The Rifle in the Photo Alleged to Be the Charlie Kirk Murder Weapon

Identifying the weapon featured in the photograph of a rifle allegedly found in a wooded area near the crime scene.

As the anniversary of the murder of Charlie Kirk approaches, I have heard a lot of podcasters expressing a bit of confusion about the characteristics of the rifle that was allegedly found in a wooded area near the crime scene and that is the alleged murder weapon.

The rifle purportedly found in a wooded area near the campus and photographed is a “sporterized” military Mauser action hunting rifle. Because of the popularity of the bolt action designed by Paul Mauser in 1895 and adopted by the German Imperial Army in 1898, this action has been incorporated into sporting rifles ever since. Shortly after Kirk’s murder, I found one at my local used gun dealer.

The German Military Mauser 98 (Gewehr 98) was originally chambered for the 7.92X 57mm Mauser cartridge. However, many sporterized versions were built to chamber the .30-06 Springfield cartridge.

I have fired both cartridges, including WWII era German army cartridges of the former, which I found to produce a ferocious recoil—so ferocious that I wondered how German infantrymen managed to shoot it more than a few times without suffering shoulder trauma. It’s possible, I suppose, that the propellant becomes hotter with age.

According to an informant the gun dealer considers reliable, the photograph of the rifle released to the press was NOT authorized by the FBI, and is NOT a forensic photograph, but a clandestine photo snapped by someone at the scene, hence its poor quality.

The photograph of the rifle that is the alleged murder weapon is a “sporterized” Mauser action rifle with the following characteristics.

• Probably a stainless steel barrel.

• Apparently a grey synthetic stock, probably made by Bell and Carlson in the 1980s or 1990s. Alternatively, it could be a “sand-coated and painted” wooden stock.

• “Short Mag” scope. The slightly unusual back mounting—necessitated on this rifle because of the scope’s short length—would NOT necessarily affect the shooting performance, depending on shooter’s style.

• Barrel probably 22 or 24 inches long.

• A similar weapon in my local used store has a 24 inch barrel and weighs 9 pounds 4 ounces.

• The rifle in the photograph is a cheap weapon, probably worth around $400, but certainly capable of shooting accurately.

• NOT possible to rapidly break down this kind of rifle. Breaking it down requires unscrewing two screws to remove barrel from stock. Disassembling the rifle results in multiple parts coming loose.

• Does NOT appear that the figure videotaped on the roof and dropping from the roof is carrying this kind of rifle.

• However, it is possible that the figure on the roof tossed this kind of rifle from the roof onto the ground in a different place before he was captured by the video camera.

• NOT clear what exactly the figure is toting when he jumps off the roof.

  

  Alleged Murder Weapon

  

  Same kind of rifle

  

  Back disassembly screw

  

  Forward disassembly screw