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i have been shooting s/guns for 60yrs now and the last 6 months i have developed the habit of shutting my eyes when i pull the trigger especially on the second shot i have no idea what has brought this on but i think it is affecting my shooting i may be pulling off line or not following through. I retired 4yrs ago and have been going out sometimes 6 days a week shooting on average 400 carts a week could it be shell shock of some kind it certainly affects my neck now.or could it be new carts i got clever's seem to be louder than I'm used to.thru all my working years i probably only shot 50 carts a week on average.

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A very interesting post.

For the last month I have had problems with my neck. I put it down to sleeping in the wrong position. However it has coincided with being out shooting a lot more than normal. It may be muscle shock as you suggest.

My resolution is to shoot less, restrict myself to two outings per week, and to settle on one favoured pillow.

 

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19 minutes ago, JDog said:

A very interesting post.

For the last month I have had problems with my neck. I put it down to sleeping in the wrong position. However it has coincided with being out shooting a lot more than normal. It may be muscle shock as you suggest.

My resolution is to shoot less, restrict myself to two outings per week, and to settle on one favoured pillow.

 

NO No NO what you need is a semi, tight choke and 29 gram 7 1/2. The hatsan has a super absorbent shoulder pad built in and very little recoil, very comfortable to shoot EVERY DAY, as long as you do not run out of cartridges.😎 

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Yes, interesting. We hairy chested men aren't worried about a little bit of recoil are we? Naah!

in recent years I have developed trigger freeze, I think I'm pulling the trigger but the brain says no so the gun doesn't fire when I think it should. This is costly during clay competitions where it will cost me a point or two which I can ill afford. On pigeons it will cost a couple of birds in a decoying session.

My thoughts are that it might be age related, I'm 6ft and there's more than enough mass :blush: to absorb the recoil. I'm 69 so not as young as I was.

I'm going to seek out softer cartridges, I have a few 32g clear pigeons to use up then it's 30g loads for pigeons.

I have found this helps before a clay session - I put in the snap caps and swing the gun around my bedroom shooting along the lines where the ceiling and wall meet, five or ten minutes of this conditions my mind not to expect a thump every time I pull the trigger. It's usually effective over the course of a 100 birder (if I remember to do it)

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It look like all the above problems are age related , we can try various options but we cannot defeat getting older , I find now after two or three hours I start getting a stiff neck by looking through the net at a certain height , this is a habit that have never caused any problems but you have to accept your body is started to wear out and you cannot do the same things now as what you did when you were younger , I am normally out two or three times a week and an afternoon session is more than enough now , if I can drive to where I set up , or very close to it then so much the better , I have been using various clay pigeon loads of 28grms and find these are fairly gentle on my shoulder , not the best cartridges I used for pigeons but if I can carry on a bit longer without to many aches and pains then they are good enough for me , with the currant virus situation and being over the old allocated life span I am more than grateful waking up each morning and knowing we have got another day ahead of us , enjoy it and carry on for as long as you can :good:

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Hello, I never use any cartridge more than 28 g, dad what are you shooting with ? Although if you closing your eyes on point of shot it would not matter on type of shotgun, I think us older generation can find our selves with various things that can be detrimental in shooting eg, frozen finger, flinching, lack of concentration or shoulder problems,  even the sub conscious can effect how we shoot, it would be good to hear how you can over come this 

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Marsh Man,

What you say is undoubtably true and makes perfect sense. However in my mind I am still a young man and I don’t allow myself to think that my problems may be age related. Misguided I know coming from a dilapidated old man.

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3 hours ago, JDog said:

A very interesting post.

For the last month I have had problems with my neck. I put it down to sleeping in the wrong position. However it has coincided with being out shooting a lot more than normal. It may be muscle shock as you suggest.

My resolution is to shoot less, restrict myself to two outings per week, and to settle on one favoured pillow.

 

I nearly never put this post on because i felt a bit of a fool. The neck is a real problem the wife rubs voterol in for me it leads to tension hedaches and bad sleep i struggle to get comfortable on pillows a self diagnosis is arthritis i get it while fishing too sitting down looking at a float with a bent neck as with shooting craneing my neck looking skywards i feel i hve to keep looking down and stretching all made worse by gun recoil.as for eye shutting or flinching probably not too much of a problem on driven game flying in a straight line but pigeon on a wind is a different matter a couple of times while out monday in the wind on the 2nd shot the gun was know where where it should have been.i shoot 12g o/u 30gr 6s  i am 74 a bit old for switching guns i think.

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Buy a nice little 410 and start learning how to shoot again.  I am now looking forward to my 4th season using just my 410 and my own 3 inch reloads and never felt out of the game.  Just had to remember my grandfathers old advice, head head head dead dead dead, put it in the pattern.  No recoil, a days supply of shells in one pocket and no big heavy cannon to carry about.

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There is a lot written on "Flinch" or call it what you want, I believe trigger freeze is just another manifestation.

If you don't think it affects you, you may be surprised. Have you ever had a misfire and fallen forward because there was no recoil?

