Mr. LIEBELER. Do you remember what he said?
Mr. DAVIS. Not the exact size of it. I know there was several different
sizes of scopes on there.
Mr. LIEBELER. The size of this scope is measured in terms of power?
Mr. DAVIS. Yes. There is 2, 2-1/2, 4, 6, and on up. And he knows the
sizes, what he was talking about, but I don't know.
Mr. LIEBELER. How long have you known Mr. Price?
Mr. DAVIS. Well, I have actually only known him since the rifle range
opened. But two of his boys has helped us at the racetrack or helped
my wife last summer, at the racetrack, all summer. And as far as an
individual person, I didn't know him until we opened the gun range,
other than just to speak to him.
Mr. LIEBELER. How old a fellow is he?
Mr. DAVIS. Mr. Price is approximately 35, and he does have a heart
condition that the doctors won't let him work, as far as any work is
concerned, and that is why he stays down at the range, more or less to
watch it for us.
Mr. LIEBELER. In your opinion, is he a reliable fellow?
Mr. DAVIS. He is very reliable, or I wouldn't have him down there.
Mr. LIEBELER. You don't think he would say he saw Oswald if he didn't
in fact see him?
Mr. DAVIS. No, sir. In fact, he told us about this before we called the
FBI. But he was afraid--he's got five children, and he was afraid that
it was some Communist plot or some gang that had done this, and he was
afraid for his children, or he would have called them sooner.
Mr. LIEBELER. He is not a publicity seeker?
Mr. DAVIS. No; he wasn't. I would say he was very sincere of this. It
might have been a case about a double identity or someone that looked a
lot like him. I would say definitely that he thought he saw him.
There was also some doctor or lawyer in Oak Cliff, and his son, that he
said he saw him out there on the 17th.
Mr. LIEBELER. Was that on the 17th?
Mr. DAVIS. That was on the 17th.
Mr. LIEBELER. Was that Dr. Wood?
Mr. DAVIS. I believe it was.
Mr. LIEBELER. Dentist?
Mr. DAVIS. He might be a dentist. They told us at the range--Charlie
Brown, I believe, afterwards, of the FBI, said that he wasn't sure it
was him, but they told us previously they were sure that it was Oswald.
Mr. LIEBELER. Has the FBI ever advised you as to the results of the
tests they probably ran on or did run on the cartridge cases you gave
them?
Mr. DAVIS. No; nothing. I asked them if they were all there when they
returned them. He did return them, and he said they were all there, so
I took it from that that they didn't find anything in the case.
Mr. LIEBELER. Do you know whether the cases that you gave the FBI were
cases that were used in a rifle that were used by these gentlemen that
were firing from booth No. 8, on November 17, 1963?
Mr. DAVIS. From what Mr. Price told me, he was down at the range
helping out on the particular target. He saw these fellows pick up all
the shells and--they shot that day, which is very frequent, because
they reload a lot of that ammunition, but these particular fellows did
pick them up.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did your wife observe these two individuals on the 17th?
Mr. DAVIS. No, sir; she was in the office, she doesn't remember them,
or she said before that she didn't remember them. She doesn't remember
this part I was telling you about, about Slack coming to them and
complaining about their shooting the wrong target.
Mr. LIEBELER. Who else said they saw Oswald on the 9th and 10th?
Mr. DAVIS. That was Mr. Price.
Mr. LIEBELER. That was Mr. Price?
Mr. DAVIS. Yes. Mr. Slack said he saw him on the 17th.
Mr. LIEBELER. The 17th only?
Mr. DAVIS. Yes, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. Can you give me Mr. Slack's full name?
Mr. DAVIS. No, sir; I don't have it.
Mr. LIEBELER. He is just a customer of yours, is that correct?
Mr. DAVIS. Yes, sir; Mr. Brown has talked to him before.
Mr. LIEBELER. Mr. Price was not at the range on the 17th?
Mr. DAVIS. Price was at the range on the 17th; yes, also.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did he also say that he thinks that these gentlemen were
with Mr. Oswald?
Mr. DAVIS. He thought this one individual that was with this taller
fellow in booth No. 8, was Oswald.
Mr. LIEBELER. Both Mr. Slack and Mr. Price came to that conclusion, is
that correct?
Mr. DAVIS. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. Am I correct in understanding then that both Mr. Price
and Mr. Slack observed these two gentlemen on the 17th, but only Mr.
Price observed them on the 9th and 10th, is that correct?
Mr. DAVIS. Yes, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. Do you know whether Mr. Price thinks they are the same
men?
Mr. DAVIS. He definitely thinks that it is the same man Oswald on the
9th and 10th. I don't believe he said there was anyone with him, and
that he come out there just at dark, right before dark and was driving
an old-model Chevrolet, or was in an old-model Chevrolet.
Mr. LIEBELER. Was it just a car or a station wagon?
Mr. DAVIS. I don't remember. He just said it was an old-model car, and
he could have meant a station wagon when he said an old car.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you observe the rifle that these men at booth 8, were
using?
Mr. DAVIS. No, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. You did not at anytime observe it?
Mr. DAVIS. I possibly could have when I walked up there, but I didn't
pay any attention.
Mr. LIEBELER. And you wouldn't be able to identify that rifle if I
showed you a picture of it now?
Mr. DAVIS. No, sir; when you see as many rifles as I do out at
that range out there, it would be hard unless there was something
outstanding about it.
Mr. LIEBELER. There was nothing outstanding about that that you can
remember now?
Mr. DAVIS. I was more or less mad when I went down there, because
someone was shooting at the wrong target.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you observe these two gentlemen leaving the range on
the 17th?
