Hi Jon. That was part of my logic with the USP Expert. Extra slide weight, match barrel, and buffered RSA. I always heard they were soft shooting and while they are big are not particularly heavy. My only USP experience has been with the USP 45 and it has been positive.Originally Posted by JonInWA
tagged for interest. Both my primary elbow and wrist always cause me issues.
I threw a lot of footballs and baseballs as a kid. In the early 90s, it was time to head in for end of a night shift and a bunch of officers were refueling. Someone found a football and we started throwing "bombs". I recall my elbow started hurting then and was never the same.
I ran a 1911 with an 18.5# spring and my primary wrist was hurting fierce. Hilton Yam suggested I change out to a 16# spring and change it more often. My wrist pain somewhat diminished.
While I know the OP was not looking at 1911s, but my 9mm Dan Wesson Valkyrie Commander and 147 Speer TMJs are some of the softest shooting I felt. Sometimes it feels like the pistol malfunctions because I dont feel recoil.
Along the same lines... if I go to the gym.... hit the weights first .... elbow hurts. If I row for 20 minutes first (warm it up), my elbow pain is minimal or non existent.
Last edited by SW CQB 45; 07-07-2019 at 10:39 PM.
If you're going to be a bear….be a GRIZZLY!
Mine is very soft shooting in general. It doesn't exacerbate or cause flare ups of carpal tunnel for me.
For that matter, neither does an all steel 1911, but if you couldn't hold the weight up, that would be tough.
This crops up on me every once and a while. With me it is less the gun I am shooting and more my grip. I tend to lock the crap out of my grip, and yes more so with heavy calibers. Usually I just shoot a bit less and it goes away after a few weeks.
I also notice it crops up a lot more when I am practicing draws on a timer. I think it is a combination of the draw and the hard lock to get good split times.
Last edited by Greg Bell; 07-07-2019 at 11:27 PM.
From my perspective:
1. As a medical professional my first piece of advice is to go and see a medical professional. Bonus points if you can find one who is a shooter or is familiar with the shooting sports. But even if he/she isn't familiar, you can still get help, just be prepared to describe the actions, mechanics needed for shooting.
Getting medical advice off of the internet is about as great of an idea as getting legal advice, financial advice, relationship advice.....
(even with good intentions on everyone's part)
2. As a person who has had various injuries which have affected my shooting. Be prepared for the advice to be to take a break from shooting. Yeah it sucks but repeated pain, need for surgery, etc sucks much more. I've had to take vacations from shooting on more than one occasion.
3. The topic of "softest shooting..." has come up on this and various forums many many times since the advent of internet forums. You always end up getting the phone book (or perhaps more appropriate would be the blue book of guns). Everyone has a different opinion and the same gun will get completely different rankings by different people (USP has been given both good and bad grades already in this thread alone).
Problem is everyone interprets recoil differently. Furthermore, everyone's issues (tendons, muscles, etc) are affected differently.
Other things which need to be considered, as they can affect discomfort are grip size (too small and too large are both bad), trigger pull (TDA vs DAO vs SAO, etc), and others.
I know when I had my problems DA shooting would make things much worse. Thus DAO's were out. TDA's could be problematic if I were to shoot a lot of DA pulls, which of course is needed if you want to be proficient with the gun. But that's just one person's experience with one particular variable.
IIRC, when Todd G had his issues with arm/elbows after surgery, his choice was a 9mm 1911. Fairly light weight, SAO trigger with short and light pull, low recoil impulse.
You will probably need to do some experimentation to find out what combination works best for your particular issue.
Best of luck
cc
I'm kinda surprised so many people recommended switching to various platforms without first recommending trying to compensate your current pistol(s). Why switch entirely when you could make a decent reduction in recoil using your current gear?
Of course, all the PT and medical advice notwithstanding.
I've dealt with years of tendon issues/trigger finger in both hands. Chronic pain issues suck. One silver lining can be that they force you to become really well acquainted with your body mechanics and technique in ways you might not otherwise.
My tendinitis reappeared after maybe 10+ years, when I tried to learn the RMR on a glock. When I transitioned back to the 1911, it began to subside. This was last summer, and it's 95% gone
And the REAL success was in getting your wife to buy that story, enabling you to purchase a 1911 significantly more expensive, likely by a factor of 2-3 time over that of your Glock...
Best, Jon
Ha! the glock/rmr was a detour. I've got lots of 1911's to go 'round. But, I did convince her this weekend that I needed to buy back a Yost from a buddy, that I let go ten years ago
Compensation reduces muzzle flip, not recoil.
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