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Question to older shooters.

DeadEyeDan

DeadEyeDan

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I’m trying to get back into shooting after about a 9 year hiatus...

First off my eyesight is not what it was, I find that at 15 or 25 yards that even with my glasses while I can see the sights fine the center of the target is pretty fuzzy...

Also I’m finding myself more sensitive to recoil, the normal stuff is fine but I’m now finding .44 Magnum, .454, and .50 AE unpleasant and painful to shoot.

What strategies have you found to compensate for old age?
 
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I have no advice for the eyes, except aim for "Center-fuzz", but shooting the blasters; try shooting from a padded rest. Seems to calm it a bit for me. (It may be the geometry of the arms/shoulders/chest, not sure...)

Maybe changing from paper targets to steel gongs (good-sized ones) will upgrade your joy in shooting also...

And welcome back to shooting!
~Matt
 
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Short of blowing away SF's best badguys, there isn't a lot of reason to shoot 44mag, et al. Scale down them bad-boys. There's nothing wrong with enjoying a 38spl or even a .22. It'd be a whole lot cheaper, too!

Target will be fuzzy. That's the point. Front sight. Alternative is red dot.
 
Yeah, the eye site issue can suck. Might need to get some shooting glasses to help clear up your targets. As to recoil, I've seen some shooters use padded fingerless shooting gloves to help reduce the force. I've been thinking of getting a pair for when I shoot the magnums.
 
The NRA has developed and "Adaptive Shooter" program specifically for older shooters. I attended the program at the NRAAM and found it has some good information. I don't think it's available on line, at least not yet.

For eyesight the recommend that you ask your doctor to adjust your "Sight Focus Distance" to bring the front sight into clearer focus.

Here are the steps for determining the SFD.

Assume your normal shooting position, facing a wall. They recommend a Blue Gun, but if you don't have one of those make sure your firearm is unloaded.

Slowly advance toward the wall until touches the wall.

Measure the distance from the wall to the bridge of your nose. That is your Sight Focus Distance. Give that measurement to your doctor and ask for a prescription which takes that into account.

Other vision adaptations can include reflex sights, high visibility/contrast iron sights, or even laser sights. For handguns, I'm going with high visibility sights for carry guns.

As for hands Arthritis is a major culprit. Shooting gloves for the range are a good idea. The instructor also mentioned weight lifting gloves for people who want more wrist support.

Strength training, especially using resistance bands to strengthen the muscles that spread the fingers apart is also recommended. Look up "Finger Resistance Bands" as they strengthen both grip and release.

The instructor's name is Joe Logar. He's a Physical Therapist and works at NRA HQ developing adaptive shooting programs. You can email him at [email protected]. You can also look at Adaptiveshooting.nra.org to see if there is any information that will help.
 
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Rockrivr1 said:
Yeah, the eye site issue can suck. Might need to get some shooting glasses to help clear up your targets. As to recoil, I've seen some shooters use padded fingerless shooting gloves to help reduce the force. I've been thinking of getting a pair for when I shoot the magnums.
Click to expand...
Tried the glove last night, no luck. Have a few .44 Mag, one .454 and one .50 AE that I would still like to shoot every once in a while. Am having no recoil issues with 7.62x25, 9mm, 10mm or .45 ACP and LC...
 
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DeadEyeDan said:
I trying to get back into shooting after about a 9 year hiatus...

First off my eyesight is not what it was, I find that at 15 or 25 yards that even with my glasses while I can see the sights fine the center of the target is pretty fuzzy...

Also I’m finding myself more sensitive to recoil, the normal stuff is fine but I’m now finding .44 Magnum, .454, and .50 AE unpleasant and painful to shoot.

What strategies have you found to compensate for old age?
Click to expand...


Search NES for member "IDOKTR". He is an eye doc, NRA Safety Officer, a damn good shot, and an all around nice guy. He can fit you with a script for shooting glasses. The dedicated safety glasses are a solution you won't regret.

Jay
 
eyes are my problem. i'm working with my ophthalmologist now for the problem. on my last visit, i was told to bring in a handgun (discreetly) so they could take measurements of eye relief, i think that's what they called it, and we'd go from there to get corrective lenses for my shooting glasses. honestly, i bought the cheapest air soft pistol i could find and i'll bring in that. i should add it's not idoktr but i'd be willing to try him also.
 
Don Nygord published some information about older shooters eyesight that may still be found on the internet. As I remember it he suggested that as we age our eyesight in relation to the sights require more light, so a narrower front site or wider rear sight gives the shooter more light to create a better sight picture.
 
Heard more than one shooter with aging eyes say they could no longer shoot safely until trying a red dot. It's because your lenses must be pulled by muscles to focus, but the lens becomes stiff around age forty and makes near focus tougher, requiring reading glasses to prevent strain or allow focus closer than is physically possible any longer. Even if those who can still near-focus with age will do it slower. With a red dot you stay focused on the target.
 
Trying to find comfort in shooting
The quickest is some light load in this big guns. If your just paper punching try some nice light semi wad cutter loads.
Reloading and casting is a good hobby to get into.
As for eye sight.
You can see front sight clear thats great.
Target can be a bit of a blurr thats fine.

As for corrective lens for shooting. If you want to see the target cleat when looking diwn range and still see your sights clearly you need the help of a eye dr.
Basically you need to see what correction gets tour target in focus and still be able to focus on the front sight.


For example I have problems with front sights. I run about 1/3 my “normal or daily” Rx correction to be able to see the front sight clearly and still be able to look down range.

Light plays a huge part in what you can see
 
DeadEyeDan said:
I’m trying to get back into shooting after about a 9 year hiatus...

First off my eyesight is not what it was, I find that at 15 or 25 yards that even with my glasses while I can see the sights fine the center of the target is pretty fuzzy...

