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**a .50-caliber pistol he was using recoiled and fired into him**

I’m sorry, but I don’t understand this. Can somebody explain how this happens?

Prayers for his family and loved ones.

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An army Command Sgt major with 23 years of service has a lot on the ball and shooting is one of them. Something wrong.

The pistol must be a Desert Eagle in 50. I have seen a second shot from a semi auto pistol in 9mm fired by recoil but it was always down range. Guess a big bore 50 could recoil upward toward one’s head. But....a Sergeants Major? Experienced with firearms. There has to be something else involved here. Maybe a disgruntled female acquaintance?

This doesn't sound right.

There is at least one other source that cites a "stray bullet", so apparently there are few knowledgeable reporters of the incident.

Also, a round discharged from a "limp-wristed" semi-auto pistol is still going to go downrange.

The biggest consequence of "limp-wristing" is failure to cycle, as the inertia of the slide has no resistance upon which to act, usually, but not always, resulting in a failure to feed the following round.

Every one that I have seen has stove-piped, which tells me that the slide did not cycle enough to pick up the following round, whether or not it cocked the hammer.

I'm not saying it cannot happen, but I have never, never seen a limp-wristed pistol (whether revolver or semi-auto) rotate in the hand and have enough force to cycle the DA on the revolver or cycle the semi-auto to the point of going back into full battery and then firing because the finger was still on the trigger.

Limp-wristing a large caliber revolver has always resulted in it either falling to the ground or striking the person in the head (the weapon as a mass, NOT the expended round)...AFTER discharge.

I once saw a young girl (an adult, but young), limp-wrist a .44 magnum, which did rotate in her hand, but probably not more than 50 degrees, certainly NOT 180, and actually broke her index finger...but it DID NOT cycle the trigger as there simply was not enough force to DA the mechanism.

Interestingly, it was her non-trigger index finger that was broken. When I later questioned her, she admitted to have been holding the pistol with both hands, very loosely, with her left index finger inside the trigger guard, over her trigger finger.

I have actually tried to limp-wrist 1911's and similar...and have never had one go further than just stove-piping the expended round.

I just cannot see a semi-auto or revolver action weapon going to the point of ignition OF A SECOND ROUND, as a result of a limp-wristing shooter and in my considerably experienced opinion, it would not rotate sufficiently to discharge the round directly back at the shooter.

Do not confuse what I have said with what happens with a limp-wristed shooter of a fully auto weapon.

They can and have, with poorly trained and prepared shooters, rotated to the point of the rounds striking themselves, and most definitely striking those close to them.

If anyone has a documented reliable source of a high-caliber semi-auto or revolver rotating and firing at the shooter, I would be very interested in having that information.

And as a further aside...I am very much aware of the phenomenon of chain-firing.

It went away when we started using relatively sealed cartridges, as opposed to loading each chamber with black powder, somewhat open to the sparks generated by the firing of adjacent cylinders.

High-caliber revolvers have been know to jam as a result of the inertia of firing, causing the adjacent rounds to "hammer" back to the point of causing the round itself to stop the cylinder from rotating.

I seem to recall a gun writer (could have been John Taffin, a very knowledgeable and capable six-gunner), describing how he had a round detonate from the force of it being "hammered" against the face of the weapon, but this was an over-loaded round and even then, it did not rotate and then fire.

Very interesting situation...and I hope more information is forthcoming.

May the good Sergeant Major rest in peace and this incident does show that experience is not always what one thinks it should be, in spite of the attained position of the person.

I've met senior officers and NCO's that touched a weapon twice a year...to qualify...and the qualification requirements for AD military are ludicrous, at best.