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Warren Commission Hearings: Vol. III - Page 407« Previous | Next »

(Testimony of Robert A. Frazier)

Mr. Eisenberg.
Mr. Frazier, when you were running, let's say, the last test, could you have compensated for this defect?
Mr. Frazier.
Yes; you could take an aiming point low and to the left and have the shots strike a predetermined point. But it would be no different from taking these targets and putting an aiming point in the center of the bullet-impact area. Here that would be the situation you would have--- an aiming point off to the side and an impact area at the high right corner.
Mr. Eisenberg.
If you had been shooting to score bulls-eyes, in a bulls-eye pattern, what would you have what action, if any, would you have taken, to improve your score?
Mr. Frazier.
I would have aimed low and to the left--after finding how high the bullets were landing; you would compensate by aiming low left, or adjusting the mount of the scope in a manner which would cause the hairlines to coincide with the point of impact.
Mr. Eisenberg.
How much practice had you had with the rifle before the last series of four targets were shot by you?
Mr. Frazier.
I had fired it possibly 20 rounds, 15 to 20 rounds, and in addition had operated the bolt repeatedly.
Mr. Eisenberg.
Does practice with this weapon--or would practice with this weapon--materially shorten the time in which three shots could be accurately fired?
Mr. Frazier.
Yes, sir; very definitely.
Mr. Eisenberg.
Would practice without actually firing the weapon be helpful--that is, a dry-run practice?
Mr. Frazier.
That would be most helpful, particularly in a bolt-action weapon, where it is necessary to shift your hand from the trigger area to the bolt, operate the bolt, and go back to the trigger after closing the bolt.
Mr. Eisenberg.
Based on your experience with the weapon, do you think three shots could be fired accurately within 5 1/2 seconds if no rest was utilized?
Mr. Frazier.
That would depend on the accuracy which was necessary or needed-or which you desired. I think you could fire the shots in that length of time, but whether you could place them, say, in a 3- or 4-inch circle without either resting or possibly using the sling as a support--I doubt that you could accomplish that.
Mr. Eisenberg.
How--these targets at which you fired stationary at 100 yards--how do you think your time would have been affected by use of a moving target?
Mr. Frazier.
It would have slowed down the shooting. It would have lengthened the time to the extent of allowing the crosshairs to pass over the moving target.
Mr. Eisenberg.
Could you give an amount?
Mr. Frazier.
Approximately 1 second. It would depend on how fast the target was moving, and whether it was moving away from you or towards you or at right angles.
Mr. Eisenberg.
Do you think you could shorten your time with further practice with the weapon?
Mr. Frazier.
Oh, yes.
Mr. Eisenberg.
Could you give us an estimate on that?
Mr. Frazier.
I fired three shots in 4.6 seconds at 25 yards with approximately a 3-inch spread, which is the equivalent of a 12-inch spread at a hundred yards. And I feel that a 12-inch relative circle could be reduced to 6 inches or even less with considerable practice with the weapon.
Mr. Eisenberg.
That is in the 4.6-second time?
Mr. Frazier.
Yes. I would say from 4.8 to 5 seconds, in that area 4.6 is firing this weapon as fast as the bolt can be operated, I think.
Mr. Eisenberg.
I am now going to ask you several hypothetical questions concerning the factors which might have affected the aim of the assassin on November 22d, and I would like you to make the following assumptions in answering these questions: First, that the assassin fired his shots from the window near which the cartridges were found--that is, the easternmost window on the south face of the sixth floor of the School Book Depository Building,
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