Posted on 10/14/2004 5:23:48 PM PDT by TERMINATTOR
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- A 12-year-old San Antonio boy died Saturday afternoon south of Giddings when he was struck on the top of the head by the recoil of a Ruger .454 gun he was firing. The boy, identified by the Lee County Sheriff’s Office as Marcus Wall, was pronounced dead at the scene by Justice of the Peace Paul Fischer.
Sheriff’s Deputy Rodney Meyer stated that the victim and his father, Marc Wall, were with friends dove hunting on the Zoch place off County Road 233. Deputy Meyer reported that when the hunters took a break for lunch, they began shooting a variety of guns owned within the group. The Ruger .454 Casull was purportedly owned by Joe Ramsey of Austin.
According to the Sheriff’s report, when Marcus asked to shoot the Ruger, Ramsey told the young boy the gun was too large for him to shoot. However, allegedly it was later “ OK’ed for him [Marcus] to shoot the gun”. The report did not identify who gave permission for the child to shoot, though Ramsey stood by the boy when he fired.
From the Sheriff’s account of the incident, Marcus was instructed how to hold and shoot the gun. “Mr. Ramsey assisted the victim [when taking aim] by holding his hand above the victim’s [hands] for the recoil,” explained Deputy Meyer.
When the gun was fired, the gun recoiled upward, hitting Marcus in the head causing head trauma. The gun’s owner, Ramsey, received injury to his fingers but was not transported for medical attention.
The Sheriff’s Office 911 dispatch received two calls reporting the incident, though only the second caller could identify their location. Deputy Mike York advised dispatch that he was in the area and had been flagged down and directed to the location. Upon arrival at the scene, Deputy York radioed to dispatch to cancel the call for an ambulance and to send out a Justice of the Peace.
The recoil velocity of the Ruger .454 has been noted for its strength for some time. In a May 2001 article in Shooting Times, author Dick Metcalf reported that “...when the .454 Casull version of the Super Redhawk was introduced in 1999, Ruger spokesmen candidly acknowledged they did not expect the new chambering to be shot a lot for casual plinking or for steel-target competition. Its recoil was simply too severe.”
Deputy Meyer stated that the case is still under investigation.
Friend of mine has a Ruger .30 revolver... same ammo as my carbine, I'm still trying to convince him he wants to sell it to me cheap.
How very sad for the boy's family.
I recall getting thumped in the forehead by my Dad's 45 colt new service revolver when I was about 5 or 6. (Yes there was beer involved)
I've got a buddy with one of those - great pistol. His trick is shooting bottlecaps with it - at 250 yards. (With a spotter, he succeeds a surprising percentage of the time.)
That's no urban legend. I have 2 of these guns, they kick HARD. That being said I would never shoot both at once as there is a very real possibility of that barrel and front site making a nice impression in your skull.
Whoever let that boy shoot should be on charges. I'm all for letting kids shoot, but SAFELY. Unless you are at least 18 or are built like a fullback, you have ZERO business shooting that model of gun.
The evolver had been drinking?
Sad.....and freaky. First case of its kind that I'm aware of.
I would hate to be the guy who gave the kid the OK to fire that hand cannon.
be a long time living with that.
It does have an urban-legendish feel to it, but I have to say that I've seen kids ding themselves pretty good with just manual tools (like a hammer) when they don't have proper adult supervision. Can't rule this one out quite yet.
Correction above - please don't turn this into a crevo thread!
this is a urban legend. I heard someone call Dr Laura about 3 weeks ago with the same story only it was a different gun and a different place.
If it did happen, it's a terrible, one-in-a-million tragedy. My deepest sympathies to all involved.
I don't own one, but I've shot the .454 Cassul several times. I'm a fairly good sized fella - over 200 pounds. That sucker has my respect in spades. Its a hand cannon. Anybody lettin' a 12-year-old fire one is a criminally negligent idiot.
My ex once shot my .50AE Desert Eagle. Once.
Actually, it is strange but just last night I was recalling shooting pistols when I was a kid. My friend's dad was a gun collector and we used to go out into the counrtyside. That day I shot an uzzi, a 45, a ruger, and a luger. The uzzi was fun but the pistols freaked me out because I was only used to shooting riffles and shotguns. I was really scared of the kick on these pistols. I didn't really want to shoot them but I felt some peer pressure to do so. Anyways, I was just thinking about this last night and the anxiety I felt shooting those pistols that day. Strange. Anyways, its a very sad story about that kid.
Yah, 454 is the elephant gun of handguns.
No business shooting something so large at that age/size/weight. Total lack of common sense on the adults part.
Like you, I don't own one but I have shot one. It kicks like a mule (make that 10 mules). I agree with you. It is not a pistol for a 12 year old. Only an idiot would allow someone that young to handle one of those.
Not having hunted doves for a decade I might be wrong here, but, I thought you had to wait until after noon time to hunt this migratory bird.
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