Therefore I'm disappointed that you accept Roger Craig's tales as the truth. IOW you're handicapping yourself in believing that the rifle that Weitzman and Boone discovered was a Mauser.....
I don't believe I ever stated that I thought [one way or another] the rifle was indeed a Mauser. Or ...did I say that I accept anyone's tall tales....the tallest told by the likes of Henry Wade [who I still loathe after death for my own personal reasons] or J E Hoover [who was probably the most dangerous person this country ever had] or LBJ [maybe the 2nd most]
What 'tale' did Craig tell in his testimony?
He relayed the accounts of Arnold Rowland who testified that he saw a man with a rifle and another guy standing beside him some 15 minutes before the shooting.
That would indicate the probability that there was at least another rifle besides the Carcano that was ultimately produced.
Boone, Weitzman, and Fritz were all in on the Mauser. If a switcheroo did take place, that meant that they all tucked tail and rolled over for Hoover and Johnson. They are all dead now-----------
At this point...no one will ever know for absolutely sure.