Were any small-caliber handgun projectiles found among JFK's wounds or in the vehicle?
Executive summary
The official forensic record tied the rounds that struck President John F. Kennedy to 6.5×52mm Carcano ammunition, recovered as a largely intact “stretcher bullet” and numerous small fragments consistent with the Carcano rifle, and there is no documentary evidence in the provided sources that small‑caliber handgun projectiles were found among Kennedy’s wounds or inside the presidential limousine [1] [2] [3]. The only documented handgun evidence in the case relates to Oswald’s separate possession and later use of a .38 Special revolver in the Tippit killing, not to projectiles recovered from Kennedy [4] [2] [5].
1. The ballistic picture the archives preserve: Carcano rifle rounds and fragments
The artifacts preserved and now digitally imaged by NIST and described in archival summaries include the stretcher bullet—identified as a 6.5‑millimeter projectile associated with the Carcano rifle—and multiple small, distorted fragments recovered from the scene and hospitals; these materials were examined, cataloged, and digitized as items connected to the assassination and to test firings of Oswald’s Carcano [1] [6] [3]. The Warren Commission and later custodians treated the recovered 6.5‑mm bullet and fragments as the primary physical ballistic evidence linking shots to the Carcano rifle found on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository [4] [7].
2. Scientific analyses point to two Carcano bullets, not multiple handgun calibers
Instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) done for the House Select Committee on Assassinations in 1977 concluded that the composition ranges of the recovered samples matched Western Cartridge Company/Men’s Clothing (WCC/MC) bullet lead and provided “clear evidence for the presence of only two WCC/MC bullets,” a finding consistent with the Carcano 6.5‑mm ammunition profile rather than a mixture that would indicate additional small‑caliber handgun projectiles [8]. Other forensic work and catalog entries note that many fragments were too small or distorted for productive separate examination, but the weight of documented analyses preserved in the archives points to Carcano‑type rounds [2] [1].
3. Handgun evidence in the case is tied to Tippit, not the limousine
Records show that when Oswald was arrested he possessed a Smith & Wesson revolver modified to fire .38 Special ammunition and that four expended .38 Special cartridge cases were found at the Tippit shooting scene; these facts document handgun use in the separate murder of Officer J.D. Tippit but do not place .38 projectiles among the wounds of President Kennedy or in the presidential vehicle [4] [2] [5]. None of the provided archival or forensic sources attribute any of Kennedy’s wounds to a small‑caliber handgun round.
4. Where uncertainty remains and why some claims persist
The historical record includes gaps and fragments—literally and figuratively: some fragments were too small to analyze productively and early testing produced different deformation patterns that fueled debate, and later preservation efforts (e.g., NIST scanning) were focused on digitization rather than new forensic attribution [2] [6] [1]. These technical limits, combined with the public’s long appetite for alternative explanations and the separate presence of a .38 revolver in the case, have kept conspiracy narratives alive; those narratives sometimes imply undisclosed small‑caliber projectiles, but the sources supplied do not document any such finds in Kennedy’s wounds or limousine [3] [9].
5. Bottom line with archival caveats
Based on the forensic exhibits, commission reports, and later archival preservation described in the sources, the documented projectiles associated with the assassination investigations are Carcano 6.5‑mm bullets and fragments; there is no record in these sources of small‑caliber handgun projectiles being recovered from President Kennedy’s wounds or inside the presidential vehicle, while handgun evidence in the files pertains to the separate Tippit killing [1] [8] [2] [4]. If additional evidence exists beyond these cited archives, it is not represented in the provided reporting, and this summary is limited to the documentary and forensic materials cited above.