What gun was used in the assassination of JFK?
John F. Kennedy assassination rifle
In March 1963, Lee Harvey Oswald, using the alias "A. Hidell", purchased by mail order a 6.5×52mm Carcano Model 91/38 infantry rifle (described by the President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy as a "Mannlicher–Carcano") rifle with a telescopic sight.[1] He also purchased a revolver from a different company, by the same method. The Hidell alias was determined from multiple sources to be Oswald.[2] Oswald fired the rifle from the Texas School Book Depository in Dallas, Texas, to assassinate U.S. President John F. Kennedy as his motorcade drove by on November 22, 1963.[3] Photographs of Oswald holding the rifle, a palmprint found upon examination of the rifle, and detective work tracing its sale, all eventually led to Oswald.[4] Marina Oswald later testified she was told by Lee that the rifle was also used before in an attempt to assassinate retired U.S. Army General Edwin Walker in Dallas.
John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories
The Warren Commission examined the capabilities of the Carcano rifle and ammunition, as well as Oswald's military training and post-military experience, and determined that Oswald had the ability to fire three shots within a time span of 4.8 to 5.6 seconds. According to their report, an army specialist using Oswald's rifle was able to duplicate the feat and even improved on the time. The report also states that the Army Infantry Weapons Evaluation Branch test fired Oswald's rifle 47 times and found that it was "quite accurate", comparing it to the accuracy of an M14 rifle. Also contained in the Commission report is testimony by Marine Corps Major Eugene Anderson confirming that Oswald's military records show that he qualified as "sharpshooter" in 1956.