"Old age" and shooting

G

Guy B. Meredith

New member
Okay, comments about age are always cropping up and this shooter and that is whining about "old eyes", etc.

I know all about the eyes, etc., began handgun shooting at age 52 and competition at age 53. Last June at age 54 I competed in the International Revolver Championship in Morro Bay, CA and came in 124 out of 149 with only 18 months of competition under my belt and using a (sort of) stock revolver. FAR better than I expected given that other competitors are the likes of Jerry Miculek and Vic Picket.

The real kicker, though, is that there were 22 shooters over the age of 55 who did better than I. Half of those were shooting stock revolver and half open revolver. Three over the age of 65 placed very well and left me in the dust.

So what are your experiences with age and shooting?

Are all other shooters over the age of 50 out to pasture and easing themselves through their declining years with recreational shooting--sort of like shuffleboard?

Is this only a malady of auto shooters?

Or could it be that you guys trying to sandbag unsuspecting youngsters?
 
Good topic! I'm anxious to hear responses as well.

Even though you center it around handguns, it more of a general question so I'll move it to the General Discussion forum...
 
Guy B. Meredith,
I'll be 68 next month and when I'm wearing my glasses (which is whenever I'm awake) my eyes are just fine. ;)

------------------
"Lead, follow or get the HELL out of the way."
 
"Or could it be that you guys trying to sandbag unsuspecting youngsters? "

Leave no duck unplucked. Great sport to hobble to the line, drop cane, pop perp target with "ancient" wheelgun. Some of the more naive younguns are willing to make a wee wager and even spot the old man a few points. Gotta pick the good days and sort out the competition. One of the finest smallbore rifle shooters of the last century was still nearly unbeatable when he was in his 80s. Eyes not so good but timing the palsey is the hard part, that's why I shoot a lot. 'Sides, it's fun.


------------------
Sam I am, grn egs n packin

Nikita Khrushchev predicted confidently in a speech in Bucharest, Rumania on June 19, 1962 that: " The United States will eventually fly the Communist Red Flag...the American people will hoist it themselves."
 
Interesting:
I am closing fast on 60,most of my life in
shooting has been rifle/benchrest,big scopes,
etc. in my 50's got interested in pistol
shooting, somethings i found, 1-had to build
up arm strength. 2-eyes,late in the
evening shoots are bad,bifocals are hell,
believe it or not i do better with reading
glass out to 25 yards after that its back to
the rifle.After saying that I can shoot one
holers at 15 yards with my 1911 and hope to
enjoy shooting for some years to come or the
liberals stop me.!!!

------------------
 
I'm now 51 and have been shooting since I was 7 or 8. I just take off my tri-focals and blast away wearing only shooting glasses (fortunately, I'm far sighted). I am more and more into handgun shooting and find that I'm a better shot as I age (wonder how long that will last??). I'm more deliberate and patient now than when I was a young pup. "Old age and treachery will always overcome youth and skill."
 
bullet44, that's been my story as well. Hadn't shot a handgun offhand in over 15 years. The strength/steadiness issue is ongoing, but the vision problem won't ever go away. Even with the help of reading glasses and a Merit disk, I can choose to either focus on the sights or focus on the target. But, I'm not out to compete, except with myself. So, I keep telling myself "this is just for fun." That helps, especially when the target looks pretty bad ;) .

Dick
Want to send a message to Bush? Sign the petition at http://www.petitiononline.com/monk/petition.html and forward the link to every gun owner you know.
 
Yeah, I've been wearing glasses ever since age 4. I asked my optomitrist to give me a perscription that gives focus about 4 inches beyond my finger tips. The targets at 15 yards and beyond are fuzzballs, but you're supposed to be looking at the front sight, not the target.

As I mentioned in another thread I am seeing only improvement as I age and gain the patience and wisdom to listen to and put into practice the advise and instructions of mentors.

I think that the age thing is a joke to a certain extent--until you are dealing with intensely competitve shooters who REALLY know what they are doing--and love to play it out.

I almost always shoot DA offhand and still have a problem with slowing down to a really accurate pace. However, plugging the bullseye at the 1 second per shot rate allowed on the range next to a youngster's "shotgun pattern" gives me major giggles.
 
Im 52. started shooting Sporting Clays in 1994. Got my pistol permit in 97 and Started shooting bullseye last year.

I'm too bleepin old for stick and Ball games and hate the thought of golf. Shooting was a natural for me. Had not shot anything prior since the Army and Smallbore Rifle and Duck Hunting in college.

Have to use Red Dot scopes on my pistols to hit anything though. and Shotgunning is instinctive anyway, so I can hit a few now and then.

