The next issue I'd like to discuss on using logic and critical thinking in the JFK case is the wound ballistics aspects of the case.

Before doing so, let's recap the issue of Oswald's marksmanship and his alleged shooting feat.

One, nearly everyone who saw Oswald shoot in the Marine Corps (MC) or in Russia said he was a poor shot, and Oswald's MC rifle scores show he was only a mediocre shot even when using a superb semi-automatic rifle against stationary targets that he had practiced against for hours and while having no less than 5 seconds per shot in the fastest of the firing phases.

Two, Oswald's alleged shooting feat has never been duplicated. In the only rifle test that used the alleged murder weapon itself, three NRA-Master-rated riflemen failed to hit the head and neck area of the target silhouettes 20 out of 21 times, even though the rifle had been zeroed with the scope, even though they were firing from only 30 feet up, even though they were firing at stationary target boards, even though they took practice shots before the test, and even though they took all the time they wanted for their first shot.

In the 1967 CBS rifle test, only one of the 12 experienced riflemen, many of whom were expert marksmen, scored two hits in three shots in under 6 seconds on his first attempt, and that was only because the test counted as "hits" any shots that landed anywhere on the target silhouettes, even if they landed far from the 14 x 4-inch area that Oswald allegedly hit two out of two times in 5.6 seconds. I should add that the rifle in the CBS test was zeroed and that the riflemen were allowed to fire nine practice shots before the test.

Wound Ballistics Problems: Really Big Problems

One of the most glaring contradictions and illogical aspects of the lone-gunman theory involve its claims about the behavior of the two alleged Oswald bullets that supposedly hit Kennedy. Oswald supposedly used 6.5 mm full-metal-jacketed (FMJ) bullets, which are built to have tremendous penetrating power without markedly fragmenting. The lone-gunman theory says that his first alleged hit struck Kennedy in the back of the neck and that his second alleged hit struck the back of the head (we will not delve into the two severely inconsistent proposed entry points for this bullet). These two bullets behaved in dramatically different ways.

According to the lone-gunman theory's single-bullet theory (SBT), the first supposed Oswald bullet that hit JFK tore through JFK's neck, exited his throat, hit Governor Connally in the back, tore through Connally's chest while shattering 4 inches of rib bone, exited Connally's chest, hit his wrist and fractured the distal radius bone (one of the hardest bones in the body), exited the wrist, and buried itself in the governor's left thigh. And this bullet, CE 399, after supposedly doing all this destruction, emerged with minimal damage, with its lands and grooves intact, with no deformation to its nose, and with the loss of only 3-4 grains of its substance.

Yet, the alleged Oswald bullet that supposedly hit JFK in the head shattered into several large fragments and into dozens of tiny fragments, allegedly leaving at least two fragments on the rear outer table of the skull, leaving dozens of tiny fragments in a veritable "lead snowstorm" near the top of the skull around the right coronal suture, and leaving two sizable fragments just behind the right orbit.

What in the world?! So one FMJ bullet tears through seven layers of human skin, shatters 4 inches of rib bone, and fractures the distal radius bone--but somehow emerges with its lands and grooves intact, suffers no deformation to its nose, and loses only 3-4 grains of its substance. Yet, the other FMJ bullet penetrates the rear of a skull and then shatters into dozens of tiny fragments and also several sizable fragments while impossibly leaving at least two fragments at its entry point on the outer table of the skull.

Leaving aside the fact that no FMJ bullet in the known history of forensic science has ever behaved the way the SBT bullet behaved or the way the head-shot bullet behaved, how could two FMJ bullets behave so drastically differently as these two bullets supposedly did?

It is hard to say which bullet's alleged behavior is more problematic. No genuine, realistic SBT wound ballistics test has ever produced a bullet that emerged looking like CE 399. Even some severely rigged SBT tests failed to duplicate the SBT. In the WC's SBT wound ballistics test, bullets that were merely fired into cotton wadding emerged with more deformity than CE 399, which is one reason the Army's top wound ballistics expert, Dr. Joseph Dolce, told the WC the SBT was impossible.

