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> You haven't even answered the last questions I put to you. So how's that schooling working out for ya'?
Which question? The one about the lead snowstorm? Oh, forgive me for not answering your beck and call to deaf ears. Sure, I'm happy to C&P some information you'll mock but not read.....
On Frangible Bullets in JFK Assassination
“I received two replies, one from Dr. Jimmy W. Green and the other from Dr. Eric Berg, both of whom, as mentioned, are medical examiners. Dr. Green said that “almost all” FMJ bullets fired from medium-to-high-velocity rifles “do not fragment with numerous pieces.” He cited one exception, and that was a .223 bullet traveling at a high velocity, and he noted that “hunting ammunition” will produce a “lead snowstorm.” Of course, the 6.5 mm FMJ ammunition that Oswald allegedly used is much different than hunting ammunition. With regard to the shearing scenario, Dr. Green said “it generally would not occur that an FMJ bullet would shear in pieces as it entered the skull or other bone.” He added he would be “surprised” that an FMJ missile would behave in this manner. I quote Dr. Green’s reply:
1. Almost all FMJ bullets fired from rifles of medium to high velocity do not fragment with numerous pieces as you have described. Having said that, it is known that the .223 bullet as used in an M-16 rifle will produce multiple fragmentation even though it is an FMJ bullet. This is due to its high velocity (about 3200 fps) and inherent instability when it enters the body. These combined effects tear open the jacket and expose the lead core. Most centerfire rifle bullets from hunting ammunition will cause a “lead snowstorm” effect with numerous small metallic fragments breaking off the lead core as the bullet passes thru the body. I don’t see why this couldn’t happen with the skull and brain as well as the trunk.
2. In answer to your second question, I think that it generally would not occur that an FMJ bullet would shear in pieces as it entered the skull or other bone. But it could potentially be possible for a small piece of bullet to break off as it enters the skull depending on several factors, such as caliber, i.e., .223 and intermediary targets. This effect may produce a “keyhole” entrance wound if the trajectory is somewhat tangential to the skull, part of the bullet would be sheared off and exit or remain in the tissue while the other part enters the cranial cavity. This generally only happens with exposed lead core bullets though and with lower velocity. So my first thought is that the bullet type would not be FMJ to cause this effect and I would be surprised that one would do this unless there were confounding factors as noted above.
Considerations should include whether or not there were any intermediary targets prior to entering the body or head and whether or not the actual bullets were FMJ or some other construction. (E-mail to author, 3/19/2002)
Dr. Berg was even more skeptical that an FMJ bullet would leave numerous fragments in a skull. With regard to the question about an FMJ bullet depositing a fragment on the outer table of the skull, he said, “No, not with a full metal jacket.” I quote Dr. Berg’s reply:
QUESTION #1: No. “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.” (Page 318)
QUESTION #2: No, not with a full metal jacket.
REFERENCE: VJM DiMaio, Gunshot Wounds, CRC Press, Boca Raton, 1999. ISBN 0-8493-8163-0. (E-mail to author, 3/19/2002)
Dr. Michael Kurtz has done considerable research on the wound ballistics aspects of the case. Dr. Kurtz argues that the skull fracturing and bullet fragmentation visible on the autopsy x-rays indicate high-velocity ammunition struck the president’s skull, not low-velocity or medium-velocity ammunition as supposed by the single-assassin theory:
The x-rays of the skull reveal massive multiple fractures of the skull on both the right and left sides. There is extensive fragmentation of the bone, and several pieces of the skull are missing. This type of damage is not produced by ammunition like that allegedly used by Oswald. Copper-jacketed bullet commonly penetrate straight through objects, leaving only small tracks and causing little in the way of bone fractures. Wounds ballistics tests performed for the commission confirmed this. Bullets from Oswald’s rifle, from a .257 Roberts soft-point hunting rifle, and from a United States Army M-14 rifle were fired into blocks of gelatin covered with masonite. The Mannlicher-Carcano bullet went straight through the gelatin, leaving a tiny track and causing little damage to the substance. The soft-point hunting bullet expanded rapidly upon entering and considerably more damage. The M-14 bullet caused more destruction than the others. . . .
The skull x-rays also depicted extensive bullet fragmentation within the skull. This type of fragmentation is not typical of full-jacketed military ammunition. That ammunition was specifically designed to remain intact when passing through a body. Lead, or hollow-point, ammunition is the type that causes fragmentation. . . .
