a hero!

However, if we do the math ourselves, we come up with a different number.

.800 divided by 3.1416 = .2546473 or .255" NOT .267"

What a coincidence! This is almost precisely the bore diameter of a 6.5mm Carcano rifle. Now, was Frazier a seriously confused individual? Was he deliberately lying to the WC? Was he just too lazy to measure the lands and grooves, and instead, reverse engineered the number, mistakenly starting with the bore diameter (.256") instead of the bullet diameter (.2677")?

Or was there something else going on here?

Here is another excerpt from Frazier's WC testimony, in which he makes another error he was never called on:

"Mr. EISENBERG - Well, no; not at this time.
Can you explain the American equivalent to the 6.5 mm. caliber?
Mr. FRAZIER - That is the same as .25 caliber. Such weapons in the United States as the .25-20 Winchester, .25-35, the .250 Savage, and the .257 Roberts, are all of the same barrel diameter, or approximately the same barrel diameter. So a decimal figure of .257 inch is the equivalent of 6.5 mm."

Mr. Frazier is conveying a very popular misconception, one that is totally wrong yet very widespread in the shooting world. How this guy ever got to be a firearms "expert" is beyond me, although I must admit there was a time I also believed this statement to be true.

It is very confusing to look at the numerical designation of rifles, as they can be quite misleading. For example, you wouldn't think that a rifle named the .250 Savage and one named the .257 Roberts would both shoot the same diameter of bullet, would you?

Here is the explanation. The .25 calibre rifles all have a calibre (bore diameter) of .250", unlike the 6.5mm rifles, which have a bore diameter of .256". The groove diameter (also bullet diameter) of a .25 calibre rifle is .257" (sound familiar?) while the groove and bullet diameter of a Carcano rifle is .2677". Quite a difference, Mr. Frazier, and no, the 6.5mm rifles are NOT the equivalent of the .25 calibre rifles.

That being said, was the bullet Frazier measured, from the Walker residence, fired from a .25 calibre rifle, and not a 6.5mm Carcano? It would certainly match the measurements in his testimony.