I find it mostly depends on the gun.
Big-bore magnums have always been an SA-revolver-only proposition for me.
.357 in a K-frame is fine with the right grips. 10mm in a GP100 MC is my limit in DA revolvers.
My N-frame Smiths are non-magnums (.44 Special and .45 ACP). I have no desire to hot-rod them.
If I ever acquire another .44 magnum, it’ll be an SA. They handle recoil so much better for me.
I went to a friend's house and shot his new Python yesterday. I liked it, but didn't love it. I had one a long time ago and really never missed it once it was gone. Pretty though.
On the hands thing, I shot some .38 stuff and had little pain, but after shooting a couple of cylinders of pretty hot 158gr .357, my right hand decided to cramp up big time and I had to pry my fingers apart a couple of times before it went back to it's normal, at this point level of function. Usually, it takes using a pair of vise-grips or pruning shears, something that takes a lot of force to use, to make my hand spaz up. On the way home, I was driving along and about 15 minutes after I had "unstuck" my hand, it decided to do it again, and it took a couple of minutes and a half dozen finger pulls to get it back again. Since my hands started doing this about 7 years ago, it's slowly gotten worse. It's not scary anymore, but the first time, I was kind of freaked out as to what was happening. It's only slightly painful when it happens. I've never seen anyone else who has hands that do this. In general, my muscle cramping has gotten to be a fairly common thing in my legs, arms and feet. I asked my now deceased GP about it once and he said, "Welcome to your late 50's!" so I guess he had seen it before.
Three of my GPs retired on me over the years, and over time the catch-all phrase has changed from "Well, we're not getting any younger," to "Well, you're not getting any younger."Originally Posted by Hemiram
Like the graybeards of my earlier years, I have figured out that with the shooting irons, some juice isn't worth the squeeze anymore... I'm not sure if it is a case of becoming wise or mere coping. Maybe it is both.
If something recoils too much, I don't want it; if it is too large or too small to work with my bones/muscles, I don't want it; if the manual of arms is too complex or fiddly, I don't want it. And lastly, if the sum of its parts is basically unenjoyable... why waste my remaining time on it?
gn
"On the internet, nobody knows if you are a dog... or even a cat."
I've been at this for a couple of decades now, and I've had the opportunity to train with a number of the folks who were legends when I started. A lot of them spent a lot of time shooting .45 ACP pistols and magnum handguns.
Almost all of them are shooting 9mm pistols today loaded with fairly mild range ammo most of the time.
Almost all of them cite injuries and arthritis that make shooting the stuff they put a lot of rounds through back in the day downright painful to use now. A good many of them actually blame their current injuries and limitations on a steady diet of heavier recoil and think they'd have more function if they hadn't been so gung-ho about shooting the bigger stuff.
It's a thing.
3/15/2016
I've had "Trigger Finger" and various other hand cramp type stuff. I've used the exercise balls and rubber bands to help. I keep them by my computer and pick them up from time to time while surfing P-F.com.
https://www.amazon.com/Therapists-Ch...%2C1372&sr=8-5
https://www.amazon.com/Strengthener-...s%2C930&sr=8-1
So far I have not had a problem shooting WWB rounds in 9 mm, 115 gr, 230 gr 45 ACP and 130 gr 38 Spl in matches. Now that is not that much, so about 200 to 250 rounds a month. My arthritis is messing with my back and knees such that fast movement is not a possibility.
I do exercises for upper body strength. Not so much heavy stuff but reps with about 50 lbs. Some hand squeezy thingees.
I can see the future and think that some of the games should put in an explicit division for the 22 LR look-a-likes, like the Glock 44s for example. Restrict it to seniors or those with legit medical credentials. I might shoot that gun at matches. If Steel Challenge has a section for 22 LR handguns, why not?
I have no need for the higher powered revolver rounds, they were fun to shoot back in TX.
About getting old - where is my hair? I look like my old uncles now. I laugh when I look in the mirror as I turned into a stereotype of my background and relatives.
Carpal tunnel surgery in both hands and arthritis from 30 years of .45 and .40 have limited my round count and caliber choices considerably
I love my .45 ACP 1911’s but extended range sessions are few and far between
To that point I’ve always wondered how much shooting you have to do with cartridges larger than 9mm to start worrying about long-term affects. I shoot primarily 45 Auto and have heard Ken Hackathorn and Vickers say that years of shooting it had now created problems for them. I don’t come close to shooting as much as they did in their prime but I ask myself when does it become something to think about?
I’m 60, and my hands are still pain free. When I go to the range, I try to limit myself to 50 rounds of ammo. The range is 10 minutes from home, and I go there 2-3 times each week. On days when I just can’t miss the bullseye, I’ll shoot much less ammo, but move out to further distances. I’m not the only one who gets a say in my aging, but maybe this will delay things for awhile. My grandmother had vicious arthritis, and was in a wheelchair at 50. I spent a great deal of time taking care of her from ages 10-19, and acted as her hands. I learned to cook, crochet, make decorations, and even light her cigarettes.
That might be true and all it is. Might. Probably to a great extent.
I regularly compare workouts with Kevin B and he is a freak of nature. But when he said “age is just a number” I was like LOL right on bruv I said the same thing through my 50’s. Call me I your in your mid 60’s. LOL
Ask me how I know.
“Remember, being healthy is basically just dying as slowly as possible,” Ricky Gervais
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