NewYou can listen to Fox News articles now!
Guns recovered by authorities in assassination Charlie Kirk is a bolt-shooting rifle – a common hunting weapon with its reliability as its value, but is limited to a single shot until reloading.
Unlike semi-automatic, shooters have to manually operate the bolt handle to loop the weapon: move it backwards and pull it back, moving it to a new round on the magazine. Lower bolts lock the circular shape and seal the chamber, making the rifle ready to fire again – a simple, durable design that makes it popular in hunter and target shooting games.
“This process limits the fire rate, and you can only shoot once at a time,” Hal Kempfer, a retired Marine Corps lieutenant, explained in an interview with Fox News Digital.
Kempfer noted that using bolts to imitate the rifle, the used cartridges usually stay indoors instead of being ejected, meaning shooters don’t leave shells or “brass” or “brass” that investigators can use to get evidence.
“It’s just one of your things, and if you’ve considered it, you know you can’t provide any forensic evidence to investigators,” he said.
An FBI agent looked at evidence near Utah Valley University, where authorities investigated the September 11, 2025 shooting of political activist Charlie Kirk in Orem, Utah. (Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images)
On Thursday, authorities said they took back the rifle Used to assassinate Kirk In the woods near the scene, investigators believed the shooter gave up on the shooter while evading law enforcement.
“They will do a lot of work on the forensics of this weapon because these guns tend to have history,” he said.
“Snapkers may use straw buyers or another way to cover up their identity, but this is what leg investigators must now take to track the shooter,” Kenpole said.
FBI Special Agent Robert Bohls spoke at a press conference to update the search for the man, who killed political activist Charlie Kirk in Orem, Utah on September 11, 2025. (Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images)
Kempfer, who worked as an intelligence official for the U.S. Marine Corps, said the deadly shooting was “not particularly difficult” but it did require planning.
Vigil held after Charlie Kirk’s assassination: “We must heal”
“You don’t have to be some expert sniper or something, the hunter has been taking this picture,” he said, adding that distance, clear weather and improved position all help the shooter’s advantage.
