doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Shooting ailments and cures

I'm lucky, I learned to shoot with a 12-bore when I was thirteen, weighed under nine stone and stood about 5' 7". I never suffered from recoil., gun headache cut fingers or anything else. Still don't.

However, that old Webley 700 was very straight in the comb and I used to end up with a bruise the size of an egg on my cheek bone. I didn't care; just shot it anyway - got a strange kick out of feeling the pain and watching the bird fold or the clay break at the same time.

That bruise was the evidence that I had had a good day! I finally got the stock bent when I was 30. At least it showed that I had my cheek well down on the comb!

What ailments from shooting have you all had and how did you deal with them or reslove them?

Mostly mental after shooting poorly (thinking about it too much instead of just doing it). I try to return to the basics, and never begrudge a good excuse to buy another !!!

Rick

I shoot a doubles trap game called "Special 40". Shooters on four stations; handcocker on the remaining station. I put 20 1 oz. loads in my right pocket and 20 1 1/8 oz Remington Nitro 27 handicap loads in my left. In my unbounded enthusiasm, I have occasionally shot five squads. Four boxes of the Nitros from the top barrel of a Browning o/u is 2 10/25 boxes too many for my aching head. I have adopted the habits of the Panda; "eats, shoots, and leaves" after two squads.

jack

Strangest ailment I was ever involved in was recoil hurting the pad side of the trigger finger. A friend at my former club I called nutty Tony. Tony would show up with a new gun almost every week. When he failed to shoot a straight(skeet) with it, he'd sell it for about half what he paid for it. I don't know if he EVER shot a straight. One day he was shooting a Browning A-5(Belgian), with a slip on Pachmayr pad. He complained that the trigger was hurting his trigger finger, on the trigger side. I, of course told him recoil doesn't go in that direction. I then shot a round with the gun and it DID the same to me. I bought nutty's Browning for $160, about half what it was worth. Removing the slip-on pad because it was too long revealed a factory pad on the butt. Removing the slip-on pad also cured the problem. Apparently, the long recoil operation loaded up the two recoil pads and when the barrel went to the front, the gun sort of jumped forward against the inside of the trigger finger. I sold the gun but always remember the strange story.

Sounds like a guy at our gun club, Jim. I guess every club has one. The guy at our club has gotten rid of guns like that for 30 years. Here's one he did once.... He had shot in three straight shoots and didn't miss a bird until the 479th shot. He ran 100 straight in the first shoot. A few weeks later he got into another shoot and ran 200 straight. Then a few weeks later he was in another shoot and ran the first 179 birds, then he missed one. He ran the rest of the 200 in that shoot for 199/200. But he was so upset that he missed that one bird that after he got home that day he sanded the cheek plate down on that Model 12. After that he couldn't shoot worth a darn with it so he sold it. He's been through so many guns like that over the years. He'll buy them then mess them up and sell them for half of what he paid for them. He is really a nice guy, too. But like I said, I guess every club has one.

But, getting back to the question, you guys might find that as you get older, you will probably have a few more aches and pains when you shoot. The last few months at trap, my mechanics have really been good as far as keeping my head on the stock, follow through, etc. But my hands (mainly my left) have started to ache and sometimes both my hands go to sleep and get numb. This happens a lot even when I am not shooting. I guess it's old age setting in.

As a youth I shot duck loads in my lightweight Sauer 16 till the front of my trigger finger bled from being gouged by the front trigger. Glad I got a single trigger Nitro Special later in life.

Broken marriage, sick bank account have been my ailments caused by shooting.Oh nearly forgot, sore leg from all the pulling.

The cure was simple but the ailment was painfull. It was a pricey pheasant shoot and my gun malfunctioned. I was shooting B & P Baby Magums and the gun was doubling and ejecting unfired shells alternately. It was mangling my right hand and bruising my sholder. They released 750 birds for 16 guns and I was determined to get my share.
Made some very high shots which almost drove my feet into the ground. Took weeks for the bruises to go away. Sent the gun to Briley and it came back cured! I'm not really a glutton for punishment! David
Salopian, That sore leg, use it to pull traps? I'l try not to pull it, ever.

Salopian,

I find shooting the saviour of my relationship "You are really annoying when you are stuck in the house - why don't you go shooting?" is commonly heard inside these four walls!