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[2]"|104-10216-10234 | 2025 RELEASE UNDER THE PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY ASSASSINATION RECORDS ACT OF 1992 |
[7]ou, an _ TO Ea Med Slat deb eta.
[9]1 July 1964
[10]MEMORANDUM FOR THE RECORD :
[11]SUBJECT: Test of Open Sight Hood for 7.62u=m Belgium (PAL) Rifle
[12]REVERENCE: A) Hemo for Red, dated 25 May 1944, Subject: PAL-
[13]Silencers/Sights, from C/WH/SA/MOB/PX
[15]noe, B) Wewo for Rcd. dated 10 June 1964, Subject: Tests
[16]. of Hodified Sights for 7.62 Belgium (FAL) Rifie
[18]Arad mo SECRET ALA #-/ |
[20]1. On 15 and 16 June 1964, the undersigned and Mr, Bob
[21]Ricker, T3D/SDB went to Isolation to test an open sight hood for
[22]; the 7.62nm Belgium (FAL) Rifle developed in answer to Ref, A.
[23]j The Modified Willians peep sight developed previously in answer
[24]i to Ref. A and reported on in Ref. B. proved unsatisfactory to the
[25]: | Fequester. The snap-on Sight hood was then @eveloped on a quick
[26]. reaction basia to bo simpler to install and easier to use than
[27]+ .,, - the Williars sight, In addition sca improved underloaded 7.62ma
[28]: RATO rounds having e@oft. annealed Cases and creas of wheat fillor
[29].,. ¥Ore tested for performance, These vere developed in hopes of
[31]the erretie sammnésion perhermance, poled Ja. Raf Pass aginpio
[33]aoe 2, The open sight hood Snaps over the existing rear sight
[34]“-)7:-@£ the PAL rifle, and in theory makes shooting in poor light or
[35]° .8¢ Dight easier, It can be used with either standard fsatory
[36]_-t.: + loads or the underloaded ammunition in conjunction with the muzzle
[37]: . ‘attachment silencer, The notch on the rear Bight hood is "U" shaped
[38].. ., @pd raised to compensate for the nore curving trajectory of the low
[39]~ .. Weloeity ammunition, The hood is easily detached making the con-
[40]"7" Wentional peop eight evailable any time it ig desired. Se ee
[42]°° 3, The attached data sheet Suemerizes the test results. It.
[43]- 7) Was Lound that sore familiarization vag necessary to get used to
[44]“-., _ thé open sight. Under ideal conditions the sight vas as eary to -
[46]- USO as tho peep sight although it was more difficult to maintain 5
[48]uniform vertical grouping. The relationship between the eye and
[50]'. F@ar sight was found to be very critical. As the tests proceeded ~-
[52]; & Change vas noted in the point of impact we. point of aim which was
[54]: thought to be due to a change in sight picture on the part cf the
[56]: undersigned, : "
[58]scamneemmnemeenmenenatiiicemenn a
[60]me 4. The improved amaunition was found to be quite consistant :
[61]‘4M performance, The use of crean of wheat filler to tamp the powder --
[62]: + Charge against the priner was aa attezpt to get mors even ignition =
[63]busing, 5 With correspondingly improved accuracy, The expended cartridge
[64]“tp. €8ge8 were checked periodically ané no evidence vas. founds of tha >.
[65]’ #* " B0ft annealed cases not expanding properly, During the teste the 7
[66]z % ; ¥Fifle and amwunition combination instilled a dogree of confidence
[67]., 4p the undersigned not present in the previous teste.
[69]Sabi bee rat.
[71]. Gasddoes
[73]“Poa 4 So .
[74]. ran swe . ray
[75].
[76]ne einer erreneerer
[77]TT: tO TCE enn enEnr—in RNR
[80]14-0000 HT
[82]+ ete se heen nah one
[85]vt.
[88]5. Tests were conducted in the evening to determine the degreo
[89]of usefulness of the sight in poor light. In this respect a 22
[90]Caliber Hi-Standard pistol with folding shoulder stock and Bushnell
[91]1.3X Phantom scope was tested in comparison. The scope was
[92]equipped with yellow filters to brighten the sight picture for
[93]- low light level use, It was the opinion of both test personnel :
[94]i-- +. 1. that the seope was superior to either the peep sight or open aight -_
[95]: fos as long as their was some illumination on the silhoustte .
