Healthy Shooting and Aging Bodies!

I thought we might get into a rant about inevitability. As we get older we get hurts where hurts wasn’t before and we know we got ‘em cause they don’t go away or only go away with pain relievers (OR Jack Daniels Old No.7). We have to squint more and it becomes habit, we get out of a chair more slowly and can’t hear everything as clearly as we think we do. That’s just aging, getting old, whatever it’s real and inevitable.

How does this relate to shooting you ask? First there is the continued exposure to airborne lead dust and gunpowder chemicals. After each exposure at a range session you should immediately upon returning home take a shower and flush out your nose and sinuses if possible. At the very least, wash your hands and face thoroughly and take a cotton swab and gently swab out your nose and ears.

I recommend and have started to realize that you and I should buy “green” ammo. Almost all calibers are available with ‘lead free frangible’ projectiles. I’ve started to accumulate Remington and Starfire and Win Clean (Winchester) rounds in all calibers a little at a time as they are more costly than cheap ball practice ammo but not quite as high priced as premium rounds and they come in 50 round boxes. I suggest you buy a box each time you buy practice rounds or go to the gun show, and start building up a reserve of it to use say every other practice session to cut down on your exposures. Now we really don’t shoot enough on our own to acquire hazardous levels of lead or sulfur or whatever but at any range especially indoors, there is a good deal of residual dust being stirred up by us and the other shooters  at the range with us.

If you have minor arthritis or tendinitis a wrap around Velcro/elastic wrist and elbow support is a good thing to have in your range bag. They help strengthen your grip and support on the weapon and help absorb recoil in your joints somewhat. I use both on my strong side wrist and elbow and they really help if I’m shooting lots of rounds.

These things also help us with slide manipulation as we get older and a little weaker. Everyone I train should use the following 3 step method to chamber a round on any semi automatic handgun:

1. With an unloaded weapon that has a hammer, cock the hammer back as you point the weapon down range and keep your finger outside the trigger guard and lay it along the side of the frame. FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER!!!!  FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER!!!  FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER!!!  Turn the weapon on its side pointed downrange and insert the loaded magazine with the support hand!
2. Wrap the support hand over the top of the slide at the rear of the weapon so that your little finger is at the edge of the ejection port support thumb pointed back at your stomach/waistline and grasp it firmly while grasping the frame and grip firmly trigger finger pointed in the opposite direction of the support hand thumb. (If the grasp is correct your thumb on your support hand is pointed at you and your trigger finger strong hand side is pointed downrange.)
3. Grasping firmly and with one hard fast motion push the frame through to the front while simultaneously pushing the slide to the rear letting go as you feel your support hand hit against the frames resistance. (as the two pieces bang against each other)

It’s very fast, very simple and works with any semi auto pistol no matter how weak you think you are or how stiff your semi autos recoil spring is preventing you from easily chambering a round. You can practice this with an unloaded weapon with the magazine removed after verifying the weapon is unloaded TWICE!

Set your safety or decock the weapon after you have loaded! Make this a routine, even if you are on the line at the range until you have done it enough to be smooth and its second nature! NO EXCEPTIONS!!!

The old “slingshot method” of charging a semi auto handgun, where you grab the end of the slide with two fingers of the support (or strong) hand and try to pull the slide to the rear is out! It causes hesitation due to weakness and uncertainty and it also causes malfunctions from “limp wristing “the loading.

If you have had Laser eye surgery only on one eye, check which eye is dominant.  DO NOT ASSUME THE MATTER OF DOMINANT EYE AFTER SURGERY. CHECK IT TWICE! BEFORE YOU SHOOT.

Understand that if you wear glasses for any reason, use them at the shooting range. If you wear eye protection over your glasses or contacts or corrected eye; make sure that the polycarbonate lenses aren’t so thick as to slightly distort your vision or depth perception.

My God! If you haven’t gotten a set of electronic ear muffs for hearing protection do so ASAP! They are great and I am soon going to upgrade to a set of low profile (sculpted) ones for rifle shooting comfort. They shut out the harmful db levels of the shots but allow normal conversation/commands to be heard clearly. Get a pair they are totally worth the price. As you get older if you don’t want electronic hearing protection, make sure you use ear plugs under your muffs. Put some antiseptic swabs or alcohol swabs in your range bag. I use alcohol to remove powder from my hands arms and face when I get home from the range before I shower off. Take your clothes off that you wore at the range and wash them at your earliest opportunity but above all take them off and don’t put them on again until they have been cleaned. You can’t always see powder residue but there is always powder residue.

My all time favorite powder/weapon cleaning solvent Hoppes #9 has been found to contain carcinogens. Yep for real. It’s only for occasional use now and only with rubber cleaning gloves not surgical types. Hoppes still has other bore cleaners with no health hazards in the cancer dept. and there are many other types just read the label. Throw away old patches. I’m terrible about re using patches to wipe stuff down with and that exposes me to hazards I’m changing my cleaning routines every time I do it as my shooting has increased.

When finished at the range make sure you wipe down your eye and hearing protection with the alcohol wipes on any pads that contact you and on the earpieces of the eye protection. If you use range supplied safety gear do it before and after shooting. You don’t know who last used that pair of muffs or their hygienic habits. Protect yourself.

I don’t think you need to wear surgical masks at the range but I see folks with them more frequently now. Your call.

Shooting a lot eventually takes a slight toll on your wrists and elbows first, and knees and back second.
If you have minor arthritis you will have pain if you shoot heavy loads in handguns and rifle alike. For normal range practice loads the equation is simple. The more shooting you do the more you’ll need the Tylenol or Motrin after you’re through with your shooting session.

I know lots of folks with shoulder surgery histories. They all are timid about shooting. I have found out that this is unnecessary worry. Shooting affects the shoulder joint very minimally at best. Hard shooting rifles and shotguns can and do bruise the muscle tissue surrounding the joint and do have some direct absorption of shock waves... Professional shotgun shooters use specially designed vests and jackets’ with built in recoil pads. Rifle shooters with heavy caliber rifle have all types of purpose built rifle rests to take all the recoil from your weapons instead of your shoulder taking it. So if you have had shoulder “rotator cuff” surgery don’t be afraid to shoot your handguns at all unless they are .44 Magnum full power loads and up. Your .40 S&W or .45 ACP don’t generate enough of a shock wave to get past your elbows most of the time. The .500 S&W or .460 RUGER or .454 Casull with full power loads? That’s a different ballgame. They are gonna hurt ya for sure.  Lighten up, clean up, step up, have fun.

Eddie………..OUT