(Testimony of Cortlandt Cunningham Resumed)
Mr. Cunningham.
No; I did not so testify. You asked if you could fire another 6.5 mm. cartridge other than the cartridge
Mr. Eisenberg.
I asked if that cartridge, if a Western manufacture 6.5 mm Mannlicher-Carcano cartridge could be fired in a gun other than the 6.5 mm. Mannlicher-Carcano. And you said, as I recall it, "It could only be fired from a gun chambered for that cartridge."
Mr. Cunningham.
That is correct. That 6.5-mm. Mannlicher-Carcano cartridge could only be fired in a weapon that is chambered for that particular cartridge. Further we have never found another cartridge that this particular type bullet has been loaded into.
Mr. Eisenberg.
Have you any reason to believe there is another 6.5 millimeter rifle manufactured that is chambered for that cartridge?
Mr. Cunningham.
None that I know of. Maybe I misunderstood you. You mean, if the weapon is chambered for a 6.5 millimeter Mannlicher-Carcano, then that is commonly known as its caliber?
Mr. Eisenberg.
Yes.
Mr. Cunningham.
But you can rechamber weapons for another cartridge, as they do all the time with the military surplus Springfield rifles. You can have them rebarreled and rechambered.
Mr. Eisenberg.
Apart from rechambering, talking just about original manufacture, do I understand that the only weapon which you have encountered, the only 6.5 millimeter weapon you have encountered which would fire the particular type of cartridge which is Exhibit 573 is the Mannlicher-Carcano rifle?
Mr. Cunningham.
Yes, sir; the various models of it.
Mr. Eisenberg.
Okay.
Before the luncheon--are there any further questions along this line?
Before the luncheon recess we were talking about the paraffin test and we were discussing the significance of a positive result, and you had given testimony concerning two experiments which the FBI had run which indicated that positive results might be obtained even by a person who had not recently fired a weapon?
Mr. Cunningham.
That is correct.
Mr. Eisenberg.
A paraffin test was also run of Oswald's cheek and it produced a negative result.
Mr. Cunningham.
Yes.
Mr. Eisenberg.
Do your tests, or do the tests which you ran, or your experience with revolvers and rifles, cast any light on the significance of a negative result being obtained on the right cheek?
Mr. Cunningham.
No, sir; I personally wouldn't expect to find any residues on a person's right cheek after firing a rifle due to the fact that by the very principles and the manufacture and the action, the cartridge itself is sealed into the chamber by the bolt being closed behind it, and upon firing the case, the cartridge case expands into the chamber filling it up and sealing it off from the gases, so none will come back in your face, and so by its very nature, I would not expect to find residue on the right cheek of a shooter.
Mr. Eisenberg.
Would you expect to find residues on a person who has fired a revolver such as Commission Exhibit 143?
Mr. Cunningham.
There again, by its design, you would expect to find some thing, although there are cases where you won't find it.
Mr. Eisenberg.
Why do you expect to find a residue in the case of the revolver as opposed to the rifle?
Mr. Cunningham.
A revolver has a revolving cylinder. There is a space between the barrel and the front portion of the cylinder.
Mr. Eisenberg.
I wonder whether you could show that by use of Exhibit 143?
Mr. Cunningham.
You can see when you close the cylinder, and each chamber lines up, there is a few thousandths space between. When the bullet is fired, the bullet jumps across this space and enters the ramp and then into the rifling.
The gases always escape through this small space. The loss is negligible, but the gases are escaping on every shot. After you fire this revolver, you can see residues, smoke deposits and other residues around the entrance to the rear
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