[96]targets. Once the light fatled the scope was completely useless
[97]although the undersigned could still discern targets with the naked
[98]eye out to 50 yds, All actual shooting was done with the open
[99]' sight and sone difficulty was experienced in hitting the targets
[100]at ranges of 100 yds. or sore even at dusk. The closer tergets
[101]could be easily hit up until 1t Lecass too darz to see them at all.
[102]4 large rain cloud poving from behind the firing position gradually
[103]. @bscured all available light. For the final shooting at 25 yds.
[104]. OCcasional lightning flashes gave only a vague awarenese of the
[106]target location. At no time during the night trials was there an
[107]“puzzle flash visible fros the under loaded azsunition and wuzzle
[110]. . .
[111]. .
[113]. silencer combinatios. @ gas por was @ off position
[114]e during the daylight trials was turned on at night but no flash was
[116]visible at the breech. A fine white cloud of cream of wheat
[117]powder was visible in front of the muzzle at alzost full darkness
[118]- but could not be seen sore than 30 feet avay. .
[120]6. Listener trials vere conducted the following day to deter-
[121]wine bow far away an alert listener could discern the mechanical
[122]‘poise of the mechanism and that or the round being fired. Mr. Ricker
[123]walked away downwind at an sagle of 90 degrees to the line of fire
[124]and stopped to listen every 25 paces. The unégersigned fired
[125]Cate Single rounds, (hand actuating the nechanisw) each time Nr. Ricker
[126]taney topped, At 325 paces, or roughly 278 yds., Er. Bicker reported. _..;,
[127]f - “be could still hear the mechanisa being actuated, the round being.
[128]_ fired, and the bullet striking a concrete pillar 200 yds. down-
[129]_ , Fange. However, he stared that he might not have noticed the sound
[130], Ot that range had he not been listening for it specifically.
[132]Been. etncceen erates Vre me are a ow,
[135].
[136]toa,
[138]vw" © %, One of the zajor causes for concern at the start of the
[139]“ - tests was that the crean of wheat filler night clog the silencer
[141]. and render it ineffective. A total of 200 rounds were fired with
[142]the silencer in plece and the noise level did seem to be higher at
[143], the finish of the second day. (Rouna numbers 180 to 200 were the.
[144]one® expended during the provicusly pentioned listener trials).
[145]Inspection of the silencer at a later date revealed considerable
[146]> Cream of wheat residue in the screening. Sound level measurenents
[147]. “ made in the AMF sound lab showed that while the total noise levei
[148]'.": was po higher, the duration was relatively longer, This would :
[149]. Make the silencer seen louder to near by observers but not increase —
[150]the range at which it could be heard, However, from a etand- wo
[151]" point of the ability for a listener to discrisinate a ailencer 3
[153]being fired from randoa noise, the longer duration gives hina . a
[154]better chance to recognize what he hears. :
[156]os ’
[158]< SECRET
[161]14-0000
[163]‘wed
[165]8. On 19 June 1964, the undersigned vent to the warehouse
[166]at Franconia to try to fit the aight hood to other 7.65mm FAL
[167]rifles. It was suspected that the fit might be a problem when it
[168]a. Would not fit over the rear sights of three FAL rifles at Isolation.
[169]Although it was later determined that the three gifles.vore of a.
[170]different lot and say therefore have different tolerances on the *
[171]rear sight casting, it was felt that further checking was necessary.
[172]i _ Nine PAL rifles from the sane lot as those obtained by WH/SA/MOB/PH
[173]were unpackaged and the sight hood tried on the rear sight. Of
[174]the nine, two were perfect fits and the other seven too thick .
[175]for the hood to fit, This created a problom in that the sight
[176]hoods bad to fit rifles which for operational reasons could not be
[177]measured before hand to determine the thickness of the rear sight
[178]blade. Providing adjustzent in the slot of the eight hood would
[179]have cosplicated the fixture to the point where it could becoze
[180]operationally unsuitable. Therefore it was determined that the
[181]best solution was to provide several small files with the hoods.
[182]The peep sight on the rifles, 4 soft casting, was found to be
[183]‘ ‘quite easy to file. In most cases it would be necessary only to
[184]: file several thousandths to obtain a proper fit. This precedure
[185]was explained to C/WH/SA/HOB/FM and he stated that it would be
[186]acceptable, : : oo
[189]Po
[190]¢ i > . .