Mr. DAVIS. No, sir; I sure didn't.
Mr. LIEBELER. Have you had experience with the sighting in of rifles?
Mr. DAVIS. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. You are quite experienced in that field, as a matter of
fact, are you not?
Mr. DAVIS. Well, I have taught myself in the past 5 months of operation
of that gun range to where I can usually sight one in within 8 to 10
shots pretty close. Mr. Price is a gun enthusiast and he is real good
at it, and he has been doing it for a long time.
Mr. LIEBELER. If a man purchased a rifle from a mail-order house that
had a telescopic sight mounted on it, would you have any opinion as to
what the accuracy of that rifle would be without it having actually
been sighted in by actual firing of the rifle?
Mr. DAVIS. If the gun was anywhere near accurate, it would have to be
an accident, because the slightest jar can knock a scope 2 or 3 foot
out of balance, and there is no way that you could ship a gun and carry
a gun around a little bit and make sure it being accurate. That is why
your deer hunters practice and shoot their guns in every year before
they go deer hunting. And I have saw them waste almost five boxes of
shells trying to get them accurate down there after having sighted them
in the year before.
Mr. LIEBELER. Are you familiar with the technique of boresighting?
Mr. DAVIS. Yes, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. If a rifle is boresighted is that enough to make it
accurate?
Mr. DAVIS. By the average individual, no. And by the shops around
Dallas here, no. Because they have brought us several guns out there
that have been boresighted in various shops around Dallas and we have
had to resight them, because another thing, the scope will have to be
adjusted to the individual eyes, too.
Mr. LIEBELER. And that can only be done through firing a rifle?
Mr. DAVIS. That is right, that can only be done from firing a rifle and
sighting it in. You can get it close, but you couldn't get it right on
target, especially at a hundred yards.
Every gun I sight in, I boresight them myself at a 25-yard target to
get them into the 25-yard target, and once I get it within an inch of
the "bullseye," then I go to the long range, which is easy to bring it
in.
Mr. LIEBELER. Are you familiar with the Irving Sports Shop in Irving,
Tex.?
Mr. DAVIS. Nothing; only I have dropped a poster off, advertising, when
I first opened the gun range, and I am not familiar with the owner of
it.
Mr. LIEBELER. Do you know a gentleman by the name of Dial Ryder?
Mr. DAVIS. No, sir; not the name. I may know the face, but I don't know
the name.
Mr. LIEBELER. He works in the Irving Sports Shop.
Mr. DAVIS. No, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. Sights rifles and mounts scopes and things like that.
Mr. DAVIS. No; I am not familiar with him.
Mr. LIEBELER. Do you know whether you have ever sighted in a rifle that
has been boresighted at the Irving Sports Shop?
Mr. DAVIS. No, sir; not offhand. We usually don't ask them where they
sighted the guns in because it is not a good idea to run down any
gunshop.
Mr. LIEBELER. Are you familiar with the area around Love Field?
Mr. DAVIS. Fairly familiar with it; yes, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. Do you think it would be possible to practice with a
high-powered rifle around Love Field?
Mr. DAVIS. It would be right about Bachman Lake, around the lake
itself, as long as the police didn't catch you. There is the river
bottom right in there.
Mr. LIEBELER. Do you think it would be possible to fire out there, to
sight a rifle in without having a police notice it or someone in the
neighborhood notice it and calling it to the police?
Mr. DAVIS. As long as you stayed 400 yards off the highway, there is
places down there you could get that it would be possible.
Mr. LIEBELER. There are areas surrounding the field that are not built
up to such an extent so that you could actually practice with a rifle
in that area, is that correct?
Mr. DAVIS. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. Have you ever heard of anybody firing a rifle in that
vicinity?
Mr. DAVIS. I have people all the time that have been practicing in the
Trinity River bottoms around Dallas come out to the range and have been
glad we opened that range so they could quit it because it is not a
safe practice.
Mr. LIEBELER. Is that near Love Field?
Mr. DAVIS. Yes. The Trinity River bottom is not far from there. It is
actually between Irving and Love Field.
Mr. LIEBELER. How far is it from Love Field itself if you wanted to go
to the Trinity River bottom and didn't have an automobile? Could you
take a bus to Love Field or near Love Field and then walk that readily
to the Trinity River bottom?
Mr. DAVIS. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. One could do that very easily?
Mr. DAVIS. It is a mile and a half.
Mr. LIEBELER. I don't have any other questions at this point. I do want
to ask you if you can give me, Mr. Davis, Mr. Slack's address?
Mr. DAVIS. I don't have it here, but I have some clippings at home out
of a newspaper that has it there. He lives on Urbandale. If you have a
Dallas phone book, I can probably get it out of the phone book.
Mr. LIEBELER. What about Price?
Mr. DAVIS. Mr. Price lives on Rice Street in Grand Prairie.
Mr. LIEBELER. If you can think of anything that you would like to add
to the record, I would appreciate it if you would indicate that.
Mr. DAVIS. The only thing that I would like to say is that there were
several other people mentioned that they saw Oswald on the 17th, but
they said they didn't want to get involved in it. I don't know whether
they were just talking or what it was.
Mr. LIEBELER. Do you know their names?
Mr. DAVIS. Not no particular persons. My wife, I'm sure, can tell you
some of them. She more or less runs the gun range through the week, and
I am only there through the weekend.
Mr. LIEBELER. Thank you very much for coming in, Mr. Davis. I
appreciate your cooperation. The Commission wants you to know that it
appreciates the fact that you have cooperated with us in the way you
have. Thank you very much.