A site for enthusiasts of the traditional & classic air pistol/firearm

pmh:1877 wrote:To be honest, if full bore pistol was reintroduced, I am not sure if I'd bother again.

All seems too much hassle, especially with the commonality of CO2 and PCP.

Kind regards,



Phil

To be honest Phil, I am not sure I would want to buy the quantities of ammunition. I am shooting the equivalent of 150 to 200 rounds a week. That could easily run into big money. It's two quids worth of pellets.

Not mentioned this lately, but ever since my shoulder injury I have continued with physio exercises twice a day & now feel that I can shoot pistol freehand @ a reasonable level, also my rifle shooting continues to improve now that I have gone on to the lighter QB78 target rifle, I should have chosen that one first , other age related issues mean that I will never get full fitness or skill levels back, but enough to make it worth while, and able to mount a challenge in competitions. So if age/and or injury problems come your way do not give up, but adjust to the changing circumstances, Good luck, atb, M.

My left elbow troubles have now moved into my shoulder, which has very limited movement.

I discussed this at my last hospital visit, who recommended self physio.

I have done, almost, daily exercise, and have got some movement back.

I am, however, all struggling with break barrel pistols, and some SSPs.

Hopefully I'll get back to normal one day.

Kind regards,



Phil

Just to add my two penny worth, unless the shooter is isolated in a lighthouse for several months there really is no reason why verification could not be achieved. However if verification is required how would that be policed, how could you be certain the verifier has not been falsified, are we going to require a verification of the verifier. What I am saying is if somebody is so sad an individual that they need to cheat, verification will not stop them so what is the point.

I think "challenge" should be read as a worthy competitor, rather than to challenge scores.

Kind regards,



Phil

Sorry to hear you have some continuing problems Phil, but keep up with the physio it aint quick, but it is working for me. I will admit I nearly gave up a couple of times & started off loading guns, but being bloody minded & stubborn got me back on track, been a long two years though.
My use of the word "challenge" purely meant I could enter a comp without embarrassing myself even though unlikely to challenge for the top spots, but as i'm a competitive so & so I will still try like hell to win, M.

Target shooting is always a competition that is primarily against yourself and is therefore ideal for those of us that have some health problems (or even old age related issues) to deal with.

The sense of achievement when any progress is made is a personal thing, and in the case of any on-going injury or illness even being able to maintain a personal score level that you are happy with is also a good marker to keep the personal challenge alive.

Being able to consistently achieve a reliable result is another area of huge challenge for some types of injury/illness and is another area where any success is a very personal thing that others may not be able to see or even be aware of.

Maybe pistol shooting is a very therapeutic activity and competition shooting could be a further extension for some that wish to further extend their personal goals.

zooma wrote:Target shooting is always a competition that is primarily against yourself and is therefore ideal for those of us that have some health problems (or even old age related issues) to deal with.

The sense of achievement when any progress is made is a personal thing, and in the case of any on-going injury or illness even being able to maintain a personal score level that you are happy with is also a good marker to keep the personal challenge alive.

Being able to consistently achieve a reliable result is another area of huge challenge for some types of injury/illness and is another area where any success is a very personal thing that others may not be able to see or even be aware of.

Maybe pistol shooting is a very therapeutic activity and competition shooting could be a further extension for some that wish to further extend their personal goals.

I like Zooma's statement of Target shooting is always primarily against oneself. Although I have an increasing onset of arthritis in certain fingers of both hands..(natural degeneration...as my GP calls it), my story is of changing my shooting hand from my natural left, to my right hand. 2 years ago I bought a Gamo Compact as my entry level into match/target shooting. It came with R/H anatomical grips, and I thought I would persevere (there were some early disasters) using it R/handed until I had an opportunity to purchase a set of L/H grips. Several months passed before getting the L/H grips, but in that time I'd began to overcome the difficulties of a Lefty shooting R/Handed, and it felt fairly natural. After changing to the New L/H grips, things didn't feel as natural Left-handed as had become with the Right. I was with a dilemma at the crossroads.......Continue with my natural left hand, and progress....or.. revert back to the Right hand (which is always likely to feel slightly awkward), but which I had begun to enjoy. Decided to revert back to unnatural R/hand shooting and see how far I could progress, using that then point as benchmark to begin with. Been having a lot of fun with this for some time now, and to requote Zooma....its primarily against myself where improvement will show. In case you're all thinking: Yes, I did have to change from Left to Right eye too, but a semi-transparent diffuser cover over my safety glass lens helps greatly. One good point too..is that I can now hold and use friends/clubmates R/Hand pistols, and be able to use them "fairly" proficiently. The object of my story is: that a case of "modify and adapt" can overcome the natural or medical barriers etc that try to affect our shooting abilities. Good luck to you guys..don't let barriers get in the way.

You also have the advantage of more choice and often cheaper price for right hand versions

Kind regards,



Phil

pmh wrote:You also have the advantage of more choice and often cheaper price for right hand versions

Kind regards,



Phil

Exactly Phil. I've since added a R/H Hurricane to my collection, and a Mod6G....which, I think I used for a round or two in last season's Benchrest comp.

Well done for adapting to both hands i'm right handed & tried going leftie two & half years ago when my shoulder problems were very bad I failed very badly, but am delighted you succeeded , M

Its not quite as relaxed a technique as using it "natural-handed"......there is a degree of over-concentration and a tighter grip which affects trigger control, but its passable. It normally takes a few minutes for the other eye to focus and settle etc after the diffuser covers the dominant eye. It pays not to use other pistols Left handed or double handed just prior to using a Right handed stance.

Not updated this thread lately, so my pistol shooting has been going fairly well no major shoulder problems just the usual age related issues, rifle shooting has though been minimal due to the osteo whatever is wrong with my damned neck, this problem does though come & go so i'm hoping it will soon ease again so I can return to my rifles soon. I am still keen to shoot even though I am off loading some of my guns I shall still have 2 target pistols, & 2 target rifles plus the hw45 for some fun shooting, so overall hope to carry on shooting for a long time yet, M.

I have been a target shooter for 40 years, I retired from competition and packed up for many years but it was an illness and old age that brought me back!
I had Bells Palsy which produces stroke like symptoms but is recoverable generaly in a couple of months, in my case the only permanant damage was the destruction of the cortial nerve in my right ear which resulted in a total loss of balance, spent a month unable to stand, three months staggering, and then two years of daily therapy to attempt to learn to ballance using the other ballance receptors, the exercise were boring and in mentioning to the consultant that I use to do pistol shooting he said, "the perfect therapy exercise!"
My sport aided my health and now the ballance is no issue (just rheumatism now) and I can now shoot standing air rifle to a reasonable standard. I can also add, that although its goes against the grain to us old farts the modern shooting kit of trousers and jackets does wonders for old aching backs.
My wife, also after a 20 year break, now due to the wonders of modern medicine and a double cataract op, and using modern stiff shooting kit is shooting air rifle and smallbore rifle at the standard she did in her prime (a GB team member) at 63!
And she even trains more than then and has won the top veteran at the British Air Rifle championship for the last two years as well as being county champion in air and smallbore rifle!
We both now shoot air rifle, and smallbore rifle prone, and also shoot fullbore rifle prone and its our sport which keeps us active.
Robin

My frozen shoulder seems to be easing, though movement is still limited. It's all been a bit frustrating as it had been over a year now.

I've not tried holding the rifle for a while, so shall have to give that a go to see how I get on.

Kind regards,



Phil