[191]; oh Cc 9. On 24 Juno 1964, three open sight hoods with accessories
[192]"ak [eo crmuen of two files and a suall screwdriver were turned over
[193]t t
[195]one
[199]F © C/WH/BA/KOB/PU. In addition, 400 rounds of improved under-
[200]F we loaded ammunition with cream of wheat filler vere provided as a
[201]|. - Z- -weplacezent for the original 400 underloaded rounds. +s
[203]shy aro) 10, On 29 June 1964, it was discovered that a scope vas availab]
[204]f JE tor the 7.62ma Belgium (FAL) Rifle (Sniper Version) and in the Agency
[205]: supply systen. Steps are being taken to obtain a scope for a
[206]evaluation, The results will be forwarded to C/#H/SA/KOB. :
[208]4.
[210]|
[211]2
[213]J
[215]q
[219]1400000 |"
[221]RANGE RAMP BETTING
[223]ome se seg pT «STERIL aC RSET, «
[224]‘ a ‘ staat ee Me at
[226]STANDARD VELOCITY AMMUNITION, DAYLIGHT:
[227]4 POINT OF IMPACT
[229]SIGHT TYPB - (RELATIVE TO poust oF zn
[231]100 yds, No. 2 “peep =f’ On
[233]100 yds. No, 3 Peap 06 (On
[235]100 yds. Ko, 2 _ Open Bood 24" high
[237]100 yda. No. 8 Open moot 26” high as
[238]4
[240]1 -@RLOADED AMMUNITION, OPEN SIGHT{BCOD, DAYLIGHT:
[241]; POINT Of? IMPACT
[243]RANGE RAMP BETTING (RELATING TO POINT of. am
[244]23 yds. No. 2 3" high: ;
[245]23 yds. Ko. 6 3" low |
[246]$0 yds. No, 6 Oa ¥
[247]75 yds. ho, 6 4" left; 4" low
[248]100 yds, Full Elevation 6” left, 8" low
[250]100 yds, Full Elevation Os (Dig¥. Shooter)
[252]100 yx. Full Blevation 8" left, 8" low
[254]123 yds, Ko 2 a" left, 18" low
[255]125 yds, Full Blovatiog . On (Chgnged Bight Picture)
[257]150 yds, }ull Blevation On (Caaaged Bight Picture)
[259]. y ae
[260]J yds, Pull Blevation 6” loe “(Changed Bight Pic- -- . 8"
[261]- ture) my is pk
[262]de WEE
[263]7 Me
[264]Le ;
[265]a” . oa . : to
[266]t | van
[268]se rn we '
[272]cal
[274]Zeca, ad
[276]BH.
[278]S.
[280]8 ae
[282]we
[283]o
[286]. 8 (2 wiased
[287]‘ target
[288]8 missed
[289], Rargot)
[291]Mo bolita 2
[293]FPR.
[295]st
[297]7k.
[299]ald RC Bhs
[301]21 ET ETE PTR PHOT Mt
[303]14-00000
[305]ae Ogee ee noe
[306]» UNDERLOADED AMMUNITION, OPEN sicut HGOD, pusity goo te 4
[307]. RARGB KO. OF ROUNDS Os. OF HITS BORISDNTAL SPREAD VERTICAL SYRRAD REWARKS
[309]- Coutd smut more |S
[311]“208 yeo, 10 © “s “
[312]8 ‘ .clearlg through Peep |:
[313]eB sight Gat wo rounds *;!
[314]- oo, oe were fired. fats
[315]ee yds, 10 Could aga target very. “i
[318]4 - . “oe an -
[319]: UNDER'OADED AIDUNITION, ALMOST FULL DARK, OPEN SIGHT HOOD: oe.
[320]! RANGE " -KO, OF ROUNDS KO, OF HITS” BOREZONTAL SPREAD SPREAD VERTICAL SPREAD - ean
[322]~ 78 yda, 190 . ag - ob eo" _ Poop eigae useless 1.
[324]. ”
[325]roe
[327]/23;yda. 20 rs \ ge * Could bg targets cut te
[329]a , me “ .. 300 yds, with filtered.
[331]: Z woe ‘ scope at atart of . a
[332]eS aa firing, could not ses :
[334]. “at; all. w/ecove at oa:
[336]an _Fietaks
[337]< sOERLOADED AMMUNITION, OPEN SIGHT ROOD, yuLd, DARK: 7
[338]RANGE NO, OF ROUNDS KO. OF RITS " REuaRxs : £.
[339]28 yds. 10 5 (scattered) Targot in total darkness, rain cloud overhes’, inter. “>
[340]o tet .. m&Qtant lightning flashes gave a vague. avareness of
[341], i met ey Ss *areet location. _ . fo
[342]WQS _ - vot
[343]ro . s cat