chapter VI

.[C4-788] Soon after Oswald returned from the Soviet Union he again went hunting with his brother, Robert, and used a borrowed .22 caliber bolt-action rifle.[C4-789] After Oswald purchased the Mannlicher-Carcano rifle, he told his wife that he practiced with it.[C4-790] Marina Oswald testified that on one occasion she saw him take the rifle, concealed in a raincoat, from the house on Neely Street. Oswald told her he was going to practice with it.[C4-791] According to George De Mohrenschildt, Oswald said that he went target shooting with that rifle.[C4-792]

Marina Oswald testified that in New Orleans in May of 1963, she observed Oswald sitting with the rifle on their screened porch at night, sighting with the telescopic lens and operating the bolt.[C4-793] Examination of the cartridge cases found on the sixth floor of the Depository Building established that they had been previously loaded and ejected from the assassination rifle, which would indicate that Oswald practiced operating the bolt.[C4-794]

Accuracy of Weapon

It will be recalled from the discussion in