Physical therapy. Mine wasn't bad so I searched YouTube for PT for tennis elbow. That and figuring out the cause, which in my case was lifting weights. I didn't quit, but I did change my routine and frequency. Now for the bad news, if you're of a certain age, you cure tennis elbow and then your hands start hurting. This causes another round of figuring it out the cause...
"Gunfighting is a thinking man's game. So we might want to bring thinking back into it."-MDFA
Beware of my temper, and the dog that I've found...
This. Many of use will make repetitive motions as we sleep, which can aggravate repetitive-motion injuries.
For a while, I slept with a splint on each hand/arm, though the issue was CTS. FWIW, I kept a single-action revolver, and a shotgun, very close, while sleeping, as these could be manipulated if I had to act before having an opportunity to remove the splints. (The Colt SAA, and its faithful design copies, have quite small grip frames and grips.)
The actual prescription for curing my elbow tendonitis was a three-pound dumbbell, plenty of wrist curls, and plenty of very thorough stretching.
Last edited by Rex G; 07-06-2019 at 10:19 AM.
Retar’d LE. Kinesthetic dufus.
Don’t tread on volcanos!
It's not quite what you asked for, but combinations of the following have done for my folks at work with similar issues:
A. Shooting with an "elbows rolled over" grip, or involving the trapezius and pectoral muscles to wring by any other name... For some, this was what clinched things as far as shifting methodologies; as while it is a relatively tiresome method, it hugely takes the sharpness out of shooting for employment.
B. Use of an Armaid roller widget to address the up-front sharpness\discomfort of the tendonitis.
C. Keeping a lacrosse ball readily accessible and using it for on-the-spot relief in the event of a flare, and for time-available rehab work.
More broadly, hammer-fired guns seem to feel sharper in recoil for the first part of the recoil cycle (slide is recocking the hammer) and striker-fired guns seem to feel comparatively sharper at the end of the recoil cycle (slide hits travel stops). Which of those will be less crappy for you is going to be a reflection of your specific reality, and where your tendonitis flares most fully - at full extension (leans towards striker-fired) or as the elbow bends (leans towards hammer-fired)?
Monitoring and as-required replacement of your pistol's recoil spring can help keep a little bit of the sting out of recoil. There's a sharpness to recoil that is one of my main cues to replace my recoil spring, that doesn't get any better when there's damage in-play.
Jules
Runcible Works
Another vote here for the PX4. They are soft recoiling guns, at least the full size was for me.
I had to deal with tennis elbow, the Theraband Flex worked well for me to solve it.
"Next time somebody says USPSA or IPSC is all hosing, junk punch them." - Les Pepperoni
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If you go the physical therapy route, find the people who work with college and professional athletes in your area. They will be better at spotting the little differ ices in how you do the exercises that make a big difference, as well as having a higher expectation of success.
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Any legal information I may post is general information, and is not legal advice. Such information may or may not apply to your specific situation. I am not your attorney unless an attorney-client relationship is separately and privately established.
A Colt SAA clone of Vaquero loaded with .38 special cowboy loads.
Whenever my carpal tunnel flares up, anything but the softest shooting guns is hard. A .22 auto or revolver is sometimes all I can handle.
Yet another vote for a px4.
My full-size Storm has about the same recoil impulse as a m92 or p226 with the same ammo.
REPETITION CREATES BELIEF
REPETITION BUILDS THE SEPARATE WORLDS WE LIVE AND DIE IN
NO EXCEPTIONS
No tendinitis here, but age-related arthritis is starting to become bothersome. The route I'm considering is minor caliber / major weight. The steel framed 5" 1911 in .45 acp generates 6.93 lbs of recoil, whereas the same gun in 9mm has only 2.88 lbs.
The OP asked about softly recoiling light pistols. Sadly, there might be only one pistol that combines reduced recoil with light weight. The 27 oz H&K USP(F) 9mm has incorporated, I've been told, a mechanical recoil reduction feature offering (again, hearsay) 33% efficiency. If that is indeed the case, felt recoil with this 1.69 lb pistol would be reduced from 4.24 lbs to 2.84 lbs, which is competitive with the steel 1911. George is thoroughly versed in H&Ks, and will have some useful observations.
References:
http://www.shooterscalculator.com/recoil-calculator.php
https://www.hodgdonreloading.com/data/pistol
https://hk-usa.com/hk-models/usp/
I think the P226 with a reduced power recoil spring (Wolff 12 or 13 pound variable on a Gray Guns guide rod) shooting 135 power factor 9 mm is the softest shooting 9 mm that does not weigh 40 ounces (probably 34 to 35 ounces). I find the P226 softer than a USP 9 which weighs around 27 ounces I believe.