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

[John Lewis]

Bob, John,

I am not at all gun knowledgeable and certainly not with regards to the MC and all the details that go with it. It is very difficult for me to summarize the argument that each of you is putting forth. I would appreciate it if you could at least summarize what is at stake here.

John, a question. You seem to be saying that the MC of 6th floor of the TSBD was used to shoot at JFK and that all three shots came from that gun?

Nope, not at all. What I am categorically not saying is that the shots (or any shots) came from that rifle.

The gist of the discussion is that Bob is saying that the shots categorically could not have come from that rifle due to the internal design of it's barrel and the size of the particular projectiles which were alleged to have travelled through it.

I am saying that he is wrong in that conclusion. Putting it simply, he asserts that the bullet (the projectile) is too small and would not be sufficiently stabilised by the barrel to fly in a straight line and would have deviated by a wide enough margin as it would be incapable of hitting JFK.

My point is that he is wrong. I know for an absolute fact that he is wrong because I have a rifle which fires a very similar cartridge with an almost identically dimensioned barrel and an essentially identical bullet to the one which Oswald is alleged to have fired yet it is perfectly accurate. Moreover, this dimensional difference between bullet size and internal barrel size is actually the norm and is even legally mandated by the proof authorities (the people who test the safety of all news arms) in 14 countries of the World including most of Western Europe.

In short; Bob is saying that the alleged shots could not have come from the rifle alleged to have been used by LHO. I am saying that his reasoning which brought him to that conclusion is incorrect.

JL.

Bob, is John adequately summarizing your position?

Pretty much, yes. The Carcano rifle was designed with rifling grooves .268" in diameter, the Italian military bullets measured .268" in diameter (.2677" if anyone wants to quibble), and the Western Cartridge Co. bullets were .264" in diameter, the diameter of all other 6.5mm calibre rifle bullets.

Worn or poorly made Carcano barrels have been measured with groove diameters of up to .271".

While the rifling grooves will engage the narrower bullet, it will not fully occupy the grooves, preventing the bullet from travelling perfectly true through the barrel, and affecting accuracy.

And, the point which I have made consistently (without the need to call you a liar, a courtesy you did not afford me) is that any effect on accuracy will be small. In real terms in the context of the JFK discussion it will make no difference.

The standard, legally mandated minimum measurement for the groove diameter in a 6.5x54mm (a very closely related cartridge) barrel is, as near as makes no odds, .267" and they commonly have barrels larger than that. Those specifications also call for a bullet diameter of .264".

That alone proves that the combination of a .264" bullet fired though a barrel with a .268" groove diameter is not automatically grossly and chronically innaccurate. There is nothing about the Carcano barrel which would change that.

JL.