When I was a kid growing up, my favorite deer rifles were lever actions. Marlins and Winchesters. Later in life I got into Cowboy Action Shooting competition, and the lever gun I used there was a Marlin .357 Magnum carbine, loaded with .38 Special. One of the local clubs had a “lumber shoot” where heavy chunks of wood needed to be blasted off the table, and there my choice of long gun was a Winchester Model 1892 lever action chambered for .38-40, which moved the wood nicely.
Time went on, though, and arthritis got deep into my hands and especially my fingers. Running a lever gun fast actually started to hurt. The same affliction hit my thumbs, and I couldn’t cock the hammers of my single action Colt and Ruger revolvers as fast as before.
So, with a wistful goodbye, I simply gave up shooting the Cowboy Action game.
If you follow this blog, you know that my favorite gun game is bowling pin shooting. At the Second Chance/Pin Shoot events, my two best years were with .45 ACP caliber revolvers, Smith & Wessons tuned by Al Greco and Andy Cannon. My single best was 19 seconds and change for five total runs of five pins each with the Greco Model 625. Alas, the arthritis twisted the middle finger to where the trigger guard of a revolver with powerful ammo beat the median joint mercilessly no matter what stocks I put on the guns. I still love shooting revolvers, but for fun I don’t shoot them with anything more powerful than .38 Special ammo.
When the guns you love to shoot don’t love you back anymore, simply changing guns is the most logical answer. The 1911 .45 autos I had been shooting since I was twelve have gotten me through pin matches very comfortably to date, and are still fun to shoot.
“Improvise, adapt, and overcome” isn’t just a cliché.
I, literally, feel your pain. It doesn’t seem that my arthritis in the hands is as bad as yours so I can still shoot. However, my hips and back do tend to deter me from carrying something heavier than a pocket pistol.
Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change. – Stephen Hawking
Getting old is not for the faint of heart. (My lovely wife)
A good reason to handload and use suppressors on rifles. You can tailor the loads to your recoil tolerance limit and suppressors take the blast and much of the recoil out of heavy rifle calibers.
I am glad to know I am not alone on this topic. I have been feeling guilty for making some of my long time favorites guns into safe queens. The arthritis in my hands, elbows and shoulders make some of my guns really hard to manage. I used to be a recoil junkie but not anymore. So while a few old friends have been put away or sold/traded, I have made many new friends in different calibers and guns. After shooting generally the same guns and calibers over the last 25 years, it’s actually been fun to change and have a reason to buy some new toys. I am still shooting and having fun despite my challenges.
Why not have your competition revolvers converted to Fitz specials? Not good for carry, but might be an answer for competition.
Unfortunately it’s the opposite end of the trigger guard that’s banging the median joint.
“Essential Tremor” is making all my handgun activity a challenge…..
My Glock says, TILL DEATH DO US PART.
Then its going in the ground with me, because I am claustrophobic.
Growing old is not for cowards. This I have learned first hand.
But I have great faith in the life that awaits on the other side of the veil, where such infirmities will no longer hold sway.
Maranatha…
Yeah, my wife says pretty much the same about dealing with ME.
Mas, after new hips & shoulders & that “arthritis”guy came to visit & hasn’t left , I don’t do pump or double 12ga. guns anymore . I don’t hit the woods either. The “hand cannons ” went away years ago. My hand-loads have lightened considerably. No big bore rifles for years either.
I feel your pain – literally. I no longer carry 1911’s or my beloved Browning Hi-Powers, because the degeneration of my right thumb will not allow me to reach the thumb safety one-handed. If I can’t off-safe and fire the pistol with one hand, I refuse to trust my life to it. So now I’m carrying revolvers (which don’t beat me up-yet), mostly my 686 Mountain Gun. Yes, I’m cutting back to .38 +P’s, because full-power .357 pounds my hand too much for accuracy.
The other type of CCH is SIG 365’s in various sizes. No thumb safety on mine, I’m afraid; otherwise I’d be carrying the 9mm 1911. Winter carry is a 5.25 Springfield XDm. All of these are in IWB holsters, same 4:30 position. The handgun, regardless of type, is always in the same spot on my belt.