The Position of the Bolt on the MC

[Jim Hawthorn]

gravity is the only force that causes it to fall out of the bottom of the magazine. And the clip appears to be relatively lightweight. Therefore the force of gravity wouldn't be very powerful.


Yes, the clip does simply fall out when the last round is stripped from the clip by the forward stroke of the bolt...

The clip was made of brass and the brass clips are actually heavier than the steel clips that we've seen drop out on the you tube videos.  I'm 100% certain that if that carcano had been fired from that 6th floor window the clip would have been right there on the floor beneath that window. I believe the yokel who dropped the live round into the chamber also placed the clip in the magazine.

Not necessarily. Clips can get slightly caught and stay in the rifle. Go to 3:10 here:

[Jim Hawthorn]

I think that the sight of JFK's head exploding could have been enough of a shock (even to LHO) to make him just freeze in the middle of loading the next round. But, of course, anything we come up with is only conjecture.

Another, totally different, possibility is that LHO actually did complete the loading process of the next round and set the rifle down between the boxes. The first photos taken by the DPD reportedly show the rifle before anyone touched it. And the rifle can be seen in that photo upright. The Alyea film appears to show Day lifting the rifle from a laying down position. So it is conceivable that before Day lifted the rifle from the floor that either he or Fritz could have lifted the bolt handle into the up position by reaching between the boxes. I am not saying that that is what happened. Only that I think it is a possibility.

...or (as I said earlier) the bolt handle was knocked up when the rifle was dropped/thrust between the heavy boxes. I'm not saying that Oswald threw it down there (he was in the Domino room at the time).

[Charles Collins]

Here is a stacked image of 59 video frames that Alyea was discussing.  The frames were part of a clip of Fritz standing near the weapon, while he, or someone else, was shining a flashlight near his feet and rifle.

Well done! The best image yet of the way it was found!

[Charles Collins]

Not necessarily. Clips can get slightly caught and stay in the rifle. Go to 3:10 here:

I wonder if having the rifle aimed down at a substantial angle would affect it. Since gravity is the main force involved, I think that it probably would.

[Walt Cakebread]

...or (as I said earlier) the bolt handle was knocked up when the rifle was dropped/thrust between the heavy boxes. I'm not saying that Oswald threw it down there (he was in the Domino room at the time).

If you had a carcano , I'm sure that you'd drop the idea that the bolt was closed and latched but was "knocked up" when the rifle was thrust between the boxes..... the main reason that didn't happen is because the rifle wasn't thrust between any boxes.

It was found lying on it's side on the floor .....It was not jammed between boxes.  I doubt that the yokel who hid the rifle "dropped it" on the floor....He placed the rifle there and stacked the boxes of books around and over it.

[Walt Cakebread]

Not necessarily. Clips can get slightly caught and stay in the rifle. Go to 3:10 here:

If you had a carcano to experiment with, I'm sure that you'd change your mind about the clip being stuck in the magazine after the last round was stripped from the clip.  The steel clips do occasionally hang up in the magazine but the rifle was designed to use the brass clip and the brass clips do not stick in the magazine.

[Walt Cakebread]

Well done! The best image yet of the way it was found!

Study the movements of Fritz and Day.....  I believe Day arrived at the scene in the NW corner of the room before Fritz...and he ordered everybody away from the scene ( some of the cops had started to move the boxes that were around and over the rifle.)

I don't believe that Fritz was there until after Day and Studebaker had started taking photos of the scene.