Lee Harvey Oswald

Lee Harvey Oswald (October 18, 1939 – November 24, 1963) assassinated U.S. President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, according to the conclusions of two government investigations into the assassination. The 1964 Warren Commission concluded Oswald acted alone; the House Select Committee on Assassinations, during the late 1970s, concluded that while Oswald was the shooter, President Kennedy "most likely was assassinated as the result of a conspiracy". Some critics of the official accounts have claimed that Oswald was not involved at all and was framed, and many conspiracy theories have been developed, but no single compelling alternative suspect has emerged.

The rifle and Oswald’s marksmanship

In March 1963, Oswald (using his Fair Play for Cuba Committee alias, Alex J. Hidell) allegedly purchased a rifle and handgun that were later linked by investigators to the events of November 22, 1963.

Related Topics:
Fair Play for Cuba Committee - Rifle - Handgun - November 22 - 1963

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Rifle

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:6.5 x 52 mm Italian Mannlicher-Carcano M91/38 bolt-action rifle with a six-round magazine

Related Topics:
Mannlicher-Carcano - Magazine

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:Serial number C2766

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:Western Cartridge Co. ammunition with a 160 grain (10.37 g) round nose bullet

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:Side-mounted Ordnance Optics 4 x 18 telescopic sight

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Handgun

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:.38 Special (9x29R) Smith & Wesson Victory revolver, 2.25 in (57 mm) barrel

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:Serial number V510210

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:Converted from .38 S&W (9x20R) the barrel shortened from five in (127 mm) barrel

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The rifle was kept in the garage of family friends, Michael and Ruth Paine, at whose home Marina Oswald was living at the time. See Warren Commission report describing testimony of Michael R. Paine and his wife, Ruth Paine. http://www.jfkassassination.net/russ/testimony/paine_m1.htm

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During his 1956 to 1959 military career, Oswald had scored the rating of "sharpshooter" in December 1956, on two occasions achieving 48 and 49 out of 50 shots during rapid fire at a 200 yard (183 m) distant target, using his standard issue M1 Garand semiautomatic rifle but failed to gain a marksmanship badge. Skeptics doubt the likelihood of Oswald being able to fire shots so accurately and rapidly with the Mannlicher-Carcano (an older, smaller caliber, less-accurate and much slower firing and poorly maintained rifle than Oswald's Marine Corps Garand) and from the position he was theorized to use to kill Kennedy moving at nine to 12 mph (14 to 19 km/h). They argue that expert marksmen could not duplicate Oswald's alleged feat in their first try during the reenactments by the Warren Commission (1964) and CBS (1967).

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In those tests, the marksmen were attempting to hit the target three times within 4.5 seconds, which was the FBI's technical estimate of the minimum time in which three shots could be aimed and fired with that specific model of rifle. The use of this number has been heavily disputed, with modern analysis of a digitally enhanced Zapruder film suggesting that the first and final shots may have come as much as 8.4 seconds apart.

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Even so, many of CBS's 11 volunteer marksmen, who (unlike Oswald) had had no prior experience with a Mannlicher-Carcano, were able to hit the target three times in well under the time allotted.

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