Posted on 10/14/2004 5:23:48 PM PDT by TERMINATTOR
- 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 Sheriffs Office as Marcus Wall, was pronounced dead at the scene by Justice of the Peace Paul Fischer.
Sheriffs 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 Sheriffs 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 OKed 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 Sheriffs 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 victims [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 guns owner, Ramsey, received injury to his fingers but was not transported for medical attention.
The Sheriffs 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.
Most likely, the kid would lose his grip. That still does not get him hit on top of the head, and not with enough residual force to kill him outright with a single blunt force trauma to the skull.
Note that 11.3 ft. per second=7.7 miles per hour. This does not take into account muscle resistance by the kid, the guys hand, or simple gravity. (Many shooters, especially inexperienced pistol shooters, anticipate recoil and actively push the firearm forward and down and throw the shot low and left.)
Kids get hit harder playing baseball.
If this is on the level, it is definitely a freak accident, but IMHO, something stinks.
Well, a 4 bore rifle spits about think.
Makes a 454 look like a popgun
I have owned one of these pistols. They do kick but I was able to shoot it one handed. If it is true then prayers for the child his is kin.
Is this a "Hold muh beer" or a Darwin Award.
A 12 year old firing a .454 Casull? That's even crazier than me firing the 12 gauge (high-brass shell!) when I was 6!
Table, or not, the gun always goes up-never to the crotch. When the gun has 60 ft-lbs of recoil and it's a handgun, it womps the inexperienced in the head. Novice adults I've seen firing TCs, end up with the things ~6" from their head.
Agreed, it does seem highly unlikely. Even in free recoil, I can't see a handgun, or any gun, inflicting a fatal blow to the head.
A 12 year old is plenty big enough to handle a .454, with some instruction. Repeatedly or accurately, probably not, but a single familiarization shot should'nt be an issue using a good stance and proper grip.
Would you try to hold something that could crush your skull? IOW, if it's going to crush your skull, how would any shooters hands survive repeated firings with minimal trauma?
A .454 kicks plenty hard, but the skull is not that fragile.
Walking into a door at a decent pace would impart considerably more energy to your head.
I suspected that a link to the videos of those crazy Arabs at Accurate Reloading would end up in this thread. :-)
I can certainly believe it hit him in the head, maybe even dazed or knocked out.
But if a guy can survive a hit from Lenox Lewis or Mike Tyson, it's hard to imagine it being fatal.
Yikes! :^OThat's a lot of shootin' .....
I don't know what that shotgun was, I shot when I was 6, but it knocked me on my rear. It was at a small pond in Mass, many moons ago.
My preferred plinking load for the Ruger .454 Casull is a 200 gr FMJ over 37 gr of Win296 powder. Very controllable. About 2000 fps with a pretty substantial flame from the muzzle. It works wonders with bowling pins at 50 yards.
The axis of recoil on double action Ruger and Smith revolvers is straight down your arms and into your back. Muzzle flip is minimal. The single action "cowboy" grips are designed to be fired with one hand. They are designed to roll upward. A double-handed grip on the Magnum Research BFR 45-70 is just begging for a mark on the forehead.
The 82 oz S&W 500 Magnum produces less felt recoil with the Corbon 275 gr factory load than a substantial 45 Colt round in the Ruger .454 Casull. My "plinking" round for the .500 Magnum is a 300 gr Speer GoldDot over 42 gr of H110.
Not a TC, different geometry.
I have shot Rugers and TC's; the Ruger is shorter and people tend to push it forward and down when they are on the verge of breaking the shot. Then the muzzle 'flips' upward. The recoil compensation throws the shot off. While it does not negate the recoil climb of the muzzle, the pistol is already headed the wrong way to flip up and deliver a lethal blow to the skull.
People tend to hold the Contender up because of barrel length and the nose heavy nature of the pistol, and this may contribute to the muzzle climb.
The kid was shooting a Ruger.
Looks like the 24lb 4 bore rifle sooting the 1/4 lb slug at 1400 ft/sec has a recoil E of ~200 ft-lbs(if the(400 grn) black powder gas v is 3600ft/sec). That will put most skidding backwards on their ass. A weatherby MArk V 460mag(10 lbs/open sight)has a recoil of 61 ft-lbs for a 7600 ft-lb E 500 grn slug at 2650ft/sec. Same as the Cassil here.
So you have shot both ?
Why do I not believe this story? Or, that some very important information is missing.
They're fighting peers. If they hit a 12 y/o, they will kill him with one shot. Their jabs are over 300 ft-lbs. The recoil E is the same as a 460 weatherby mag->60 ft-lbs.
People always mix up details. That makes this story false? Urban legends never give names, places, dates or photos.
If I was really in a frivolous frame of mind, I would purchase the 4" S&W 500 Magnum. Even so, I would fire anything other than the 275 gr Corbon in that model.
That is ridiculous. nobody could be expected to believe he would be killed. My father owned a M29 4 inch barrel which I was shooting with full house 240 grain loads at 10 years old. I didn't want to shoot it after 2 shots but it was ludicrous for anyone to think it would kill me. I have owned the Casull and it indeed does kick hard but my Casull did not kick much more than the 4 inch Smith with 240 grain bullets and full house 4227 loads. As a matter of fact the Smith was harder on your wrists than the single action Casull.
That is the energy is equal to the difference of potential equal to 60 ft-lbs.
60 / 15 = 4 ft.
60 / 10 = 6 ft.
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