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

WOUND BALLISTICS EXPERIMENTS

In response to questions about whether the wounds to President Kennedy and Governor Connally could have been caused by the Mannlicher-Carcano rifle found on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository Building, the Commission requested a series of wound ballistics tests using Western Cartridge Co. bullets and fragments of the type recovered from the Governor’s stretcher and the Presidential limousine. To analyze the trajectory, velocity, and penetration power of the bullets after they struck and exited their initial victims, the tests were conducted on substances resembling the wounded portions of the bodies of President Kennedy and Governor Connally under conditions which simulated the events of the assassination.

Purpose of the Tests

During the Commission’s inquiry, questions arose about whether the wounds inflicted on President Kennedy and Governor Connally could have been caused by the Mannlicher-Carcano rifle found on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository Building and Western Cartridge Co. bullets and fragments of the type found on the Governor’s stretcher and in the Presidential limousine. Further questions were posed on the bullet’s velocity and penetration power after exiting from the person initially struck, requiring trajectory analysis after impact. To address these and related questions, the Commission requested that a series of tests be conducted on substances resembling the wounded portions of the bodies of President Kennedy and Governor Connally under conditions simulating the events of the assassination.