Representative Ford. What nationality is he?
Mr. Lane. I don't know.
Representative Ford. Do you know when he was Olympic champion?
Mr. Lane. No, I don't know that. I do know it probably was some time after the Italian carbine was manufactured, since it is an extremely old weapon, manufactured back in 1938, as I recall. There seems to be an agreement that the period of time was between 5 and 6 seconds from the first shot to the last shot.
There is a serious question in the minds, I think, of persons who have fired that pistol—that rifle—first of all, as to its ability to be fired that quickly accurately with a telescopic sight, and secondly, in reference to the ammunition which is available. Various persons have tested various lots of ammunition. Someone from the National Rifle Association told me that he tested more than 30 rounds, a little over 30 rounds of the Italian 6.5——
Mr. Rankin. When you refer to these people, will you tell us the names of any of them that you can? It might be of help to us.
Mr. Lane. I should remember this gentleman, because I just spoke with him. That is another name I am going to have to supply for you.
Mr. Rankin. Thank you.
Mr. Lane. He is a member of the board of directors of the National Rifle Association. He purchased for one of the television networks some 30 rounds, a little over 30 rounds, and told me that 20 of them did not fire at all, and 6 of them were guilty of hanged fire, which is a phrase I don't know anything about, but he tells me that means it did not fire fully, and, therefore, could not be accurate. Therefore, a very small percentage of the ammunition was of any value.
Mr. Ed Wallace talked about making a similar test in the New York World Telegram and Sun, in a feature article, and I think he said that he went with an expert, and they got 20 rounds of this ammunition, and of those 17 did not fire—only 3 fired. It was very old ammunition.