Why didn't Clint Hill hear the first shot?

[Jarrett Smith]

I've been waiting to see if any of the LNs had a theory as to why Clint Hill specifically, but also other passengers in both limos, didn't seem to have either heard or recognized the first shot for what it was. I have speculated the roar of the accelerating motorcycles could have disguised the sound of that first shot but I wondered if others had different theories for that.

Clint Hill was drinking the night before and so were others.

https://www.newsweek.com/drunken-truth-about-jfk-assassination-391613

[John Corbett]

Hill heard the first shot.
He also heard the second shot.
He doesn't remember hearing the third shot as he had a lot on his plate at that moment, including stopping Jackie from jumping off the back of the limo.

By the time Jackie climbed out on the trunk, the shooting was over. That couldn't have been the reason Hill didn't hear one of the shots.

[Graham Keith]

I've been intrigued by the idea that Oswald was trying to achieve two things with the first shot; Checking the scope, which he probably didn't trust, by aiming at a fixed object (possibly the manhole cover); and standing well back from the window.

By standing well back from the window the sound would be less obvious to people on the street, and would also create a sense of doubt or confusion when the next two shots came, as proved the case.

The lady "manning" the TSBD switchboard on the second floor testified that the first shot "sounded like a cannon and shook the west side of the building".

All speculation of course, but it could explain why many people missed the sound of the first shot.

[John Corbett]

I've been intrigued by the idea that Oswald was trying to achieve two things with the first shot; Checking the scope, which he probably didn't trust, by aiming at a fixed object (possibly the manhole cover); and standing well back from the window.

By standing well back from the window the sound would be less obvious to people on the street, and would also create a sense of doubt or confusion when the next two shots came, as proved the case.

The lady "manning" the TSBD switchboard on the second floor testified that the first shot "sounded like a cannon and shook the west side of the building".

All speculation of course, but it could explain why many people missed the sound of the first shot.

There was a guy on McAdams' website who used to argue that Oswald's first shot was a zeroing shot but that never made sense to me because it is impractical.
For starters, Oswuld would have to be able to see where the shot struck to know what kind of adjustment was needed to the scope. How could he do that with the recoil of the rifle moving the scope off the intended target. Even if he could see that, he would then have to take the time to adjust the scope. By the time he did that, the target would be long gone. Normally, when zeroing a rifle, you would do that from a bench rest to eliminate human error from the equation. You are also probably going to do the process multiple times.

It would have been nice for Oswald to have a perfectly zeroed rifle, but hardly necessary. He wasn't in a shooting competition. He just needed to be able to shoot a man at ranges of 88 yards and less. He seems to have done alright.

There are a number of YouTube videos that show how to zero a scope, and they all use a 3 shot process and a bench rest. Oswald only had 4 rounds and a limited time to fire them.

[Graham Keith]

I'm thinking that it was a "checking shot", not a sighting-in or zeroing exercise involving many shots. If the shot was way off, Oswald could switch to the iron sights; if it was reasonable  stick with the scope.

Of course, if he used the sights, then we have to contend with the iron sights being set for 400m. Was  Oswald aware of this we wonder?

The answer to all this first shot speculation unfortunately died with Oswald (thanks Jack, for 60 years of conspiracy speculation).

[John Corbett]

I'm thinking that it was a "checking shot", not a sighting-in or zeroing exercise involving many shots. If the shot was way off, Oswald could switch to the iron sights; if it was reasonable  stick with the scope.

Of course, if he used the sights, then we have to contend with the iron sights being set for 400m. Was  Oswald aware of this we wonder?

The answer to all this first shot speculation unfortunately died with Oswald (thanks Jack, for 60 years of conspiracy speculation).

It still doesn't make much sense. With just four rounds and a limited amount of time, why would Oswald waste time and one of his rounds on a shot that wouldn't tell him much anyway? I can't remember my source, but I've always been under the impression the Carcano's fixed sights were zeroed for 200m. Either way, it would aim high at the distances Oswald was firing from but he had to aim a little high to lead his target.

[Zeon Mason]

The 3 stacked boxes suggest the shooter was going to shoot with rifle sticking partly out the window. Unless Malcolm Couch , Bob Jackson and Amos Euins were encouraged to fabricate a story, their WC testimony confirms this was the plan, since they all saw a rifle stuck OUT the window.

There is no logical reason why Oswald or some other TSBD shooter would try a pot shot while standing at Z124.

The rifle was found with the scope so out of alignment that a shim had  to be inserted under the mount itself to change the mount angle. The metal bracket that held  the scope was not bent, so it appears that the rifle was assembled without the shim on purpose.

It could be Oswald never had intended to use the scope , and assembled the rifle without the requisite shim to introduce speculation about the rifle being planted after the fact.

This might have been a fantasy in Oswald’s OCD mind of acquiring infamy after a trial jury would be convinced he was in fact a patsy.

As to Why Clint Hill did not hear a shot before Z224, there’s the volume of crowd noise to consider besides just some motorcycle noise and some possible desensitization of the SS to sudden 100 db level motorcycle backfires they had probably already experienced multiple times during the whole motorcade trip.

Ok that is about as far to the LN side that I dare venture otherwise my credibility as a CT Skeptic would in jeopardy