I must be getting old

tominboise

tominboise

Member
Joined
Dec 27, 2021
Messages
526
Location
SW Idaho
I went out to the range yesterday and among other things, shot 7 clips (56 rounds) through one of my Garands. I was shooting off the bench, so the recoil was hitting me harder then offhand, but still, the Garand is pretty soft shooting, as far as 30-06 goes. Anyway, my shoulder got sore last night and is sore again today. I may have to invest in a PAST recoil pad that one slips on the shoulder.
 
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It happens.
Checked zero on my puddly .35 rem 760 and first shot off the bench kinda whopped me.
I was "are you kidding me?".
Wasnt bad, but not the gentle shove of previous years.

Shot a couple rounds of trap w a synth stocked 1100 (kinda light) and heavy WW trap loads.
I felt that next day and was ?????

Age, meds ? not sure, but Ive turned into a wimp.
Was good til about age 55.
 
trackskippy said:
Those damn benches are a menace!
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Yep...I've about given up sighting in off a bench....much prefer to sit as I would against a tree while hunting...back against the bark, knees pulled up, and the gun snugged in tight in my shoulder pocket...not as steady as a bench, but the zero obtained is the one you can trust while hunting...and it's by far, easier on the shoulder than when you shoot off bags on a bench...

It has something to do with that hunched over posture on the bench that hits the shoulder wrong, and too, you're not likely to smack your eye brow with the scope's objective lens hood using the tree or post sitting method....

Best regards, Rod (four stitches to date from sighting in an Ithaca Deer slayer 12 ga, a friend's .300 Win Mag, and my own .338 Win Model 70).
 
BreechFace said:
Say it isn't so...eye sight, arthritis, sore joints
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BreechFace said:
Makes me want to shoot up all my ammo sooner than later.
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Don't forget to wear proper hearing protection when you "shoot up" all of your ammo. Trust me - if you don't wear proper hearing protection, you're going to end up with lousy hearing, poor eyesight, arthritis and sore joints if and when you get to your "golden" (rusty) years. o_O;)
 
Rodfac said:
It has something to do with that hunched over posture on the bench that hits the shoulder wrong, and too, you're not likely to smack your eye brow with the scope's objective lens hood using the tree or post sitting method....
Click to expand...
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This year I learned what rodfac said testing Grand ammo on the bench. Nothing the next day but it definitely noticeable at the time.
 
Shooting off a bench is about the worst possible way to shoot, especially with any gun that has some recoil. You need to properly shoulder the gun, which you normally cant do sitting at a bench, and you and the gun need to move together as one with the recoil when the trigger trips.

Field position shooting is the way to go, and it will also help keep you in reasonably decent "shooting" shape, by practicing to shoot that way. :thumbup:
 
They say "if you don't use it, you loose it" this is true with your shooting skills.
The ammo is high priced right now & we all are shooting less so those shoulders are getting soft.
If it wasn't for hunting season I would have a soft shoulder. My shotgun competition season is just starting so I hope my practice with my hunting guns got my shoulder in shape for that shotgun or my shoulder is going to take another hit.
 
Arkansas Paul said:
I shoot .30-06 for deer hunting and it doesn't bother me at all............................but I also don't shoot 56 rounds in a range day. If I did that, it would certainly bother me.
When plinking at the range with the bolt actions, I'm reaching for the .243 almost every time.
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Yes, A CMP match is around 50-60 rounds when sighters are added. So I am working my way up. Also shoot silhouette with the Garand, which is 40 rounds plus sighters.

For just shooting fun, I am like you with the 243 and the 223 bolt guns.
 
Hookeye said:
It happens.
Checked zero on my puddly .35 rem 760 and first shot off the bench kinda whopped me.
I was "are you kidding me?".
Wasnt bad, but not the gentle shove of previous years.

Shot a couple rounds of trap w a synth stocked 1100 (kinda light) and heavy WW trap loads.
I felt that next day and was ?????

Age, meds ? not sure, but Ive turned into a wimp.
Was good til about age 55.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I remember shooting my 45-70 a few years ago, after I hadn't shot for a couple of years. I thought I got hit with an axe handle and my teeth were rattling. And I was shooting off hand, at that. So I sold that rifle and all that went with it.
 
tominboise said:
Yeah, I remember shooting my 45-70 a few years ago, after I hadn't shot for a couple of years. I thought I got hit with an axe handle and my teeth were rattling. And I was shooting off hand, at that. So I sold that rifle and all that went with it.
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Curious - what kind of 45-70 was it? I'm asking because I had a .444 Marlin (naturally it was a lever-action Marlin) for a week or 10 days. I knew full well that I was going to develop one heck of a flinch before I ever got used to that thing. o_O
Besides, I couldn't make it do what I wanted it to do anyway. I bought it with the thought in mind that I'd shoot my own cast 300 grain SWCs in it. But I found out that cartridges loaded with my cast 300 grain bullets were too long to work in the rifle unless I seated the bullets way too deep. :uhoh:
 
.308 Norma said:
Curious - what kind of 45-70 was it? I'm asking because I had a .444 Marlin (naturally it was a lever-action Marlin) for a week or 10 days. I knew full well that I was going to develop one heck of a flinch before I ever got used to that thing. o_O
Besides, I couldn't make it do what I wanted it to do anyway. I bought it with the thought in mind that I'd shoot my own cast 300 grain SWCs in it. But I found out that cartridges loaded with my cast 300 grain bullets were too long to work in the rifle unless I seated the bullets way too deep. :uhoh:
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That particular one was a Winchester 1886, one of the Miroku built EL versions. It was a nice rifle but it spent a lot of time in the safe.
 
The first time I broke my shoulder I bought a Past shield. Between arthritis and recovering from another shoulder surgery a couple years ago I couldn't even sight in a rifle this summer. But a change in meds and therapy and I got good enough to shoot and deer hunt this fall.
 
Mosins.
Traded the metal buttplates for rubber buttplates. Much better when using normal stances. I can do 20 rounds without problems. I kept the metal plates - they're serialed to the rifles.
Doing bench work is a different story. The shoulder won't flex as much when leaned over. 6 rounds I'm done.
Wife won't touch them. She sees what they do do me.... :what:

Forgot - 72 here.
 
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