Anyone reduce caliber due to arthritis?

R

Rusty S

New member
Wrist seems to be permanently sore when I flex it as in waving bye-bye.

Haven't gone out to shoot lately. I'm afraid I'll learn that 357 and 41 are now too rambunctious.

So has anyone gone from the stompers to the
wimps such as 380 and 38 spl and 9? Or could you still handle the stomper for as long as it'd take to do the job?
 
I shoot more COLT 45 now for that reason there does not seem to be as much snap however the 357 SIG is NICE about like 9MM at least in the SIG 229..
 
A bit of tennis elbow here. If going to a match when it acts up, I switch from 45acp to 9mm. I'll keep shooting as long as I can. That's the only thing that matters.
 
My BIG rifle now is my M1 Carbine where it used to be my H&K .308 and my 30-06 Bolt Sauer. I am MUCH more comfortable with my H&K .22 rifle.

My BIG pistol now is my Makarov but my wrist is MUCH more comfortable with my .22 --- A S&W model 41

I let the rest go. Except my diminuative .38 two shot double action plastic derringer -- but I haven't shot it in a few years...

20 years ago I shot max hand loads in my Black Hawk .44 Mag as my plinker. And I had a 4 shot 12 gauge pump pistol I carried that was about 18" overall (legal too) and loaded with max dram powder shells in shot and slugs.

In the 12 gauge "pistol" my favored load was a pure lead 2 oz. slug hand loaded for me with fast burning powder OR 2oz. of Buck Shot with the same powder.

Nowadays... I'd likely be wrapping my wrist and taking arthritic drugs, for my entire body, for a week or two after shooting any of my old favorites.

AND my old 12 gauge derringer -- an over and under (legal at the time for pest control I'm told) that was under 12" overall.... It would probably put me in bed for a week if I shot it now. My DAD thought better of me shooting it and he disposed of it about 40 years ago... when I was about 12 or 13. It was admittedly a bit stout to shoot.

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Talk is cheap; Free Speech is NOT.
 
About two years ago, after a though exam, my doctor (a firearms enthusiast and long time friend) asked me if I didn't hurt all the time. I told that, "Yes, I was uncomfortable a lot of the time but had not mentioned it, thinking it was simply part of getting older". He informed me that discomfort was more than just getting older and that I had arthritis and degenerative joint disease.
At the time I was still shooting the same loads in the .44's I had carried and favored for years. But I had noticed that I was shooting much less than I had in the past. (I have some where in the neighborhood of 45-50 .44's in my collection and almost everything I shoot is .44's) I had thought I was not shooting solely because it had lost a lot of it's appeal and I had lost interest. Even though I still "mess with" guns daily and always have several "projects" going on at any given time.
After much reflection I have realized that the reason I have started shooting so much less is the fact that it hurts. Period. That night it hurts, the next day it, it just hurts. Hell, a lot of days I hurt even when I haven't done any shooting.
The doc perscribe Celebrex, which I heartly endorce. It works wonders for me and until I started taking I did not realize how good I could feel.
I have also started looking for a 9mm. That's the reason behind my post here in HG&PC inquiring about the relative merits of the H&K USP 9 and the Sig series of guns. After shooting Terri's new Taurus PT-92 I realized that I still enjoy shooting.....just not being beat up by the .44's.
I still carry a Smith model 29 as a daily carry gun and will continue to do so as long as I can handel it. I will still practice with it using my usual carry loads. But for pleasure shoointg I will be using the new 9.

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Gunslinger

I was promised a Shortycicle and I want a Shortycicle!
 
Damn! You guys are scaring me. I had always hoped to have gobs of time when I retire to go out and shoot until the cows come home, but now I see things may not end up that way. My dad's got arthritis, so I guess I'm likely to have at least a touch of it when I hit my 60s (I'm now 40).

I guess I'd better find the time to enjoy shooting now because who knows how I'll feel in 20+ years.

Jody Hudson, have you thought about a muzzle brake for your rifles? I put one on my '06, along with a good recoil pad, and now I can shoot all day with impunity.

I wish you all the best and I hope you can continue to enjoy shooting as long as you'd like, even if it's only with the wimpier cartridges.
DAL

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Reading "Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal," by Ayn Rand, should be required of every politician and in every high school.

"Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are ruined."
--Patrick Henry, during Virginia's Convention to Ratify the Constitution (1788)

GOA, JPFO, PPFC, CSSA, LP, ARI, NRA
 
I shoot a .32 H&R magnum for choice--no arthritis yet.I do have a friend who does have a bit of trub with Arthritis and when he has shot my gun he always says--gee that's easy to shoot,no recoil.I think he'll be getting one soon.
 
Although I am too dam old for it, I still shoot IPSC. Due to art. in both wrists my .45s have been retired in favor of 9mm. That's a bummer because I have to give up points.

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Trespassers will be violated.
 
Yes.

Limited big-boomer shooting; most of my USPSA work is 9mm or 38 Super Limited Class; got a 7.5" .357 Redhawk for deer (weighs about 35-40lbs), and ALL my wheels wear Pachmayr Decelerators, the very best investment for continued shooting of the 41, 44, and 45-bore big guns.

Even lightened up my 45ACP/1911 competition load...



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"All my ammo is factory ammo"
 
I have gout, and in a sparring session a few years back I damaged my strongside wrist---it has apparently not healed correctly, not a month ago I started my bag workouts again since I moved and I tagged the bag not hard but solid and Ive had pain ever since I hit that bag......Ive been using the cable stack at the gym to build the strength back up, it is a slow painful process but it does appear to be working.....Im concerned that the gout might be setting in that area. Monday I shot some 44spl's and some 41 mag and I didnt even feel it.......but the worry is there...its hell getting old....about the time you can afford to do what you really want, or are at the top of your game, the body or the mind or both are starting to deteriorate...lol...we just need to make the best of it....fubsy.
 
I think Samual Clemens said it best when he said, "Youth is wasted on the young." ;)

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Gunslinger

I was promised a Shortycicle and I want a Shortycicle!
 
Rusty - My wife has arthritis, yet her favorite handgun is her model 629 .44 magnum. She doesn't use wimpy loads in it either.

When she shoots it, she wears shooting gloves. The padding and extra support help her a lot. She still has some hand and wrist pain after a range session, but NOTHING like it would be without the gloves.

HTH....

Cliff
 
Knox Gelatin. $10 a box. 2 packs a day for 30 days. 1 in the morning with your OJ, the second at night.

I type 10 hours a day. That plus shooting, I got to the point where I couldn't type anymore. (125 words a minute baby!!!) Since I type for a living (program actually) I basically was going to be out of a job. 2 boxes of Knox later, still typing 125 words a minute, and still shooting.

You can buy the expensive stuff from health stores, but knox is cheap, $10 will do you just fine. Knox, it's Breakfree for your joints!!!

Albert
 
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