How a Popular Misconception Gave Away a Lie by the FBI

[Bob Prudhomme]

Is the fact that Oswald's gun stock was stained black pertinent to the discussion of the barrel type? I saw an article that stated that the black stained stock was in fact part a batch of weapons that were specifically made for Mussolini's personal guard (to match their uniforms). Wouldn't our fashion conscious fascist want the most accurate barrel of the two (which I'm guessing isn't the sawed-off 91)?

That begs another question, if the black stock thing is true. Wouldn't a gun distributor in 1963 know that the black-stocked 91/38 was far more rare that the regular kind, and charge more? You might guess that Oswald stained the stock himself, but the 91/38 test rifle that the FBI got from the same company "Oswald" allegedly ordered it from was black, too. Is the black stock story just a load of bull? Most of the Carcano images you see on the web are not stained black.

PS: even though the sulphur cast photo is grainy, I can see some sort of land/groove impression. IF we assume that Frazier properly made the cast from CE 139, and IF we assume that cast is CE 540, and IF we assume that CE 139 is a random standard surplus 91/38 (and not some custom built job that just looks like one), then the following is true. The angle of the impression (on the cast) looks the same as the lands and grooves on the bullet, which implies a standard twist from the get-go. A beginning gain twist rate of 1 / 15.3 for a .268 caliber bullet is an angle of 88.9 degrees from the diameter, and the impression certainly varies more than 1.1 degrees from the direction of the bullet.

I'm afraid that is one too many IF's for my liking. Considering how much other incorrect evidence that was supplied by Frazier, and how many outright lies told by the FBI, I will continue to entertain the possibility that the sulphur cast known as CE 540 had nothing to do with C2766, and that it is entirely possible that C2766 was one of a number of M91/38 short rifles made from an M91 long rifle with progressive twist rifling.

C2766 was definitely not one of the black stocked short rifles issued to Mussolini's personal guard, although the stock of C2766 was dark in colour. This website deals well with Carcano models and variants, and I have quoted from there.


http://personal.stevens.edu/~gliberat/ca...odels.html

"There are other Carcano variants, but these tend to be extremely rare or conversions of other types. For example, there are the Guardie del Re (King's Guard) and Moschettieri del Duce (Mussolini's Guard) variants, both of which are rare, and are distinguished by the coloring (gilded ornamentation and black stock, respectively), and non-standard stock/bayonet treatments."

As C2766 is clearly a standard M91/38, and there is no gilding on it, this proves, beyond a doubt, it is the garden variety of short rifle.