Message From John Ritchson

[John Ritchson]

K.B. wrote:[snip]> Paul, you have any cites to back this up? I am not as knowledgeable as> you when it comes to ballistics etc, and I do not have an expert as> Sam does to call re information John has posted, but I do have a few> books and a bit of experience reloading and I have won my fair share of Turkey-shoots and as far as I have seen, John Ritchson is right on with everything he has posted that I have read. So who are your Carcano enthusiasts?

Greetings, One of the areas Mr. Burke and the rest of the LNers are real short on is authoritive cites in the relevent areas being discussed. Rather, their agenda appears to be one of debasement and denegration as examplified by their references to me as a Faker, Fraud, Cowardly Dog, and Buffoon all in a sophmoric attempt to trivialize and obfuscate the importance of my and other researcher's work in this case. These sort of tactics represent the last resort of those who know in their hearts the essential weakness of their case and are thus reduced to ad hominum, having failed to produce any real rebutal. For the record, I am constantly garnering feed-back and opinions from qualified professionals in the field of firearms ballistics to absolutely minimise any possibility of error before I even post an article.

I also make every effort to clearly separate qualified facts and opinions from speculation and/or guess-work. Occasionaly I will fail in this effort as is the norm, but the body of my work remains intact and presents a damning indictment to those who would perpetuate the LN myth. Looking at the LN contingent, one sees an impressive array of individuals with credentials and qualifications in every area but the field of firearms ballistics, joined at the hip with the spook crew who post from positions of anonymity. Together, they would have us believe they represent a united front espousing the truth of the JFK assassination when in fact they are nothing more than a collection of bags of mostly hot air with about as much substance as a fart inthe wind.

Personally I think they know they have already failed to prevent the truth from coming out and are simply engaged in damage control by saturating this forum with BS in an ineffectual attempt to keep relevent discourse to a bare minimum, as well as using their under-handed tactics to create an unsavory atmosphere whereby new readers will be put off from joining in the discourse. Be that as it may, I'm resolved to undo that sort of mischief, at least as far as the ballistic evidence is concerned, by adding a relevent professional perspective to the JFK case. To that end, I've gained the support of a number of world-class people with impeccable credentials and unassailable reputations in their various fields of expertise. A list of those who have contributed to my work is as follows:

Alan Horst, German action specialist and old world gunsmith who declares that one may spend over a thousand dollars reworking a M38 surplus Carcano and still be left with a hundred dollar gun. [Note:]For a varifiable professional alternative opinion of the WWII M38, Alan can be reached at 406-454-1831. Frank de Haas, who started out in this business as a hobbiest after -WWII and ultimately became a world renown authority on center-fire turnbolt action rifles with the publication of his book, Bolt Action Rifles, which is now an almost universally held reference manual on the subject. He is a contributing editor of The American Rifleman, and has his shop in Orange City, Iowa.[NOTE], Mr. de Haas is now deceased, however his son has taken over the family business.

Richard Hobbs, concidered by many including Carcano historian, Alexander Eichener, as a world authority on the Carcano rifle who after examination of CE-139/C2766 concluded it was in fact, a Moschettieridel Duce Carcano of Mussolini's Gardia del Duce, and not a cheap surplus field rifle that would be sold in a Chicago sporting goods store. [Note:] I believe there is an address and Phone# for Richard posted on Alexander Eichener's Carcano web-site.

Wolfgang Droege, founder of the Shiloh Rifle Manufacturing Co, Big Timber, Montana and creator of the Buffalo Rifle for Tom Selleck's movie, "Quigley Down Under" who also presented a custom 45-70 gold inlayed Creedmoor Rifle to former president Ronald Reagan.[Note:]Even though Wolfgang is not a Carcano expert per se he does make some of the world's most powerfull rifles and anyone who doubts the concept of knockdown power should see one of these rifles in action.

Richard Casull, founder of Freedom Arms, Freedom Wyoming and creator of the world's most powerfull revolver, the .454 Casull Magnum and like Wolfgang Droege has forgotten more ballistics than most people will ever know.[Note:] Dick openly scoffs at the idea firearms lack knockdown power and is more than happy to give critics a taste of the power of his remarkable pistol which performs on par with many rifles.

Wayne Leek, ballistician for the Remington Arms Company and creator of the Fireball XP-100.[Note:] even though Wayne is closed mouthed about the disposition of many of his proto-type XP-100s he is more than happy to expound upon the performance capabilities of one of the world's most powerfull and accurate varmit *HANDGUNS* which BTW, can be fired quite easily from a two-handed combat stance.

