Warren Commission (05 of 26): Hearings Vol. V (of 15)United States. Warren Commission
History
Warren Commission (05 of 26): Hearings Vol. V (of 15)
United States. Warren Commission
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963 -- Assassination; Oswald, Lee Harvey
Dr. OLIVIER. Actually, the bullet passed through two gelatin blocks.
This was done as part of an energy study to see the amount of energy
imparted to the block of gelatin taking a high-speed motion picture.
These blocks show a record of the permanent cavity left in the gelatin.
This is not necessarily the total penetration. This bullet when it
comes out of the second block still has quite a bit of penetrating
power. Quite a few of these bullets would go into a dirt bank and imbed
themselves so deeply that they couldn't be recovered.
Mr. SPECTER. I now show you Commission Exhibit No. 845 which is a
photograph, and ask you to state for the record what that photograph
represents?
Dr. OLIVIER. This has been adopted as standard military ammunition of
the U.S. Army. It is known as the NATO round. It is M-80 ball fired
in the M-14 rifle. It has a different--it is a full jacketed military
bullet but has a different point, what they call a no jag point, a
sharp point. It has tumbling characteristics. When it goes in a certain
block it tumbles and does the same in the body. It is more efficient in
producing wounds than the bullet under study.
Mr. SPECTER. How do the impact, penetration, and other characteristics
of the bullet depicted in 845 compare with the Western Cartridge Co.
bullet fired from the Mannlicher-Carcano in 844?
Dr. OLIVIER. It has better wounding potential due to the quicker
tumbling but it would not have as good penetrating ability, when it
starts tumbling and releasing all that energy doing all that damage it
comes to a stop in a shorter distance.
Mr. SPECTER. Would the Western bullet be characterized as having the
qualities of a more stable bullet?
Dr. OLIVIER. Yes; it would. You mean in the target?
Mr. SPECTER. Yes, sir.
Dr. OLIVIER. Yes.
Mr. SPECTER. The stability in the air would be the same for any
missile, would it not?
Dr. OLIVIER. To be a good bullet they should be stable in air in order
to hit what you are aiming at, yes.
Mr. SPECTER. Then would the characteristics of stability in the air be
the same for either of the two bullets you have heretofore referred to?
Dr. OLIVIER. Essentially so.
Mr. SPECTER. I now hand you photograph marked as Commission Exhibit No.
846 and ask you to state what that depicts?
Dr. OLIVIER. This is a 257 Winchester Roberts soft nose hunting bullet.
This one pictured fired from right to left instead of left to right
and the bullet didn't even go out of the block. It deforms almost
immediately on entering the block and releases its energy rather
rapidly. This type of ammunition is illegal for military use. We are
just studying the wounding characteristics of various bullets, but this
is not a military bullet.
Mr. SPECTER. How does it compare with the Western bullet?
Dr. OLIVIER. It would be better for wounding, better for hunting
purposes. But as I said, it isn't acceptable as a military bullet.
Mr. SPECTER. How does it compare with respect to penetration power?
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