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What caliber were the bullets taken from JFK's body? Does this confirm or deny the proposed information of caliber and the shooter's location?
Executive summary
Contemporary official investigations concluded that the fragments removed from President Kennedy were consistent with 6.5 mm (Mannlicher–Carcano) style ammunition and that forensic panels found evidence of only two bullets striking JFK, both coming from the rear—supporting the conclusion that the shots originated from the Texas School Book Depository area and the rifle recovered there (6.5 mm Mannlicher–Carcano) [1] [2] [3]. However, reporting and later analyses note gaps and contested details in the autopsy, the small size and deformation of cranial fragments, and limits on determining exact caliber from clothing and fragmentary material, leaving some technical questions unresolved in public records [4] [1] [3].
1. What caliber were bullets taken from JFK’s body — the official forensic findings
The Warren Commission and later the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) firearms examinations linked the larger recovered whole bullet and identifiable fragments to the C2766 Mannlicher–Carcano rifle found in the Texas School Book Depository; that rifle fired 6.5 mm cartridge types, and examiners identified fragments consistent with bullets fired from that rifle to the exclusion of other weapons [1]. The HSCA’s neutronic activation analysis (INAA) work in 1977 reported that the analyzed fragments matched Western Cartridge Co./MC (WCC/MC) bullet-lead ranges and that the specimens showed evidence consistent with only two WCC/MC bullets [3].
2. What the autopsy and pathology panels reported about number and direction of bullets
Forensic pathology panels that reviewed autopsy X‑rays, photos and testimony concluded JFK was struck by two and only two bullets and that both entered from the rear—findings the HSCA expressly recorded after re-examination of the medical evidence [2]. Earlier autopsy signatories likewise informed investigators that Kennedy had been hit by bullets from behind, one to the back and one to the head [5].
3. Technical limits: why “caliber” isn’t a simple, definitive label in this case
Multiple official sources note limits to precise caliber determinations from the autopsy fragments and clothing. The Warren Report explicitly says clothing examinations could not definitively determine caliber, and small, heavily deformed cranial fragments (e.g., three tiny fragments removed from the brain) were too mutilated for some tests [1] [6]. The HSCA and later scientific work therefore relied on ballistic matching of larger fragments and cartridge evidence, chemical lead analysis, and rifling/toolmark comparisons rather than a simple “caliber stamp” from intact bullets [1] [3].
4. Arguments that challenge or reinterpret the official ballistics conclusions
Independent researchers and some modern commentators have highlighted alleged autopsy failings—missing measurements, poor in-room examination of clothing, missing brain material—and point to ambiguities in X‑rays and fragment placement as reasons to question some forensic inferences [4] [7]. Media reports still surface experts claiming alternate entry directions (for example, a claim of a frontal head shot by a forensic doctor), but these are contested and not adopted by the HSCA or the original Warren Commission conclusions; such claims are present in recent press but are not reflected as overturning the forensic panels’ findings in the archival reports cited here [8] [2].
5. Modern technical work and what it adds — preservation and digital analysis
Recent work by institutions such as NIST has focused on digitally preserving and applying validated tool‑mark comparison methods to the assassination bullets and fragments; such work aims to improve microscopic comparison of rifling marks to test-fired samples and to preserve fragile evidence for ongoing study, but does not by itself change the record that the known rifle was a Mannlicher–Carcano and that analyses linked key fragments to it [9]. Computational and ballistic modeling studies have also been used to assess trajectory and impact mechanics, with some peer‑reviewed work supporting a rear-origin cranial shot consistent with the Depository’s 6th‑floor position [10].
6. Bottom line — what is confirmed and what remains open
Available official forensic reporting and later HSCA analysis confirm fragments are consistent with Western Cartridge Co./Mannlicher–Carcano bullets (6.5 mm family) and that panels concluded two bullets struck Kennedy from the rear, supporting the Depository/rifle linkage [3] [2] [1]. At the same time, available sources document autopsy and evidence‑handling shortcomings and the extreme fragment deformation that limit simple, unequivocal statements about every fragment’s caliber or path; alternative interpretations exist in the literature and press but have not supplanted the HSCA/Warren findings in the cited records [4] [8] [7].
Limitations: available sources do not mention any newly released, conclusive laboratory test since the HSCA/INAA work that overturns the identification of Mannlicher–Carcano/6.5 mm linkage; claims to the contrary appear in later commentary and selective re‑analysis but are not supported in the official reports cited above [3] [2] [1].