I'm convinced - CE 399 is entirely bogus!

[Michael Capasse]

So it's reasonable to believe that prior to 11/22, LHO owned only three bullets and he used all but three bullets from a single box of 20 bullets months before the assassination?

I understand that we'll never know the answer to some questions but it's strange how little we know about where Oswald purchased his ammo and where he kept his stock of bullets.

...actually he had four. He was saving them up. 
https://jfk.boards.net/post/4214/thread

[Tom Graves]

No one asked me  , but Jack Nessan and his co-author argue pretty persuasively in Phantom Shot that Oswald fired only two shots and (as I recall) that the dented shell was one Oswald had used for dry firing and had been ejected when he loaded the first live round). A little box from a store in Ft. Worth where Marguerite had once worked was found in Oswald's possession and would have been a perfect fit for a few Carcano rounds. I know from experience that a standard box of 20 high-caliber rounds has always been pretty expensive; my guess would be that he'd never owned more than one box, had used up all the rest in practice with the rifle, and was down to his last 3 or 4 rounds (including the live one found in the rifle) when he shot JFK. The one in the rifle perhaps was saved in case he encountered anyone in exiting the sixth floor.

Because I'm familiar with the acoustics of rifle shots in an environment like Dealey Plaza, I attach little significance to how many shots the earwitnesses thought were fired or where they were coming from. In my own experience, this can be astonishingly misleading.

Do you doubt Oswald's having enough time to fire all three shots?

[Martin Weidmann]

Do you doubt Oswald's having enough time to fire all three shots?

When and where did he fire "all three shots"?

Can you place him at the 6th floor of the TSBD at 12.30 PM on 11/22/63 or do you just want us to assume he was there?

[John Mytton]

When and where did he fire "all three shots"?

Can you place him at the 6th floor of the TSBD at 12.30 PM on 11/22/63 or do you just want us to assume he was there?

Can you prove Oswald was not on the 6th floor of the TSBD at 12:30 on 11/22/1963 or do you just want us to assume he wasn't there??

JohnM

[Jon Banks]

...actually he had four. He was saving them up. 
https://jfk.boards.net/post/4214/thread

"There were 3 shells left on the sixth floor and one bullet chambered in the gun. That's it.
In Lee's possessions, there are no other bullets, shells, empty boxes, or maintenance kit for the rifle.
A cleaning kit would be essential for continued upkeep and usage of the gun.
After shooting Gen Walker, Lee allegedly buried the rifle near some railroad tracks before he brought it to New Orleans.

A quick check of the Dallas weather history finds no rain April 10th, but the hottest day on record for that month. [still]
For a few days after the Walker shooting, no rain, but still very hot, the dew point peaked at 68 in that week.
A buried rifle under those conditions would need immediate cleaning and maintenance care.
There is no evidence of where it was buried, for how long, or how he retrieved it. No old boxes or cleaning kit to maintain it.
Just 4 bullets."


Excellent points Michael. Thanks

[Lance Payette]

"There were 3 shells left on the sixth floor and one bullet chambered in the gun. That's it.
In Lee's possessions, there are no other bullets, shells, empty boxes, or maintenance kit for the rifle.
A cleaning kit would be essential for continued upkeep and usage of the gun.
After shooting Gen Walker, Lee allegedly buried the rifle near some railroad tracks before he brought it to New Orleans.

A quick check of the Dallas weather history finds no rain April 10th, but the hottest day on record for that month. [still]
For a few days after the Walker shooting, no rain, but still very hot, the dew point peaked at 68 in that week.
A buried rifle under those conditions would need immediate cleaning and maintenance care.
There is no evidence of where it was buried, for how long, or how he retrieved it. No old boxes or cleaning kit to maintain it.
Just 4 bullets."

Excellent points Michael. Thanks

Nope. The father of my late wife was an old cowpoke rancher and avid hunter who owned more high-quality firearms than you or I will ever even think about. He used to rib me incessantly for carefully maintaining my guns. "I let each bullet clean up after the one before it," he'd say. Cleaning kits? No. Immediate cleaning and maintenance? No. A funky old Carcano is not going to go to pot because it's been fired 15 times and stored in a blanket. For that matter, you can wipe down and oil a barrel without a cleaning kit.

Yes, I do believe it's reasonable that cheapskate Oswald never had more than one box of 20 rounds of ammunition and was down to 3 or 4 (depending on whether you think 2 or 3 shots were fired) on 11-22. The notion of a dry firing round still being in the chamber does gibe with my belief that this was a very impromptu, last-minute assassination. He went to Ruth Paine's, got the gun, assembled it and used it as-is.

[Lance Payette]

Do you doubt Oswald's having enough time to fire all three shots?

No, not at all. I do like to play around with other scenarios. I'm still working on the back wound really being a shallow misfire, the throat wound being a fragment from the head wound, and a separate shot hitting Connally. It probably doesn't work, but I find it amusing that 60+ years later well-intentioned people are still debating how many shots were fired, when they were fired, and where they were fired from.