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As a trained long range shooter, may I observe: such incredible precision shooting? this was an incredible, astonishing feat of marksmanship It's not incredi

As a trained long range shooter, may I observe: such incredible precision shooting? this was an incredible, astonishing feat of marksmanship It's not incredible. With some decent practice, it's not hard. The limo was hardly moving laterally from that position, and not receding fast. Numerous experts have recreated the shot, and concluded the same. You can even try it yourself from Oswald's POV (if you can find a copy, and find old hardware to run it on) in this faithful simulation: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/JFK_Reloaded https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/JFK_Reloaded There's no reason to believe Oswald couldn't/didn't shoot JFK. A SS agent may have added to the confusion with a negligent discharge though.

jMyles 9y ago
So, I am not a trained long range shooter, let me just put that out there. I've only fired maybe 200-300 rounds at distances longer than 70 yards. But it's not hard to dispute parts of your statement: > Numerous experts have recreated the shot, and concluded the same. Most of the experts enlisted to do this have not concluded the same. Some are now ardent believers in multiple-shooter theories. I am aware of no test in which shooters were challenged with a fact pattern in which they were out of sight of the target 5 seconds before, had to shoot through foliage at a moving target, and used a sufficiently similar weapon. What's the closest thing in your opinion? > You can even try it yourself from Oswald's POV (if you can find a copy, and find old hardware to run it on) in this faithful simulation: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/JFK_Reloaded https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/JFK_Reloaded I have played quite a bit with this simulation, and while it gives a pretty good sense of Dealy Plaza, I found three things notable about it: 1) Even after trying many, many times (probably a thousand), I was unable to recreate the Warren Commission scenario 2) The easiest way to kill anyone in the motorcade is to shoot while it's on Houston 3) The rifle is much, much different than a 6.5mm bolt action. It behaves more like an AR-15. It feels semi-automatic with very little recoil.
- ctdonath 9y ago
  Most of the experts enlisted to do this have not concluded the same. Do you know these "experts" personally? I do know ones who have tried it and deemed it a not unreasonable shot. I have to suspect naysaying "experts" either have ulterior motives in advocating an "it's difficult" angle, or just aren't experts - more likely someone made a comment that got rephrased until it mutated into "experts say it couldn't be done alone..." FWIW: I've repeatedly hit man-sized targets up to 1000 yards with a bolt-action rifle under tight time constraints. I won't say it's "easy", but it certainly was doable with few days' solid practice. I am aware of no test in which shooters were challenged with .... What's the closest thing in your opinion? What you describe is normal deer hunting. Moving targets, narrow windows of opportunity, bolt-action rifles. A good percentage of 18,000,000 hunters make comparable shots annually. three things notable about it 1) That was the ultimate goal of releasing the "game": to see if anyone could reproduce that particular scenario precisely. Admittedly, nobody did - though most found that making the JFK-killing shot was not difficult. Then again, a proper study of the data collected would likely show that any given shot was never substantially repeated. If we consider the "agent accidentally fired a shot in a really bad direction" theory, it all does add up. 2) Easiest, yes - when you know exactly how the whole scenario can play out with all variations start to finish. While that would have been the ideal shot, firing when Oswald did (limo traveling away from window) is not substantially more difficult. 3) Mouse & keyboard don't recreate the feel of a bolt-action rifle. That aside, a trained shooter (like ex-Marine Oswald) can operate a bolt-action nearly as fast as a semi-auto, and comes to control & ignore recoil.

jMyles 9y ago

So, I am not a trained long range shooter, let me just put that out there. I've only fired maybe 200-300 rounds at distances longer than 70 yards. But it's not hard to dispute parts of your statement: > Numerous experts have recreated the shot, and concluded the same. Most of the experts enlisted to do this have not concluded the same. Some are now ardent believers in multiple-shooter theories. I am aware of no test in which shooters were challenged with a fact pattern in which they were out of sight of the target 5 seconds before, had to shoot through foliage at a moving target, and used a sufficiently similar weapon. What's the closest thing in your opinion? > You can even try it yourself from Oswald's POV (if you can find a copy, and find old hardware to run it on) in this faithful simulation: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/JFK_Reloaded https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/JFK_Reloaded I have played quite a bit with this simulation, and while it gives a pretty good sense of Dealy Plaza, I found three things notable about it: 1) Even after trying many, many times (probably a thousand), I was unable to recreate the Warren Commission scenario 2) The easiest way to kill anyone in the motorcade is to shoot while it's on Houston 3) The rifle is much, much different than a 6.5mm bolt action. It behaves more like an AR-15. It feels semi-automatic with very little recoil.

ctdonath 9y ago
Most of the experts enlisted to do this have not concluded the same. Do you know these "experts" personally? I do know ones who have tried it and deemed it a not unreasonable shot. I have to suspect naysaying "experts" either have ulterior motives in advocating an "it's difficult" angle, or just aren't experts - more likely someone made a comment that got rephrased until it mutated into "experts say it couldn't be done alone..." FWIW: I've repeatedly hit man-sized targets up to 1000 yards with a bolt-action rifle under tight time constraints. I won't say it's "easy", but it certainly was doable with few days' solid practice. I am aware of no test in which shooters were challenged with .... What's the closest thing in your opinion? What you describe is normal deer hunting. Moving targets, narrow windows of opportunity, bolt-action rifles. A good percentage of 18,000,000 hunters make comparable shots annually. three things notable about it 1) That was the ultimate goal of releasing the "game": to see if anyone could reproduce that particular scenario precisely. Admittedly, nobody did - though most found that making the JFK-killing shot was not difficult. Then again, a proper study of the data collected would likely show that any given shot was never substantially repeated. If we consider the "agent accidentally fired a shot in a really bad direction" theory, it all does add up. 2) Easiest, yes - when you know exactly how the whole scenario can play out with all variations start to finish. While that would have been the ideal shot, firing when Oswald did (limo traveling away from window) is not substantially more difficult. 3) Mouse & keyboard don't recreate the feel of a bolt-action rifle. That aside, a trained shooter (like ex-Marine Oswald) can operate a bolt-action nearly as fast as a semi-auto, and comes to control & ignore recoil.