World War II films of men being shot in the head by Mannlicher-Carcano rifles reveal absolutely no massive explosion of brain tissue and also show quite graphically that the men invariably fell in the same direction as the trajectory of the bullets that struck them. Autopsy photographs and x-rays of some of the victims of Mannlicher-Carcano-inflicted head wounds also showed no bullet fragmentation, no serious disruption of brain tissue, and very small exit wounds. (Crime of the Century, pp. 91, 104)
The x-rays of two of the skulls used in the Warren Commission’s wound ballistics tests pose another problem for the lone-gunman theory. The fragmentation seen on these x-rays differs markedly from the fragmentation seen on the autopsy x-rays, in location, nature, and number. Howard Roffman explains:
These X rays depict gelatin-filled human skulls shot with ammunition of the type allegedly used by Oswald. They were classified by the government and remained suppressed until recently; they are printed here for the first time ever. What they reveal is that Oswald’s rifle could not have produced the head wounds suffered by President Kennedy. The bullet that hit the president in the head exploded into a multitude of minuscule fragments. One Secret Service agent described the appearance of these metal fragments on the X rays: “The whole head looked like a little mass of stars.” The fragmentation depicted on these test X rays obviously differs from that described in the president’s head. The upper X ray reveals only relatively large fragments concentrated at the point of entrance; the lower reveals only a few tiny fragments altogether. This gives dramatic, suppressed proof that Oswald did not fire the shot that killed President Kennedy. (Photo: National Archives) (Presumed Guilty, 1976, photo pages 8 and 9, chapter 5)
Another wound ballistics problem for the lone-gunman theory is that the number of known and unknown fragments from the head shot appears to add up to much more than one Carcano missile, which means more than one bullet struck Kennedy in the head. Dr. Kurtz explains:
The known fragments both inside and outside the head total more than two-thirds of an intact Mannlicher-Carcano bullet. This does not account for the fact that a sizable number of fragments exploded completely out of the head and were propelled out of the limousine on to the street. . . . The Ramsey Clark panel states specifically that most of the bullet that struck the president “emerged from the head.” Dr. Lattimer estimated that 95 grains of the bullet which struck the head “apparently went completely over the windshield to strike the street further along.” His calculation is based on the fact that 65 grains of the bullet were recovered. This calculation, however, is based entirely upon the total weight of the limousine fragments. He does not include the weight of the two fragments recovered from the head nor those remaining in the head.
Dr. Lattimer estimated that 70 percent of the right half of the brain as well as 50 percent of the right half of the skull was missing. Over thirty-five fragments, many over 1 mm. in diameter, two over 6 mm., remained in that portion of the brain and skull which did not explode out of the head. It is not unreasonable to postulate that at least as many fragments must have been blown out of the head as remained in it.
Wounds ballistics tests conducted for the Warren Commission by Dr. Alfred Olivier confirmed this. A bullet from Oswald’s rifle fired into a test skull fragmented extensively, ejecting over thirty fragments outside the skull. Two very large fragments composing approximately 70 percent of the test bullet were found outside the skull. Twenty-nine smaller fragments, some as large as 6 mm. in diameter, were also discovered outside the test skull. Collectively, these fragments total about 95 percent of the total size of the test bullet. Dr. Lattimer also performed ballistics tests that verified the fact that most of the intact size and weight of Mannlicher-Carcano bullets were blown out of the skulls.
The results of these tests indicate that the total number of known and unknown fragments add up to substantially more than one of Oswald’s bullets. The bullet fragments remaining in the brain plus those in the skull plus those removed from the brain plus those the limousine fragments plus those never recovered strongly suggest that more than one bullet struck President Kennedy in the head. (Crime of the Century, pp. 97-98, emphasis added)
As mentioned, the extensive skull fracturing and bullet fragmentation visible on the autopsy skull x-rays indicate the ammunition that struck the president’s head was not the same kind of ammunition that Oswald allegedly used. Even the Clark Panel concluded the missile that struck the back of the president’s head was a high-velocity bullet. Said the panel,
These findings indicate that the back of the head was struck by a single bullet travelling at high velocity. . . . (Clark Panel Report, “Examination of Photographs of Head,” reproduced in Menninger, Mortal Error, p. 316, emphasis added)
However, Oswald used low-to-medium-velocity ammunition. FBI firearms expert Robert Frazier explained to the commission that the Carcano rifle (the alleged murder weapon) was a low-velocity weapon:
Mr. EISENBERG. How does the recoil of this weapon [the Mannlicher-Carcano rifle that Oswald supposedly used] compare with the recoil of the average military rifle?
Mr. FRAZIER. Considerably less. The recoil is nominal with this weapon, because it has a very low velocity and pressure, and just an average-size bullet weight.
Mr. EISENBERG. Is the killing power of the bullets essentially similar to the killing power at these ranges—the killing power of the rifles you have named?
Mr. FRAZIER. No, sir.
Mr. EISENBERG. How much difference is there?
Mr. FRAZIER. The higher velocity bullets of approximately the same weight would have more killing power. This has a low velocity. . . . (3 H 414, emphasis added)
. . . . .
Dr. Vincent DiMaio’s book Gunshot Wounds. That quote is worth repeating, and note that Dr. DiMaio says that even in cases where an FMJ bullet perforates bone only rarely will the missile leave fragments, and that even then the fragments will be “few”:
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, CRC Press, Boca Raton, 1999, p. 318,