Shooting is more fun after age 50. Besides now I can guy the nice guns and not have to worry about taking money from other things.


Geoff Ross

------------------
One reason to vote in the next Presidential election.

It's the Supreme Court, Stupid!
 
I turn 49 in a couple of weeks. Maybe I'm too young to participate in this thread, but what the heck. ;)

I also wear glasses (no bifocals, yet... the optometrist said I'll need them by my next visit - guess I'll see him in 10 years or so...) that correct my vision to 20/15. Seeing the front sight and the target aren't a problem for me.

What I have noticed is that it's more difficult for me to maintain a stable target hold. There are 'wobblies' that I didn't have 20 years ago, let alone when I was a kid.

My Dad, OTOH, is 72. He wears bifocals and has a 60% cataract in his right eye. That didn't stop him from shooting a 1.5" group with my Garand at 50 yards several months ago. He's having surgery to remove that cataract in a couple of weeks. He can't wait to get back to the range and try it again at 100 yards with full vision.

Shuffleboard? Oh my, no. Unless they let us shoot at the puck, or paddle, or whatever the heck the thing is. :D

Cliff
 
Sounds like my kind of thread.Just turned 59,wear glasses(trifocals)and have been shooting all my life I guess.Startes at age 7.Shot my first match last spring.A IDPA match.I don't walk so good anymore so had a rough time with about 8 hrs worth of match.There where 68 shooters and I placed 12 th.Very happy with it but I am afraid it will be my one and only match.Took me about a week to recover.Age does have a couple of good things about it.Experence is something you have over the kids and you can supprise the h**l out of them sometimes.

------------------
Bob--- Age and deceit will overcome youth and speed.
I'm old and deceitful.
 
66. Trifocals. I have a small add-on lens in the upper inside "corner" of my right lens which is on-line for a Weaver stance; the sights are razor sharp. So, I shoot the middle of the blur.

Slight arthritis or bursitis or tendonitis or whatever the heck in my shoulders takes the fun out of IPSC-style events. Long strings of shots aren't a lot of fun.

So, I limit my pistol work to rarely over 200 rounds at a session, pain or no. I go for rapid fire on multiple targets, and "generally in the center" is good enough. I can still regularly hit a 12-yard
Pepper Popper three times before it finishes falling from the first shot.

So far, using scopes, my rifle-shooting is still good.

The biggest problem is that 12 to 15 miles of walking-hunting ain't near as much fun as it used to be. Five to ten seems much more realistic. (Unless you know of a really BIG critter...)

:), Art
 
67. Wear double bifocals. Been shooting since pre-teens. Just started in competition (IPSC) about ten years ago. Arthritis in places that won't let me shoot a .45 anymore. Use a Ruger P95 in IPSC. (Softer recoil)

------------------
Trespassers will be violated.
 
57; Also use spot lens in corner of rt. lens of glasses for focus on sights in Weaver stance, same prescription for almost 10 yrs now. Pulled muscle in left arm years ago; never healed quite right and if I practice too hard I pay the price for a couple of days afterwards. Mostly shoot DA revolver as I occasionally get a tremble shooting SA autoloaders after 2-3 mags. Never seems to happen with the wheelgun. Speed and accuracy are still pretty good so no complaints there.

Am back to shooting some highpower rifle with M1-M1A, which requires considerable experimentation with glasses that will give a sharp front sight with acceptable view downrange; but I enjoy it.

It's true--youth IS wasted on the young.

------------------
 
I'm afriad to post.. I fear I may be the only twenty-something around here.. :p

At any rate..since I'm only 22, I can't speak much for the "shooting with age" arguement, other than to compare myself and my father's shooting. It would seem, that years ago ;) I shot quite comparibly to my father.. These days, it seems with every passing year, his groups get smaller and smaller and smaller and smaller.

Maybe he knows something I don't. Or maybe, he just always going to be a "better shot" that myself.

*sigh*

------------------
God, Guns and Guts made this country a great country!
 
I can't see much past 15 yards even with the shooting glasses, but then I've been dealing with that for 50 years.

I love to go against fashion and common wisdom. So at almost 55 years of age the program is to be able to do better than 50% as well as race gun shooters while using a (sort of) stock revolver. I am currently closing in on 40% or better after 14 months of experience and can't believe more experienced old farts can't do the same or better.

Like one poster says "Age and deceit beat youth and speed" or something to that effect.

Personally, I think society is a mob of fashion slaves. Slaves to SUV fashion, slaves to pager and cell phone fashion (I shot my daughter's pager and am looking to take my first cell phone), slave to the fashionable notion of old people being on the decline

In case no one noticed, older people are living healthier lives now and I love to push the envelope and disappoint clueless youths.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top