On the other hand, forensic science tells us that FMJ bullets will never, ever, ever shatter into dozens of tiny fragments after penetrating bone, skull bone or otherwise. Dr. Vincent DiMaio, considered one of the greatest forensic pathologists of the 20th and 21st centuries, made this clear in his famous forensic handbook Gunshot Wounds:

An x-ray of an individual shot with a full metal-jacketed rifle bullet . . . usually fails to reveal any bullet fragments at all even if the bullet has perforated bone such as the skull or spine.If any fragments are seen, they are very sparse in number. . . .(Gunshot Wounds, p. 166)

In x-rays of through-and-through gunshot wounds, the presence of small fragments of metal along the wound track virtually rules out full metal-jacketed ammunition.. . . In rare instances involving full metal-jacketed centerfire rifle bullets, a few small, dust-like fragments of lead may be seen on x-ray if the bullet perforates bone. One of the most characteristic x-rays and one that will indicate the type of weapon and ammunition used is that seen from centerfire rifles firing hunting ammunition. In such a case, one will see a 'lead snowstorm'. . . . Such a picture rules out full metal-jacketed rifle ammunition or a shotgun slug. (Gunshot Wounds, p. 318)

Notice the two key points: (1) In the "rare" cases when FMJ bullets do fragment if they penetrate bone, they will only leave "a few" fragments. (2) If an x-ray shows a "lead snowstorm," i.e., a cluster of numerous tiny fragments, this "rules out" FMJ ammo.

Thus, it is not surprising that the skull x-rays from the WC's head-shot wound ballistics test show a fragmentation pattern that looks nothing like the pattern seen in the JFK autopsy skull x-rays.

Andrew has painted himself in to a corner by fully committing to z312/313 as being the final shot of the three, clearly audible shots reported by over 160 witnesses.
JFK's reaction to being shot through the throat (and Brachial Plexus) is for his hands to fly upwards, towards his chin, at an incredible speed. It is clearly a neuromuscular/reflex reaction.
This indicates he was shot milliseconds before this movement.
The first reliable visible signs of this movement are seen in z225, so the shot passed through JFK only 2 or 3 Z-frames before this (z222/223).
The problem for Andrew is that there is a shade less than 5 seconds between z222/223 and z312/313.
He believes there was a significant gap between the first and second shots (and that the second and third shots were close together) - shot, pause, shot, shot.
This is impossible if you accept that the head shot was the last shot. There would be no time for a pause between the first two shots.

How does he overcome this problem?
By using the worst methodology possible.
He fixes the last shot at z312/313 then uses the time it takes to get off a shot with the MC (around 2.5 seconds ish) and calculates his way backwards from z312/313.
He then has his Z-frames (first shot z190, second shot z272, third shot z312/313)
After he has got his Z-frames he then, and only then, looks for evidence to support his calculations!!

He doesn't use the evidence to reach a conclusion.
He already has his conclusion and then cherry-picks evidence to support this conclusion.

It is a doomed method that led to a doomed theory.
However, this has not stopped him from constantly promoting this dead theory. It is his creation, after all.

Yes it is. He was peddling it on John McAdams' forum as far back as 2008 when I joined it and probably before that. It doesn't matter how many times or how many ways people have pointed out the impossibility of his pet theory, he will dream up some cockamamie excuse to cling to it. He seems to have an undying pride of authorship of it although I have no idea why.

I guess we are all entitled to be our own little photographic panels and medical panels, but it certainly looks to me like "something is going on" with JFKA after Z195. The right arm seems locked in a distinctly odd position.

Instead of saying "looks to me like" [ ] I've provided photographic proof that the HSCA's photographic panel was incorrect regarding JFK's movements as he passed behind the Stemmons sign.
It is par for the course that you have ignored, and are downplaying, this irrefutable evidence. It's typical of your 'open-minded' approach. So is the way you just disappeared from the discussion on that thread once this evidence was presented to you, only for you to pop up elsewhere spewing the same discredited nonsense.

There is no evidence whatsoever that JFK was reacting to a shot prior to z225. His arm is in the air because he is waving, that's it. He doesn't rapidly turn to face Jackie, that has been proven to be incorrect.
Reassess the evidence presented on this point.
You seem so enamoured by figures in authority that you find it difficult to accept a non-expert could offer any new insight. Even when it is put right in front of your face.
The HSCA photographic panel was wrong on this particular issue. That has been proven. You don't need to see what it 'looks like'.

I would be willing to bet that NOTHING LIKE 8% or 10% of the populace could get 15 right. My guess would be that either (1) the quiz was of interest only to the miniscule percentage who actually care anything about the JFKA and/or (2) a substantial percentage started off so badly they said the hell with it and didn't finish. I would bet my house, car and Callaway driver that 10% couldn't tell you the YEAR of the JFKA.

If we are talking about the public at large, I think you are correct. If we are talking about people who were interested enough to take the quiz, I think their scores will be quite higher.

I guess we are all entitled to be our own little photographic panels and medical panels, but it certainly looks to me like "something is going on" with JFKA after Z195. The right arm seems locked in a distinctly odd position.