Shooting with arthritis

[Rex]

I have a lot of candles on my birthday cake and arthritis in both thumb knuckles on my strong side hand, I can still use the weak side hand for support and that's about all. Up until this fall a full house .357 never bothered but they hurt now. I own an old Ideal one hole 358477 mould that drops a 150 grain SWC bullet so I loaded some of these over 3.0 grains Bullseye powder the other day in a .38 special case and I believe I have something that is going to work. In my 4" 686 it is about like a .22LR, fairly accurate and should penetrate a rattle snake out of the pickup window to the middle of the county road.
How do you fellows and gals approach this problem?

 

[RicinYakima]

Know how you feel Rex, as I have it in three fingers. First I take two aspirin before I go to the range. I grip the gun only from the front and rear, leaving the sides of the grip untouched, well as much as I can with short fat fingers. The support hand adds to this one directional grip by wrapping my weak thumb behind the strong hand one. Also I don't grip as hard as I did fifty years ago. Some of my friends with really long fingers have had to go the biggest Pacs they can find, but the front/back grip has eased some of their shooting pain. The only true solution is death, then you're pain free.

 

[fiver]

I avoid guns with snappy recoil.
it's actually easier for me to shoot some of the big boomers [like the super mag's] than a 40 short, since I can let the recoil roll up into my elbows and shoulders.
my 9mm is dialed down to a 130 on top of 3.2grs of red-dot or bulls-eye and it's a pleasure to shoot.
[plus the brass cases just pop out of the gun and drop in a pile]
for stuff like the 357 I have changed to a 140gr wad cutter that I powder coat and run hard.
it's still got the impressive crack but none of the recoil.

 

[Hawk]

I've loaded 3.0 grains of Green Dot under a 148 grain wad cutter in the .38 Spl and .357 since the 80s.
Speed in the high 600s and mild recoil.
Taught the Wife, Daughter, Nieces, Nephews and a lot of Newbies how to shoot with that load.
The kids would shoot 700-800 rounds of it in a single day at the range. We had a range behind a pond dam on a friends 200 acre tract in the country.
It makes a pound of powder go a long way.
Used Green Dot because I had tons of it from shotgun loading. Dad thought he needed to buy every can of Green Dot he saw.
I still probably have 12 pounds of it in unopened cans.

 

[Ian]

Nothing wrong with reduced cast bullet loads, maybe even go so a little slower-burning powder like Hawk mentioned to reduce the snap. Ain't it great to be able to build any load you need?

 

[freebullet]

Stretch your fingers & wrists(maybe whole body?) each morning. Helps quite a bit to limber things up. 3gr of titegroup makes nice friendly loads too.

 

[nicholst55]

Taking an anti-inflammatory helps a lot, too. One that I have had good success with is Diclofenac Sodium Topical Gel. You rub it in/on the affected area(s) four times a day. Kind of sloppy, not to mention tedious, but well worth the effort.

 

[smokeywolf]

Have enough arthritis in the right hand that my middle and ring fingers sometimes actually lock up at the knuckles where the phalanges and metacarpals meet. Have to shake my hand to make them break loose.

For handguns, left hand is much worse. Shattered half the carpals and metacarpals in my late teens. Went to an orthopedic hand specialist when I was 50 and he said, according to the x-rays they just took, I may be 50, but the arthritis in my hand puts it at 70.

No magnums, lighter loads, and more watching the wife and kids shoot.

nicholst55 is right about the anti-inflammatories.

 

[Chris]

Taking an anti-inflammatory helps a lot, too. One that I have had good success with is Diclofenac Sodium Topical Gel. You rub it in/on the affected area(s) four times a day. Kind of sloppy, not to mention tedious, but well worth the effort.

I jammed a ring finger last mud season, never healed up and stayed swollen and stiff. Hurts to run a saw or lift potato sacks. Doc gave me some of the Diclofenac ointment, it offers real relief. I plan to buy stock in the company if (when?) I get arthritis. Good stuff and it's not expensive.

 

[Rex]

Thanks for the tips fellows.

 

[JWFilips]

I am scheduled for Carple tunnel surgery in the next few weeks. I tried to shoot today but at 25 degrees, my triiger finger, which has not much feeling left was in very much pain from the cold. Quit after 1/2 hour of rangetime & noticed my targets suffering!
Just hope the surgery will clear it up. Doctor is concerend, since I have had this for 11 months with no relief.
Hope I did not wait too long

 

[M3845708Bama]

Lee has a 105 grn mold that is very accurate in my old Ruger with 2" barrel. even with a fast load it is like shooting a 22. I got it for the same reason and it does help! Also a good pair of padded shooting gloves help for the occasional cylinder full of full house heavy weights.