I'm not finding reference to H&R Handi Rifle being available that early. There must have been something cheap like that around back then. Ballard/Marlin maybe still? Anyone with an old Gun Values catalog care to look? My crazy obsession is driving me nuts again. A 45 slug was recovered opposite the picket fence. A deaf mute described a shooter breaking down a rifle and passing it to a railroad worker who put it in a tool bag and walked away.That indicates a shortened barrel. Such a weapon would be easy to conceal and smuggle out. Easily capable of a 30 or 40 yard shot. Combined witness testimony suggests there were two grassy knoll shooters, Badge Man in the corner and another "Muddy Footprints" guy 30 ft or so to the west where the puffs of smoke appeared. Badge Man missed from the angle of the "ground mole" tunnel where the blond man picked up the bullet and pocketed it. 45ACP, 45 Long Colt, or 45/70 ? Competent machinists could have easily adapted common 410 break action shotguns to rifles, even fully suppressed versions. Who knows....