Also I’m finding myself more sensitive to recoil, the normal stuff is fine but I’m now finding .44 Magnum, .454, and .50 AE unpleasant and painful to shoot.

What strategies have you found to compensate for old age?
Click to expand...

1) Focus (no pun intended) on one problem at a time. If you are aiming properly, you should focus on the front/rear sight with the target looking a little fuzzy/blurry. It is not physically possible to focus on the rear sight, the front sight, and the target at the same time. When did you last have your eyes examined? If you have astigmatism or developed it in the past 9 years or so, it might not have bothered you until you started shooting again.

2) Are you complaining about your group in #10 or is the issue still with sensitivity to recoil? There is nothing wrong with the group you shot.

3) If it's sensitivity to recoil, how long has it been since you started to shoot again with large calibers? If it's been recent, you should work your way up to the larger calibers. Also, you can try using dummy caps when shooting either a revolver or a semi-auto, or in the case of a revolver, leave one chamber empty and spin the cylinder so that you don't know where the empty chamber is located in the shooting sequence. OTOH, if it is painful or unpleasant shooting the larger calibers, are you shooting too many rounds during a shooting session? It shouldn't matter if you are young or old when shooting a large caliber. Even a younger shooter will tell you that shooting something like full power .357 magnum loads out of a 3" SP101 is painful and generally, for me, 15 to 20 rounds is the maximum amount that I will shoot in a session.

Personally, the first thing that I would suggest is to have your eyes examined, especially if it's been a couple of years or more since you last had it done.

 
I don’t shoot heavy recoiling calibers anymore. I just don’t find it fun.

When possible, I use optics. When not possible, I had my optometrist make up a special pair of glasses that I wear over my contacts. The left lens is clear with no correction. The right lens is +1, so it is like a reading glasses lens where the entire lens has the correction. This allows my left eye to see the target and my right eye to see the front site.

My optometrist is shooter friendly, so I took the firing pin out of my Shadow II and brought it in so he could measure the distance from my eye to the front site.
 
Rockrivr1 said:
Yeah, the eye site issue can suck. Might need to get some shooting glasses to help clear up your targets. As to recoil, I've seen some shooters use padded fingerless shooting gloves to help reduce the force. I've been thinking of getting a pair for when I shoot the magnums.
Click to expand...

What Rockriver said. The glove works. I sometimes use the padded glove, if I home brew some hot loads, for the Ruger, Alaskan, .454. For the eyes, see the eye doctor.
 
I've been putting red dots on most of my pistols, but from your post it looks like you may prefer revolvers, and I don't the options available for wheel guns.

Congrats on getting back to shooting. Enjoy.
 
Glockster30 said:
1) Focus (no pun intended) on one problem at a time. If you are aiming properly, you should focus on the front/rear sight with the target looking a little fuzzy/blurry. It is not physically possible to focus on the rear sight, the front sight, and the target at the same time. When did you last have your eyes examined? If you have astigmatism or developed it in the past 9 years or so, it might not have bothered you until you started shooting again.

2) Are you complaining about your group in #10 or is the issue still with sensitivity to recoil? There is nothing wrong with the group you shot.

3) If it's sensitivity to recoil, how long has it been since you started to shoot again with large calibers? If it's been recent, you should work your way up to the larger calibers. Also, you can try using dummy caps when shooting either a revolver or a semi-auto, or in the case of a revolver, leave one chamber empty and spin the cylinder so that you don't know where the empty chamber is located in the shooting sequence. OTOH, if it is painful or unpleasant shooting the larger calibers, are you shooting too many rounds during a shooting session? It shouldn't matter if you are young or old when shooting a large caliber. Even a younger shooter will tell you that shooting something like full power .357 magnum loads out of a 3" SP101 is painful and generally, for me, 15 to 20 rounds is the maximum amount that I will shoot in a session.

Personally, the first thing that I would suggest is to have your eyes examined, especially if it's been a couple of years or more since you last had it done.
Click to expand...
Back 10+ years ago, I would make a single ragged hole at 7 yards, a group of touching holes at 15 yards and say a 3 inches group at 25 yards if my memory serves me right. Now I’m shooting a group of touching holes at 7 yards, a 3 inch group at 15 yards and a 5 inch+ group at 25 yards... Isosceles unsupported... I will make an appointment with an ophthalmologist!
 
MarkT said:
I've been putting red dots on most of my pistols, but from your post it looks like you may prefer revolvers, and I don't the options available for wheel guns.

Congrats on getting back to shooting. Enjoy.
Click to expand...
My favorite guns for shooting are semi-autos Glock 34, Sig 226, FN 5.7 and AMT Automag 3 in .30 Carbine... Just have a few wheelguns too...
 
M1911 said:
I don’t shoot heavy recoiling calibers anymore. I just don’t find it fun.

When possible, I use optics. When not possible, I had my optometrist make up a special pair of glasses that I wear over my contacts. The left lens is clear with no correction. The right lens is +1, so it is like a reading glasses lens where the entire lens has the correction. This allows my left eye to see the target and my right eye to see the front site.

My optometrist is shooter friendly, so I took the firing pin out of my Shadow II and brought it in so he could measure the distance from my eye to the front site.
Click to expand...

It must be nice to have ambidextrous eyes! [laugh]

DeadEyeDan said:
Back 10+ years ago, I would make a single ragged hole at 7 yards, a group of touching holes at 15 yards and say a 3 inches group at 25 yards if my memory serves me right. Now I’m shooting a group of touching holes at 7 yards, a 3 inch group at 15 yards and a 5 inch+ group at 25 yards... Isosceles unsupported... I will make an appointment with an ophthalmologist!
Click to expand...

I know younger shooters that can't do what you do with your older eyes. [laugh]
 

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