Pacemaker & Rifles

[wmgeorge]

I’ve had Afib and other heart issues for years. Now I think I am headed for a Pacemaker future. Q. Are the newer models letting you shoot HP rifles? I just got my new Marlin Trapper 45-70, and I do shoot reduced loads, but is that good enough or am I just going to be a HMR 17 shooter? Or 7.62x39

 

[Big_Al]

Good friend of mine had a pacemaker & he shot 30-30 & 7.62x39 without any issues. His pacemaker was 6 or 7 years old.

 

[PapaG]

Started back trap shooting three months after getting mine. Been shooting fifty to a hundred rounds about weekly. No problems. Just getting my NEF 45-70 ready to go.
Thanks for giving me something else to worry about. If it goes well, I will let you know. If not...

 

[Show Me]

I’ve had Afib and other heart issues for years. Now I think I am headed for a Pacemaker future. Q. Are the newer models letting you shoot HP rifles? I just got my new Marlin Trapper 45-70, and I do shoot reduced loads, but is that good enough or am I just going to be a HMR 17 shooter? Or 7.62x39

Ask your doctor. A young grandson has same problem. His activities list now includes riflery

 

[entropy]

I know Trap shooters with pacemakers who shoot thousands of rounds a year, like Papa G does, some also of them goose hunt

 

[jmr40]

There are different types of pacemakers. This is one question that you really need to ask your doctor about. Mom and dad both ended up with one. They were well into their 80's at the time and dad had stopped shooting by then anyway so the question didn't come up. But I do know the pacemaker they put in dad was much different and there was only one heart doc locally trained to implant that type.

 

[wmgeorge]

That is why I asked here instead of a Doctor who has not even picked up a gun in his life. I think I am covered on the welding… also , thanks guys.

 

[jmr40]

That is why I asked here instead of a Doctor who has not even picked up a gun in his life.

And how many guys here have ever implanted a pacemaker. And most of the Docs I know are avid hunters and shooters. I'm sure that most people will be OK but every case is different, and as said there are different pacemakers. That's why I'd talk to the doctor. Preferably before the procedure.

 

[wmgeorge]

The Question was for people here with Pacemakers, as how are They doing or coping with them, not as surgeons. Don’t you think I would follow my Cardiologist directions? None of my doctors are hunters.

 

[justplainbob]

The Question was for people here with Pacemakers, as how are They doing or coping with them, not as surgeons. Don’t you think I would follow my Cardiologist directions? None of my doctors are hunters.

Make the cardiologist aware that you shoot long guns and ask them to place the pacemaker pocket on the side opposite the one you shoulder your rifle on.

 

[.308 Norma]

Ask your doctor.

Naw, just ask me - a faceless stranger on an internet message forum.
BTW, I actually do know a little about atrial fibrillation. My wife has it, and that's why she has a Disabled Hunter Permit hanging from the rearview mirror in out pickup truck. The permit allows her to legally shoot from a motor vehicle as long as it's not moving or on a public road.
My wife uses a toned down 7mm Rem Mag for deer hunting, but she doesn't have a pacemaker - yet. From what our doctors have told us, in my wife's case, a pacemaker isn't called for, nor would it help correct her atrial fibrillation.

 

[.308 Norma]

The Question was for people here with Pacemakers, as how are They doing or coping with them, not as surgeons.

I can only offer this as an answer - one of my hunting buddies has had a pacemaker for many years, and nowadays he's totally dependent on it for keeping his heart beating. I think the hardest kicking rifle he owns is a 243 Winchester. However, I know he has a 12-gauge shotgun too, and its recoil doesn't seem to bother his pacemaker - at least not that he's ever told me about.

 

[The Glockodile]

I’ve had Afib and other heart issues for years. Now I think I am headed for a Pacemaker future. Q. Are the newer models letting you shoot HP rifles? I just got my new Marlin Trapper 45-70, and I do shoot reduced loads, but is that good enough or am I just going to be a HMR 17 shooter? Or 7.62x39

I imagine this can be discussed with your EP specialist prior.

These things are solid - state, and the leads are suspended in viscous blood...

It'll take some serious jarring to mess things up.

Pacemaker Club: Gun Handling

www.pacemakerclub.com

Some guys talking about shooting skeet with these devices.

 

[Show Me]

Naw, just ask me - a faceless stranger on an internet message forum.
BTW, I actually do know a little about atrial fibrillation. My wife has it, and that's why she has a Disabled Hunter Permit hanging from the rearview mirror in out pickup truck. The permit allows her to legally shoot from a motor vehicle as long as it's not moving or on a public road.
My wife uses a toned down 7mm Rem Mag for deer hunting, but she doesn't have a pacemaker - yet. From what our doctors have told us, in my wife's case, a pacemaker isn't called for, nor would it help correct her atrial fibrillation.

Must she keep a defibrillator with her.

 

[Tentwing]

Good question. I used to with A Cardiology group up until 2004. The shooting of high powered rifles never made the list of short term or long term concerns when my docs would consult potential patients. Two of the group took guided big game hunts to Africa as well as the Rockies every year. One of the partners was an avid duck hunter and shot skeet often, and he had a pacemaker himself, so I think the issue would have come up if it were a big problem. Still I would have a conversation with my Cardiologist. There is no guarantee that pacemakers are made exactly the same as they were in 2004 ?

 

[wmgeorge]

Wow thanks again guys for things to consider and think about.

 

[.308 Norma]

Must she keep a defibrillator with her.

No, my wife's atrial fibrillation (as well as what they call an "atrial flutter") is not like that. The hunting buddy I mentioned in another post has a pacemaker with a defibrillator built into it. And from what he's told me, when that thing goes off, it's like being kicked in the chest by the hardest kicking rifle I can ever imagine being kicked by.
On the other hand, my buddy is, "still vertical and have a pulse," as he says.

 

[halfmoonclip]

Funny you should ask. Years ago, a (now deceased) buddy ended up with a pacemaker in his right chest, and his doctors wouldn't let him shoot a rifle. I made a handgunner of him, so that he could still hunt. He got a 629, a Dillon press, and had himself a ball.
More recently, a low (30bpm) resting pulse led me to a pacemaker; before the procedure, they asked me if I was a hunter, and which handed. It's never given a whit of trouble; most of my rifles are mild kickers, a '97 Winchester 12 ga excepted.
I've a defibrillator as well; luckily, it's never gone off.
Moon