Bert Waldron, Sniper(US Army) 113 confirmed kills with a varified cartridge expenditure of 1.3 cartridges per kill, as compared to the world infantry expenditure of 10,000 to 50,000 cartridges per kill.[Note:] Bert can be contacted through the editor of Guns Magazine. Also, he is a quiet and unassuming person and if asked about jet-effect and retro-recoil he will just shake his head and smile, but his eyes speak volumes.

Craig Roberts, sniper(USMC) 26 year police veteran, specialist in sniper and counter-sniper tactics, author of the book, "Kill Zone" which is a professional sniper's perspective of the JFK assassination which blows the LN theory right out of the water.[Note:] I concider Craig a personal friend and collaborator on the JFK case, and I strongly recommend carefull study of his book. Craig can be reached via email at craig@ionet.net, if memory serves.

Carlos(Gunny) Hathcock, sniper(USMC) the Marine Corp's premier sniper with 93 confirmed kills including history's longest single kill-shot of 2,500 meters, nominated for the congressional Medal of Honor for action in Vietnam, former chief instructor of the USMC Sniper's School, at Quantico, Virginia.[Note:] Gunny Hathcock proved the impossibility of the LN scenerio during tests he personally conducted at Quantico and although he is now suffering from MS he is still more than happy to poke holes in the LN scenerio. He can be reached through Craig Roberts.[NOTE], Since the writting of this article the Gunny has gone on his final patrol. God keep you Gunny!!!

Dr. Joel Ham, professor of physics who wishes to keep his school out of the public debate but has proven by demonstratable scientific method the irrelevency of the jet-effect with respect to firearms ballistics.

Dr. George E Miller, professor of physics and supervisor of the nuclear reactor facilities at UC Irvine who is assisting me with my NAA evaluation of the ballistic evidence.

These are some of the people who I concider to be more or less in my corner, who roughly share my views on the subject of firearms ballistics and I urge the readers of this forum to carefully compare these qualified professionals with the collection of political scientists, piss doctors, jet mechanics, computer nerds, wannbes and nobodies that comprise the LN contingent and then ask yourself," Who then is best qualified to address the ballistic issues of the JFK case?" "Who then represents the more credible authority?" "Whose opinions possess the greater validity and are more deserving of serious concideration?" Finally, I want to add that all of the derision, the snide innuendo,the ad hominum lables, the feeble attempts at denegration, the smart-ass remarks and week-kneed mockery heaped upon myself and the other serious researchers on this NG by the LN collection of misfits will not detract me one iota from my agenda and goal of seeing justice done in the JFK case.

Finally, with respect to my own qualifications:

I come from an unbroken line of firearms and ballisticans going back to 1680 when my direct ancestor, Barnett Richardson established the Richardson foundry near Jamestown Virginia.

I was literally raised working at my father's forge and machine shop. I have actually studied

Newton, Julian Hatcher, John Thompson, Helson & Barnes, John Browning, Dave Emory of Hornady,

Vernon Speer, Robert D. Hayden, Ted C. Almgren, Martin J. Hull, and Bill McDonald. As to my forensic qualifications, I encourage all readers to read my petition to reopen the JFK case as a murder investigation. Such should give the readers some idea as to my legal knowledge.

As an avid independent, I quite simply refuse to join any trade organizations all of whom operate from one kind of agenda or another and I refuse to be locked into any such agenda, especially when it involves people like Fackler, Lattimer, Alverez, Oliver and the like.

With Regard:

John Ritchson(SSGT. 499th TC USATC HG US Army Class of 69)

(Gunsmith/Ballistican, [black Eagle, Gunworks]

(and survivor of the SE Asian Games 11Bravo7-Tet 1970)

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The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds

new discoveries, is not "Eureka!" (I found it) but"That's Funny..."

Isaac Asimov

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[John Dolva]

John, I must take this opportunity to ask if you could give a critical overview to my attempt at analysing the ballistics, particularly for the moment in Connally's wounds. Please bear in mind I have no problem with being completely wrong, I'm not here to be right but to see right. I have no practical experience with firearms, but read a bit and try to use what I read to understand what has happened here.

Quite likely you will find my overall approach patchy and all over the place, so if sorting it out is too time consuming I would also like to read a analysis which I'm sure you have already published somewhere, so a link would be appreciated.

I'm impressed with the caliber of many of the attendants of this forum. It's quite humbling really.

If sorting my stuff out is too much I could summarise it and message for a response?

John

[Bernice Moore]

Thank you John Ritchson.......

B

[JL Allen]

Mr. Ritchson,

Would you happen to know the approximate circumference of the Carcano rifle-stock at the location indicated by the red dots? Thanks.

[Guest Stephen Turner]

John, your bona fides are beyond reproach,those questioning them have their own agenda. Keep educating us here at the Forum

[John Dolva]

John, your bona fides are beyond reproach,those questioning them have their own agenda. Keep educating us here at the Forum

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