MC Ammo, Clips and Primers
After WWII, Albania was the only European nation to go Communist
without having been invaded by the Soviet Union. It was also Europe's
poorest country and the only one with a Muslim majority. As a result,
it became part of the American policy to assist Italy in the
destruction of the Albanian government. Italy had occupied Albania
throughout WWII.
On March 23, 1964, Mr.R.W. Botts, District Manager, Winchester-Western
Division of Olin, told the FBI that the Western Cartridge Company had
manufactured a quantity of 6.5 mm Mannlicher Carcano ammunition for
the Italian Government during WWII." At the end of the war the Italian
Carcano rifle, and no telling how much of this type ammunition, was
sold to the United States gun brokers and
dealers and was eventually distributed by direct sales to wholesalers,
retailers, and individual purchasers." (CE.No.2694)
By the time that the US decided to overthrow the Hoxha government,
there was very little Italian ammo for MC's left in Italy, so Western
was contracted to supply the necessary ammo. When the attempt failed,
the ammo was put into storage . It reappeared when the plans were in
progress to invade Cuba. Both the surplus rifles and Italian ammo were
used as well as some of the Western ammo.
John Masen, owner of Masen's Gun Shop, in Dallas, bought 10 boxes of
Western ammo from John Brinegar, owner of The Gun Shop, also in
Dallas. He sold the 10 boxes to individuals. All of this ammo had a
military load. Later, in the summer of 1963, he bought 10 more boxes
of Western from Brinegar. Since this ammo was used mostly for deer
hunting, he "pulled" the bullets in the last batch and reloaded it
with a hunting type bullet (lead nose).Brinegar testified that "the
6.5 mm rifle was rather common in the Dallas area and he felt that the
larger gun dealers, pawn shops, sporting goods, and H.L.Green Company
Stores would have handled the 6.5 mm MC Western ammo, as he recalled
seeing ads for this 6.5 western ammo."( CE Ex.
No. 2694.)
Al Yeargan, who was manager of the fourth floor Gun Dept. , at
Green's , testified that he sold both the rifle and the Italian ammo,
but never did sell any of the Western ammo.
Some researchers wondered why LHO did not buy his ammo from Klein's.
It could be that Klein's policy warned buyers that "Hand gun orders,
and orders with ammo , are shipped express, charges collect. "
Surely , Lee knew that he could get ammo in Dallas without the express
shipping and the charges. Also. I'm sure that Lee knew about the aging
Italian ammo and the misfires, and also knew about the better Western
ammo.
The Italian ammo was all military loaded and not desired by hunters,
so many dealers reloaded the shells with soft point projectiles.
The MC ammo came in preloaded clips. This ammo quickly disappeared and
these casings could not be reloaded because all ammo, other than
American, used the Berdan primer. All Western had the American Boxer
primer. Because so many MCs were sold in America, there was a need for
Carcano rounds, and since none was being manufactured, a company in
Sweden, NORMA by name, began selling 6.5 mm ammo to Carcano owners.
The NORMA ammo contained a "soft-point" bullet and it used the Boxer
primer, so the consumer could do his own reloading. The round is
identifiable by the Norma name on the bottom of the shell rim, along
with the 6.5 mm marking
An article, written by Charles H.Yust,Jr. (Some Interesting Clips)
appeared in the June 1960 issue of American Rifleman. On P.47, a photo
and description of the clip operation appears. As follows:
ITALY- Clip for Model 1891 6.5 mm. Mannlicher Carcano rifle and
carbine employing Mannlicher-type magazine. Holds 6 cartridges. Made
of brass and tinned blued Parkerized and cadmium - plated steel, clip
is held in magazine until last round is used, and then PUSHED OUT
BOTTOM of magazine when new clip is forced in from top. Clip was also
used with Vetterli rifles and carbines altered during World War 1 to
6.5 mm Mannlicher-type magazine. In 1938, when Italy increased caliber
of rifle and carbine to 7.35 mm.,same magazine and clip were
retained.
The original factory filled clip (SMI) should not fall out when last
round is chambered as reported. However, numerous clips were made to
accommodate surplus ammo when an original Italian clip was not
available. Some were even homemade. The Dallas clip was in the weapon
when found. It was empty and a round was found in the chamber. The
clip did not fall out. It was an original Italian clip which had been
emptied at some point and refilled with the Western ammo. Probably
because, by 1963, there were reports of misfires with the Italian
ammo. If you are on a mission to kill the most powerful man in the
world, I think it wise to use more reliable ammo.
J. Edgar Hoover sent J.Lee Rankin (W.Comm) a letter dated June 2,
1964, regarding the marks made on the shell casings found in the
TSBD, along with marks made on the live round in the weapon that was
found. All, except CE 543, the dented casing found on the floor with
the other two casings, had marks made by the MAGAZINE FOLLOWER,
indicating that they all had been loaded and extracted numerous times
since a follower normally touches only the bottom round in the six
round clip. SEE CE No. 2968.
Hoover's reference to the magazine follower is confusing since the
magazine of the Carcano does not use a follower. It is one of the few
rifles that uses an ELEVATOR instead of a follower. It is possible
that Hoover did not know the difference , but there is a distinct
difference.They both do the same operation of pushing the rounds up
through the clip, but an elevator would make entirely different marks
than would a follower. The magazine of a MC is the projection
Mannlicher type, formed by a continuation forward of the trigger
guard. And, the elevator bears directly on the bottom cartridge in the
clip and does not carry a follower. This is possible because the
cartridge is rimless and permits the use of a straight clip. I don't
believe that C 6, also designated as CE 543 (the dented casing), was
fired from the M/C that day, which means that only two shots were
fired from the Carcano and from the TSBD.
Hoover ended his letter with this sentence: It is pointed out that if
two or more cartridges are loaded into the clip of C 14, only the
bottom cartridge will be marked by the MAGAZINE FOLLOWER
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