The Italian rifle that changed American history was a surplus bargain from 1940

Cultures · Published 10 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Lee Harvey Oswald purchased the weapon used to assassinate John F. Kennedy via mail order for less than twenty dollars. This surplus Italian Carcano, manufactured in 1940, became the center of a forensic investigation that linked Oswald to the crime through palm prints, fiber analysis, and his own backyard photographs.

The weapon, a 6.5×52mm Carcano Model 91/38, was manufactured at the Royal Arms Factory in Terni, Italy. Originally designed in 1891 by Salvatore Carcano, the rifle underwent various modifications, including a transition to a shorter design in 1938. The specific unit used by Oswald, serial number C2766, was part of a surplus lot sold by the Italian Army to Adam Consolidated Industries in New York. It was later distributed by Crescent Firearms to Klein's Sporting Goods in Chicago, where it was fitted with a 4x telescopic sight before being sold to Oswald in March 1963.

Oswald ordered the rifle under the alias Alek Hidell, using a post office box in Dallas. The rifle's journey from a surplus warehouse to the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository was reconstructed by the Warren Commission and later the House Select Committee on Assassinations. Forensic evidence proved critical: a palm print found on the barrel was identified as Oswald's, and fibers recovered from the rifle's stock matched the shirt he wore at the time of his arrest. Furthermore, ballistic testing matched three cartridges found at the scene to the rifle, and a bullet fragment found on Governor Connally's gurney was similarly linked.

Despite initial confusion—including a misidentification by police as a German Mauser—the rifle's identity was confirmed through photographic analysis and unique physical characteristics, such as a specific gouge mark on the stock that appeared in backyard photographs of Oswald. While some contemporaries, like fellow Marine Nelson Delgado, questioned Oswald's marksmanship, military records noted he had achieved a sharpshooter rating during his service. The rifle remains a focal point of historical study, with its provenance and forensic trail serving as foundational elements in the investigation of the November 22, 1963, assassination.

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