by G. Paul Chambers
I was with the guy all the way through the first 8 chapters. He systematically disassembles the single bullet theory and applies physics to the movement of Jack's head. Yeah, I found niggling little things that weren't quite right about balistics and rifles, but I kept reading because he said that in Chapter nine he would name the murder weapon...
He did. The rifle was... A "Winchester .220 Swift" in .223 caliber (just like the AR-15) He even shows an illustration of the rifle on page 208. It looks like some sort of laminate stocked stainless heavy barrel falling block with no iron sights, just scope bases. I believe the illustration was done by his wife, or some other relative.
It is apparent that he thinks that the "Winchester .220 Swift" is a model of rifle made by Winchester, as demonstrated by this description of the rifle from page 208: "The rifle was originally produced in 1935 as a super speed.22 centerfire by Winchester. It is extremely accurate and is used today for hunting small game and deer. Thirty-one states currently allow the use of the .220 Swift for deer hunting. The gun can fire a 50-grain (about a tenth of an ounce) .224-diameter bullet at a velocity approaching and even exceeding 4,000 ft/sec. Depending on the cartridge, muzzle velocities as high as 4,110 ft/sec are achievable with this weapon. It is known to be effective against deer at ranges of 200 yards. The barrel is long at 26 inches, but the gun has surprisingly little recoil, given its high power. A qualified marksman firing the .220 Swift can consistently shoot five shot groupings within a half-inch-diameter circle on a target positioned at a range of 100 yards."
"The weapon that fired the final shot was a Winchester .220 Swift, not a Mannlicher-Carcano rifle."
"...and convincing evidence for at least one shot originating from the front side, fired from a different weapon entirely, the .220 Swift, a high-tech assassin's rifle"
He says it was: "...a favorite assasination weapon of the 1960's..." His footnote on which is: "Anonymous source"
The smoke that many witnesses saw from the grassy knoll is explained. He states that, while modern powders "are not entirely smokeless", the cartridge could have been hand loaded with black powder. This would have been done because: "An advantage of black powder is that, unlike modern, mostly smokeless, ball powders, it isn't nessessary to weigh it precisely before loading it into the custom-made bullet cartridge."
I paid full bookstore retail for this hardcover volume.
I bought Dead Zero by Stephen Hunter the same day. (Go Bob the Nailer!)
It was more plausible
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