Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy

General Testing Conditions

The Commission provided the Edgewood scientists with all relevant facts about the wounds inflicted on President Kennedy and Governor Connally, including the President’s autopsy report and the reports and X-rays from Parkland Hospital. Drs. Olivier and Light personally discussed the Governor’s wounds with his attending surgeons, Drs. Robert R. Shaw and Charles F. Gregory, and viewed the Zapruder films with Governor and Mrs. Connally. The Commission also supplied all known data on the source of the shots, the rifle and bullets used, and the distances involved. The Mannlicher-Carcano rifle found on the sixth floor of the Depository Building was turned over to the Edgewood testers, who obtained Western bullets of the type used by the assassin for their experiments.

Tests on Penetration Power and Bullet Stability

The Edgewood scientists compared the penetrating power of Western bullets fired from the assassination rifle with other ammunition types. Western bullets fired from the Mannlicher-Carcano through two gelatin blocks totaling 72½ centimeters traveled in a straight line through 1½ blocks before their trajectory curved, ultimately burying themselves in a mound of earth. For comparison, an M-80 NATO round fired from an M-14 rifle showed substantially less penetrating power with quicker tumbling and earlier energy release. A .257 Winchester Roberts soft-nosed hunting bullet became deformed almost immediately upon entering the gelatin and released its energy very rapidly. The tests concluded that the Western bullet fired from the Mannlicher-Carcano had “terrific penetrating ability” and would retain substantial velocity after passing through portions of the human body.