doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com brused finger?

I was out shooting skeet yesterday with my now "old" New England Arms Arrieta 557 instead of a target gun (they've been gone for quite awhile now, eh?). It was purely for fun and the weather was absolutely perfect (there were even some big buck antelope quite fearlessly grazing just south of us), which struck me as odd considering that all the ranges at the Golden Gun club were quite active then, even crowded(?). In spite of all that, my old shooting buddy (well...he turns 85 this month) and I seemed to have found a semi-private spot in that otherwise busy mix. We had figured on some trap too but since we had this nice little skeet field all to ourselves, we stuck with it. The payoff was me discovering that, at least for skeet with a sxs, the pull-through method works way-better for me than the sustained-lead process I usually employ for my heavy stack-barrel target gun. Not sure why that is? I also re-discovered that even with an articulated trigger protecting my actual "trigger" finger, after 100 rounds or so my middle finger on my trigger hand (my left hand) was bruised and even a little swollen. I never really noticed this before when hunting with this gun (because... I don't usually shoot 100 12-gauge loads with it in fairly rapid succession). I've seen little rubber "bumpers" fitted to the back of trigger guards over the years but never fully understood that need until now. I have had guns do this to me in the past, but I'd written them off as being somehow less-sophisticated and ill-fitting. This made-as left Arrieta fits me about as well as any gun ever has (a very big reason why I still have it) so I really didn't expect this.

Sir, it has been my understanding that type of bruising usually occurs as a result of using a gun with too short a LOP. I noted you said the gun fits you well but perhaps a bit more length wouldn't hurt, your shooting or finger?

liverwort: well....possibly. It's a hunting gun so it's not quite as long as my target gun (14 5/8 versus 14 7/8). I'm thinking that none of my single trigger guns ever do this to me, is this possibly unique to double trigger guns? I remembered in the shower just now, normally when using this gun (for hunting) I have a pair of southpaw Gripswell gloves on that protect my middle finger.

Come to think of it, I don't remember ever having a single trigger gun do this to me, and I've shot legions of them.

Lloyd,

Did you change your position while you were shooting targets? You can always buy a trigger bump guard that fits on the back of the trigger guard or put a slip on pad on the gun for a longer LOP.

Ken

Ken: I was trying to shoot this like it was a game-hunting situation, so while I might have pre-mounted the gun occasionally (before calling for the bird), It was was very much like I would use it afield. At the ready, but my head wasn't usually down on the gun when I called "pull". A "bump" guard might need to be considered if I continue to use this gun for more target-related activities (or I could wear my Gripswells). My Belgian monster, a waterfowling 3 1/2-inch 10 double used to spank me mercilessly in this fashion, so I'd cut a plastic 12 gauge shell off and use the carefully-trimmed hull part as a guard on that middle finger (held in place with medical tape) under my glove, but until now I've never noticed this on my other game guns before. Everything else is/was kind-of old and fragile (typical pre-WWII & even pre-WWI doubles), so I didn't shoot them enough to notice... I suppose.

This gun is modern (~1997 and Spanish) so I don't baby it as such. I'd much prefer a "nicer" English sidelock gun (a small thing...Spanish engraving misses me somehow) but I'd likely not use it so freely. Older English guns also wouldn't likely digest the commercial 2 3/4-inch 12 gauge loads I'm buying at these ranges, which is pretty convenient these days (when doing something like this or even shooting with the Vintagers). What I'd bought yesterday was the slowest loads they had available (~1050fps, or so). Recoil didn't seem that bad either, which is saying something for me (heavier loads in this gun usually fatigue me now, after this many rounds).

Lloyd,
My only remaining guns are now SxS's with double triggers. I noticed the same when I started to use them exclusively. I started to use the Grip Swell SxS gloves which seemed to have padding in all the right places, the middle finger included. I shoot 1 oz. and 7/8 oz. loads at 1170 & 1200 fps. as well in my 12 ga. guns. The big difference I've found was hand position. I set up my grip for the back trigger and simply reach forward to the front trigger for the second shot. It helped a lot and the problem disappeared for me, so I believe that initial grip set up is the key. My stocks are all straight gripped.
Hope this helps,
Karl

I rarely get bumped enough to bruise or swell my middle finger but it happened lately. I had rotator cuff surgery on my right shoulder this winter. Tt has significantly slowed my gun mounting (I shoot trap from low-gun), and I think my elbow is even lower than normal. These two things contribute to a slightly different hand position and results in a bump. Once I start forcing myself to pick up speed and lift it a bit higher, this all goes away.

In any event, if anything is affecting your shoulder, wrist, elbow, or whatever on your trigger hand side, I would not be surprised if you started getting bumped like that.

About a year ago I changed my diet and lost, over the course of nine months, about 30 lbs. I now notice that my guns - which used to fit very well - seem too short and in casual shooting pratice, I get 'the bump' on my index finger. I will try the grip swell gloves.

The stock thumb hole isn’t right for you. You have to move your hand too far forward to get to the triggers. Just my humble opinion, of course.

Ok Buzz....