Were all three shots fired in 5.6 seconds?

[Lance Payette]

My theory was always that CE 543 was Oswald's dry-firing round. You want a shell in the chamber for dry-firing so you don't damage the firing pin, and shells with damaged rims are commonly used since they aren't suitable for reloading. I did exactly this. CE 543 may have been in the rifle when he picked it up at Ruth Paine's and then ejected when he loaded the first live round in the sniper's nest. The frugal Oswald may have never owned more than one box of 20 rounds and used up during practice everything but the three live rounds he had on 11-22-63 (two fired at JFK and one remaining in the chamber). He may have retained the three rounds in the clip for practice in working the bolt (not ideal from a safety standpoint but commonly done), so he would have been equipped to practice both dry-firing and working the bolt.

This is one large problem for my Mafia theory: what sort of conspiracy has him going to Ruth's the night before to retrieve his rifle and three live rounds? Perhaps it all came together at the last minute when JFK's motorcade route was announced, but that strikes me as unlikely. Once you start down the path of theorizing that Oswald was "planted" in the TSBD and JFK's motorcade route was "manipulated" to take him in front of the TSBD, you've expanded the conspiracy way beyond a Marcello hit and are too far into the ozone for me.

[Jack Nessan]

Good summation Lance. There is only one answer to the JFK assassination, and the first paragraph sums it up. 

Additionally, the WC had two different experts testifying about dry firing. You may have already read this article but, Dr E Forest Chapaman wrote a good article on the CE 543 dry firing subject and published it in the New American magazine decades ago. I am not sure why you want to cycle the action with ammo but to dry fire the carcano, the bolt is a cock on opening type, and it is only required to raise and lower the bolt handle to recock it.

The trajectory analysis, wound analysis, and recovered bullet and fragments only support one shooter armed with a carcano. The final sentence summing up the assassination only need be “the media influenced the witnesses into inflating the number of reported shots.” That is a fact that was stated in the conclusions of the Warren Commission, the HSCA, and the HSCA Sound Analysis Report. 

WC Conclusion: "The eyewitness testimony may be subconsciously colored by the extensive publicity given the conclusion that three shots were fired"

HSCA Conclusion: "The committee believed that the witnesses memories and testimony on the number, direction, and timing of the shots may have
been substantially influenced by the intervening publicity concerning the events of November 22 1963"   HSCA Final Report- pg 87

HSCA Sound Analysis Conclusion:  The buildings around the Plaza caused strong reverberations, or echoes, that followed the initial sound by from 0 .5 to 1 .5 sec . While these reflections caused no confusion to our listeners, who were prepared and expected to hear them, they may well have inflated the number of shots reported by the suprised witnesses during the assassination .  HSCA Earwitness Analysis Report, pgs 135-137

 

Simply put it can be proven that LHO fired just two shots, and that was the end of the story. The rest is just interesting minutia.

[Jarrett Smith]

The only problem is Governor Connally heard a shot before Z-223 that missed. Connally was an avid hunter and knew it was a rifle shot.

[Tom Graves]

The only problem is Governor Connally heard a shot before Z-223 that missed. Connally was an avid hunter and knew it was a rifle shot.

Correct, and that missing-everything shot was fired by Lee Harvey Oswald at "Z-124," i.e., about five seconds earlier.

[Jarrett Smith]

Correct, and that missing-everything shot was fired by Lee Harvey Oswald at "Z-124," i.e., about five seconds earlier.

Or his Russian double Alek James Hidell

[Tom Graves]

Or his Russian double Alek James Hidell

Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!