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

[Bob Prudhomme]

I have been expecting an attack of this type and, as usual, the qualifications of the author are easily discredited.

To quote "John Lewis":

"I own a Mannlicher-Schoanauer model 1903 carbine which uses an almost identical round. I have not slugged the barrel but it is factory marked as being 6.7mm which is a diameter of .2637". This is the bore diameter, not the grove diameter. As has been correctly pointed out, all current and past 6.5mm bullets, with the exception of the Carcano ones measure .264". Steyr, the maker of my rifle, knew this yet still produced rifles with a a bore diameter of only .003" smaller. I would guess that grove diameter of my rifle is at least .268. The author of the document linked to here has identified one rifle with a groove diameter of .269"! Remember, all the available ammo used .264" bullets."

If one goes to this conversion table site http://www.onlineconversion.com/length_common.htm and converts 6.5 mm to inches, one will get a figure of .2559" or .256". This is the actual bore diameter of a Carcano, Mannlicher-Schoenauer and any other 6.5mm calibre rifle, not .2637" as Mr. Lewis tells us. The figure of .2637" or .264" is the GROOVE diameter of the average 6.5mm rifle, as well as the diameter of the bullet.

The question of whether or not the standard diameter bullet for most 6.5mm calibre rifles, which is .264" in diameter, has been decided long ago. ALL Italian cartridges for the 6.5mm Carcano rifle were loaded with a bullet that was .268" in diameter. There are literally dozens of pages written by persons far more qualified than Mr. Lewis explaining how shooting .264" diameter bullets from a Carcano rifle will produce inaccurate shots. This is thje reason why Hornady, in 2004, finally came out with a .268" diameter specifically for Carcano rifles.

The idea that the Western Cartridge Co. 6.5mm Carcano bullets were loaded with .268" bullets pulled from Italian cartridges is utter nonsense. One only need look at this photo of CE 399, a WCC bullet.



The WCC bullet above has a "cannelure" near the base of the bullet. While some of the Italian military bullets also had cannelures, they were nowhere near as wide or distinctive as the WCC bullet.

Lastly, this is my favorite from Mr. Lewis:

"[size=12]To qualify all of that; yes, a bore which is larger than the bullet diameter, especially significantly so will have an effect on accuracy and can cause gas blow-by which also theoretically can have an effect. These are all very small matters though and the effect on shots taken at short range is insignificant. The problem of gas blow-by isn't really one of accuracy, it is one of barrel wear. Gas which is attempting to get through a very small gap as we are talking about here leads to localised very high pressures and temperatures which causes undue wear to the the bore."

A bore that is larger than the bullet diameter??? The bullet diameter and the groove diameter are the same. Look at this diagram and someone please tell me just what the hell Mr. Lewis is going on about.



P.S. The Hornady bullets for the 6.5mm Carcano are, indeed, .268" in diameter. Do not believe Mr. Lewis. He is spreading disinformation.
[/SIZE]