cellini's Diaryland Diary

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On the JFK Assassination

I was looking at some stuff people have written about JFK's assassination today online. Boy, most of these conspiracy theorists are idiots who know nothing about firearms or ballistics. I mean, I don't buy the theory that Oswald acted alone (and am thus in agreement with the findings of the Congressional inquiry - something that people have since overlooked), but bullshit is still bullshit.

I saw a picture of the bullet in cross section and it appears to be your standard sort of full metal jacket, military surplus type ammo. I have shot tons and tons of that shit and the relatively intact condition of the bullet is not so unusual as people are trying to say. I've pulled similar bullets out of tree trunks that were in as good condition after passing through 7 or 8 inches of solid wood.

Also there is this shit claiming that Kennedy's head would not have jerked backwards if it was really hit from the back. Speaking as someone who has actually shot several large animals in the head I can say that this is normal. A bullet applies a lot of force to a very small area and a bullet like that pokes a very small hole, sliding through the head or body or whatever easily enough that it really doesn't push the whole target forward much. The full metal jacket means that the pointy bullet stays pointy and doesn't impart much force to the target. It just makes a hole.

However, the exit hole is always bigger than the entry hole and bits of bone and flesh will fly out the exit hole behind the bullet. The basic laws of physics tell us that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Stuff getting blasted out on one side of an object will cause the object to move in the opposite direction. Like a rocket ship.

A fully jacketed bullet will go through all kinds of shit. Of course that 'magic bullet' went through Kennedy's shoulder, some other dude's wrist, body and thigh and so on. FMJ ammo is designed for maximum penetration rather than maximum damage. There's nothing magic about this. I have literally shot down a tree behind a target stand with such ammunition and I have a picture to prove it. The range wasn't that far. Less than 200 yards, it looks like. Plenty of remaining velocity and energy.

Anyway, these people who like to blab on and on about ballistics and what is or isn't possible should shut the fuck up if they've never actually spent some quality tome blasting shit to pieces with a medium caliber rifle. They have no real idea of what they are talking about.

4:06 p.m. - 2007-11-02

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