Reply #100: Massad Ayoob, one of the best firearms writers..

[MicaelS]

Theorized that Oswald didn't use the POS optical sight the Carcano came with, and instead relied on the gun's iron sights. Which is how he had been trained in the Marine Corps.

I have lived in Texas all my life, and in Ft Worth for 22 years. Before I moved to Ft Worth, I was a big believe in a conspiracy. Not any more. Every time I go to Dealey Plaza, I am struck by just how SMALL the place is. On TV and in the movies, it looks huge, which it is not. Dealey Plaza is about 400ft long, and 600 ft wide. So 500ft on the diagonal. From the corner where the Book Depository (now called the 6TH Floor Museum) stands, to the Grassy Knoll is only about 300 ft. Another 200 ft to the Triple Underpass.

So, assuming Oswald was the lone assassin, and even accounting for the diagonal length of the shots, Oswald hit JFK in the back with the first shot at about 100ft (not yards). The distance of the fatal shot was not much over 300ft, which distance Oswald had been trained to shoot at in the Corps using an M1 Garand with iron sights.