Shooting after shoulder injury

[Moblies]

I sustained a shoulder injury leaving it pinned and plated. Anyone ever had similar and shoot.  What changes did you have to make.  

[Westley]

Although not pinned and plated, I have had an operation on my right shoulder that did not work.  I use a Browning 725 and 24 gram cartridges but on occasion, when my shoulder is really bad, I use my Beretta 303 semi auto. Both guns are 12 bores. I do have a Browning recoil pad insert in my skeet vest, which, it would appear is hated by some clay shooters, BUT, it works for me. I still use my S x S 12 bore for game shooting but stick with 28 gram cartridges. Of course if I shoot a box of 25 cartridges, I have had a good day !  Although most of my clay shooting is restricted to 50 bird shoots, I do have the occasional 100 birders. During this enforced lay off, I have been doing around 10 minutes a day practicing my gun mounting, just to keep the muscles awake. Only you will know if you are able to continue to shoot, but I do urge you to try, even if it means a smaller bore gun.

[eggy74]

as long as it has healed properly i cant imagine you should have any issues, do you have full range of movement or any nerve damage? i have nerve damage in my neck and some paralysis in my right lats, delts and triceps which make shooting "gun up" for more than a few minutes tiring (right handed)

 

[Moblies]

Thanks guys.  It’s early days,  still recovering but two breaks at the front so I expect the butt pad to be right on the injury., I was thinking semi auto might be a better bet.  I shoot 100 sporting just for fun, don’t take it to seriously so if I miss more I probably wouldn’t notice.   

[snow white]

I dislocated my right shoulder about 5 years ago touch wood don’t have any trouble with it I go drive game use 36 gram loads no problem 

[Centrepin]

I'm not pinned or plated, just heavily scarred and muscle damaged both sides and also right side neck damage. 

To start with I wore a pad looks like a shoulder holster under my clothes and a recoil pad on the gun. 

I would try using 21gram to start and see how you go. If you continue to feel pain then try a .410 and you can go as low as 9grams and still break clays for fun. 

I use almost exclusively 21g on clays but use 30 or 32 on pigeons or crow.

 

[figgy]

Lightweight gas operated semi auto is what you need, Beretta do A400 lightweight.

Or shoot off your other shoulder, would save any aggravation to your plated shoulder.

[Moblies]

Thanks chaps, figgy I was thinking semi auto might be the answer. The recoil will probably be uncomfortable at worst with the over under 

[Clodhopper]

My advice would be to closely follow the advice of the physiotherapist and make sure that you build the muscles up sufficiently. This should give you a good base to start with and you can tweak exercises to suit your needs.
 

Following shoulder surgery I found that I could not even hold a cup of coffee but with the regular exercises I soon recovered the strength and movement. Knotted muscles where a problem for me but a lovely lady sticking needles in them soon sorted that out.

All the best.

[crossy 666]

Me and my dad used to go shoot 50 clays every other weekend and had done for many many years. My dad fell down the stairs some time ago and ended up having  to have an operation on his shoulder. After he had the all ok from his doctor we returned back to shooting again. He found that at the time he felt ok but in the evening his pain got worse. The pain lasted around two weeks then would start again when we went shooting again. 
I brought him a semi auto which helped a lot and shortened the pain to last a week. 
In the end my dad had to retire from shooting and playing darts due to it which we were both gutted about as he was a seriously good shot and I also lost my shooting partner. 

[Bobba]

As per comments by Figgy, you could think in terms of the Beretta but with the addition kick-off. Or, perhaps explore the possibility of retro fit a kick-off to your current shotgun.

[Robertt]

I have an injury for life at the junction of my neck and right shoulder.

In the olden days when the standard clay cartridge was 32g I would have whiplash like symptoms for up to 10 days to after shooting just 1 round of skeet.

Fast forward to now and I use 21g for Clay's and can manage a 100 with only a bit of stiffness the day after only.

Of course it depends on the severity of the injury but if recoil is creating the issue 21g are worth a try.

Eley First are particularly mild.

 

Edited April 26, 2020 by Robertt

[Rob85]

I would be inclined to have your mount and gun fit checked. If your range of movement and muscle mass have changed due to the injury it could come about that your current gun may not suit you anymore.

The shoulder joint is a real complex nightmare to rehabilitate as the muscles that you need to work on are generally the stabilisers and not the big noticeable ones. How long is it since you had your op? I would think for at least 6 months you should be seeing an orthopaedic specialist or MSK physio

[Moblies]

Sound advice guys much appreciated op has only been a week and it is bad.  Replacement shoulder would of been preferred had I been older as they don’t last.  Might still be on the cards later in life.   I don’t intend rushing into shooting until I’ve been through the rehab process, probably be a goal for next year now but I can put a semi auto on my xmas list!

currently shoot an old Silma Supreme so don’t have much cash invested in my current gun and usually shoot 27 or 21 and never got much recoil off the 21s.  

always fancied the Armsan A612 and looks similar weight to Beretta Lightweight, ATA seems to be heavier. 

thanks again for all the advice 

Edited April 29, 2020 by Moblies

[figgy]

The Armsan A612 is a copy of the older Beretta semi automatic design. Not as sift recoiling as the A400 with all its recoil absorbing tech.

The A400 lightweight with the right carts should have little to no felt recoil.

Sift recoil pads and shoulder protection like the d30 foam pads work.

Hope you get sorted and back to shooting.

[Harry136]

Hi, I've had both shoulders surgically repaired. Out of action for 6 months on each. Take your time, let yourself heal properly! I started lifting bags of sugar up at arms length, then started doing shoulder raises at full etension with carrier bags containing bottles of water (so you can adjust the weight over time). Then when I could repeatedly lift 25% more than the guns weight I stated mounting the gun. I also did loads of press ups to build the strength up. Most important though, take your time and listen to what your body is telling you!

[Gordon R]

My youngest broke his collar bone at motocross and had a decent sized plate screwed in. He foolishly went to the gym before it had healed and the plate popped out, breaking the skin. He then had to wait for it to recover, the plate removed and the excess bone, which had grown under the protruding plate, had to be ground off. He is a big, handy lad, but felt the recoil a bit. Invested in a gel pad which was inserted into his skeet vest. Job sorted.