Mr. Nicol. On the basis of information on the cartridge, or on the envelope, rather, it was my understanding that these had been fired from a weapon. I have not any personal knowledge of the weapon from which they were fired, but they were used as comparison standards to be compared against rifling impressions on the other three exhibits.
Mr. Eisenberg. Can you tell us how you obtained these four exhibits which you have just looked at?
Mr. Nicol. All these exhibits were obtained from Mr. Eisenberg on March 24, here in this office.
Mr. Eisenberg. And for the record, I obtained these items from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and transmitted them directly to Mr. Nicol for his examination.
Now, Mr. Nicol, you therefore did not fire the two test bullets which you used in your comparison?
Mr. Nicol. No, sir; I did not.
Mr. Eisenberg. And can you go into that at any length as to—do you have any reason for that?
Mr. Nicol. Well, probably two very basic reasons. One, the matter of time, and secondly the fact that I did not have facilities in the area where I was working for the collection of such tests from a high-powered weapon.
There is the other problem, as developed later, it was apparent that the weapon, even in the firing of this small sequence, was undergoing some changes, and it was my understanding that several shots had been fired since these tests were fired and there might be some likelihood of transitory changes which would make these the best specimens rather than those I might fire now after this series.
Mr. Eisenberg. Again for the record, I had been informed by the FBI that some 50 or more bullets had been fired from the rifle, and that the firing of this many bullets from a high-velocity weapon would seriously alter the characteristics of the barrel.