Not sure where to put this, so I'll put it here.
I'm fortunate enough to still have my health, however, a very good friend of mine, whom is an older gentleman suffers from pretty bad arthritis. Compound this with his general nervousness and unfamiliarity with handguns, he finds that shooting them has him shaking all over the place to the detriment of his overall accuracy.
Give him a rifle however, and he'll be swinging steel ringers out to 300-400+ with irons. He grew up with a rifle when he was younger, and is the most comfortable with them, handguns however elude him for some odd reason.
That said, he has frequently told me after shooting my relatively light GSG M1911 chambered in .22LR, that he feels a heavier gun will help steady his hands and help with his arthritis. Simply trying to grip the handgun is painful, and balling his hands in a tight fist is pretty much a no go.
For those here who shoot, and suffer from arthritis, what do you say about him desiring a heavier handgun? Does this indeed make shooting more tolerable? How does this affect you and your arthritis? The only thing I can imagine a heavier gun would do is reduce the felt recoil that the shooter would feel after firing a round, but wouldn't the weight also increase fatigue? How would one train if they suffer from bad arthritis but still wants to own a handgun for SD/HD purposes? Is there particular calibers or handguns someone such as my friend may want to look at over others?
I'm not terribly savvy with handgun shooting (or shooting in general) to really give my friend sound advice on this topic, so any input would be appreciated.
I'm fortunate enough to still have my health, however, a very good friend of mine, whom is an older gentleman suffers from pretty bad arthritis. Compound this with his general nervousness and unfamiliarity with handguns, he finds that shooting them has him shaking all over the place to the detriment of his overall accuracy.
Give him a rifle however, and he'll be swinging steel ringers out to 300-400+ with irons. He grew up with a rifle when he was younger, and is the most comfortable with them, handguns however elude him for some odd reason.
That said, he has frequently told me after shooting my relatively light GSG M1911 chambered in .22LR, that he feels a heavier gun will help steady his hands and help with his arthritis. Simply trying to grip the handgun is painful, and balling his hands in a tight fist is pretty much a no go.
For those here who shoot, and suffer from arthritis, what do you say about him desiring a heavier handgun? Does this indeed make shooting more tolerable? How does this affect you and your arthritis? The only thing I can imagine a heavier gun would do is reduce the felt recoil that the shooter would feel after firing a round, but wouldn't the weight also increase fatigue? How would one train if they suffer from bad arthritis but still wants to own a handgun for SD/HD purposes? Is there particular calibers or handguns someone such as my friend may want to look at over others?
I'm not terribly savvy with handgun shooting (or shooting in general) to really give my friend sound advice on this topic, so any input would be appreciated.