Pistol shots preceded Kent St. shootings (after all these years)

[liberal N proud]

An analysis of a tape recording of the 1970 shooting deaths of four Kent State University students by Ohio National Guardsmen reportedly disclosed the sound of pistol shots 70 seconds earlier.

The Plain Dealer reports Friday that a review by a forensic audio expert detected four shots matching the acoustic signature of a .38-caliber revolver.

Witnesses have previously reported a confrontation involving angry students and a paid FBI informant who was photographing protesters.

If the pistol fire is authenticated it could confirm those witness accounts, although the FBI informant has denied firing warning shots from his .38.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39576001/ns/local_news-cleveland_oh/

[old mark]

1. FBI agents of the period carried revolvers which could fire .38 Specials - and many

police carried small .38 Special revolvers as back up or concealed weapons...many still do - they are extremely reliable, relatively compact and still effective weapons.

The FBI always likes to be seen as a super agency that can do no wrong and never fails, which is bullshit...but their funding depends on it, and Mr. Hoover set the model for that image...I would not be surprised it they did it and knew about it all this time and said nothing, letting the soldiers take the blame. It really sounds like something they would do, especially back then.

Of course that is just my theory, and I don't like the FBI much anyway.


mark

[displacedvermoter]

2. Way off target, but would you know anything about .38 automatics?

as I have fired the .38 Special back in the day, and am looking at purchasing a handgun.

Thinking of either a .357 or .38, but the automatic brings back memories of detective stories when lots of good and bad guys
carried .38 autos.

That was sort of a pun the subject, I just got it myself!!!

displaced

[ThomWV]

3. What you're thinking of is a 380, not a 38

A .38 (or .38-special) is essentially the same bullet as a .357, just that the 357 had a larger case and holds a bit more powder - both bullets use the same size projectile. Neither of them is particularly suited to use in an "automatic" pistor and in fact very few automatics have ever been made for either caliber. On the other hand the 380, which is sometimes called the 9mm short, is made for just about nothing other than automatics. Take a look at the rim of the bullet where the firing pin hits it, if it flares out in a lip it was made for revolvers, like the old 38's but if its flush with a grove around the edge it was made for "automatics".

[old mark]

4. dp - there used to be a .38 auto cartridge, but it was superseded by the more powerful

.380 Auto (in Europe, the .38 short automatic). They are NOT interchangeable, and the .380 is too powerful for the old .38 Auto. There is also a .38 Super auto cartridge that is a very high pressure cartridge and totally different from the other 2.

I have been a handgun shooter for over 40 years, and I do know a little about them.
(I'm not too enthusiastic about the .380 - the bullet is around 90 grains and travels pretty fast - it is prone to ricochet...I prefer the less powerful .32 ACP or the old .45 ACP and I have both.)

OK?

mark

[old mark]

5. delete-duplicate post.