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

The Rifle Bullets

Three additional projectiles or projectile fragments were recovered outside the building: a nearly whole bullet weighing 158.6 grains found on Governor Connally’s stretcher, and two bullet fragments weighing 44.6 and 21.0 grains found in the front of the President’s car. The stretcher bullet was slightly flattened but otherwise unmutilated, weighing several grains less than the average Western Cartridge Co. 6.5-millimeter Mannlicher-Carcano bullet. The heavier car fragment was identified as a portion of a bullet’s nose based on its rounded contour and markings, while the lighter fragment was a base portion identified by its shape and the presence of a cannelure. The fragments were too mutilated to determine from their features alone whether they constituted parts of one bullet or two separate bullets, but each retained sufficient unmutilated area for identification purposes. Based on comparison with test bullets fired from the C2766 rifle, all three—the stretcher bullet and both fragments—were identified as having been fired from the C2766 rifle.

The Revolver

The revolver taken from Oswald at his arrest was a .38 Special Smith & Wesson Victory Model revolver bearing serial number V510210, the only S. & W. revolver with that number since the company does not repeat serial numbers. Originally manufactured in the United States, the revolver bears English inspection/proof marks indicating it was shipped to England before being returned to the U.S. market. The revolver showed signs of use but was in good operating condition. It was originally designed to fire a .38 S. & W. cartridge—lighter and shorter than the .38 Special but with a larger diameter—but was rechambered for the .38 Special prior to U.S. sale. While not rebarreled, the barrel had been shortened by cutting off approximately 2¾ inches from its original 5-inch length, a modification serving only to facilitate concealment. The weapon is a conventional double-action revolver with a swing-out rotating cylinder holding one to six cartridges, allowing six consecutive shots when fully loaded. Empty cartridge cases are extracted by swinging out the cylinder and pushing the ejector rod, which ejects all cases simultaneously. Live cartridges can be separated from spent cases by tipping the cylinder before ejection because spent cases, having expanded against the chamber walls, are lighter and will not fall out, while live rounds will.