Most "cures" involve reduction of recoil/noise and dry fire training. I use ear plugs and ear defenders to reduce noise, I haven't changed ammo yet but usually use mid range 28/30g depending on the targets. The only thing that works for me as previously stated, is dry fire training, the more often I do it the better the result.

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Edited by martinj
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4 hours ago, marsh man said:

It look like all the above problems are age related , we can try various options but we cannot defeat getting older , I find now after two or three hours I start getting a stiff neck by looking through the net at a certain height , this is a habit that have never caused any problems but you have to accept your body is started to wear out and you cannot do the same things now as what you did when you were younger , I am normally out two or three times a week and an afternoon session is more than enough now , if I can drive to where I set up , or very close to it then so much the better , I have been using various clay pigeon loads of 28grms and find these are fairly gentle on my shoulder , not the best cartridges I used for pigeons but if I can carry on a bit longer without to many aches and pains then they are good enough for me , with the currant virus situation and being over the old allocated life span I am more than grateful waking up each morning and knowing we have got another day ahead of us , enjoy it and carry on for as long as you can :good:

About says it all, good post.

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4 hours ago, JDog said:

Marsh Man,

What you say is undoubtably true and makes perfect sense. However in my mind I am still a young man and I don’t allow myself to think that my problems may be age related. Misguided I know coming from a dilapidated old man.

You are now at the age Mr JDog where your mind can over rule your body , but as time wear on unfortunately your body will out smart your mind :lol: , we are all built slightly different , some bodies are cream crackered time they reach the half century , others will slow down when they reach three score and some of the lucky ones will seemingly go on forever , even for these lucky few, they will find that each year the aging body will need more work done if they had to have the equivalent to a m o t . trouble is , some of our body parts we cannot get off the shelf like you can with a motor .:good:

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Out at 6am this morning,  5..30am yesterday shooting then hauling stuff. Then home and built two new plant troughs, went to nursery and got compost and flowers. Will be out at the tree rats again in the morning early.  4.30am rise next week and drive 150 miles to shoot tree rats.  3 acres of grass to mow before the weekend etc etc etc etc etc AND in 60 days I hope to be celebrating my 80th.  The largest calibre I shoot is a 375JDJ but not often and my shotguns vary between 410 and 12 gauge through a 16 gauge Remmy 1100, 870 Wingmaster BUT in recent years I have found the joy of shooting the small gauge, initially because it was a challenge but then found how comfortable it was to shoot, whether in a pigeoin hide, partridge day peg or a make believe day where some 200 plus shots will be fired.  

YES, things start to break down as with any old machinery and some of us are more fortunate than others. I seriously suffer with sciatica and do not walk as well as I did when I was 40

BUT hell knows, I am still out there enjoying myself because it ain't a rehearsal.     Smaller gauge or a semi auto usually solves recoil problems.... semi auto for sure, but even then try to get the gun to fit you well.   Don't give up find a solution.

Edited by Walker570
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6 hours ago, marsh man said:

It look like all the above problems are age related , we can try various options but we cannot defeat getting older , I find now after two or three hours I start getting a stiff neck by looking through the net at a certain height , this is a habit that have never caused any problems but you have to accept your body is started to wear out and you cannot do the same things now as what you did when you were younger , I am normally out two or three times a week and an afternoon session is more than enough now , if I can drive to where I set up , or very close to it then so much the better , I have been using various clay pigeon loads of 28grms and find these are fairly gentle on my shoulder , not the best cartridges I used for pigeons but if I can carry on a bit longer without to many aches and pains then they are good enough for me , with the currant virus situation and being over the old allocated life span I am more than grateful waking up each morning and knowing we have got another day ahead of us , enjoy it and carry on for as long as you can :good:

Hello, nice post MM, I am much the same, sat having my late afternoon coffee watching pigeons on the barley and rabbits munching 100 feet away I thought darn this is nice coffee 🤔😀

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16 minutes ago, oldypigeonpopper said:

Hello, nice post MM, I am much the same, sat having my late afternoon coffee watching pigeons on the barley and rabbits munching 100 feet away I thought darn this is nice coffee 🤔😀

Me too.

I have been sitting up watching a fair amount of pigeons going into standing rape for an hour and a half. It is so relaxing knowing that I am not going to shoot today.

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I can identify with most of the age related post's .😄 its just my missus that thinks im still young.. I can however recommend the Armsan 28g  S/A. mine {my wifes] has a short stock which i need a slip over pad for, and with 24g has no noticeable recoil

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3 hours ago, Walker570 said:

Out at 6am this morning,  5..30am yesterday shooting then hauling stuff. Then home and built two new plant troughs, went to nursery and got compost and flowers. Will be out at the tree rats again in the morning early.  4.30am rise next week and drive 150 miles to shoot tree rats.  3 acres of grass to mow before the weekend etc etc etc etc etc AND in 60 days I hope to be celebrating my 80th.  The largest calibre I shoot is a 375JDJ but not often and my shotguns vary between 410 and 12 gauge through a 16 gauge Remmy 1100, 870 Wingmaster BUT in recent years I have found the joy of shooting the small gauge, initially because it was a challenge but then found how comfortable it was to shoot, whether in a pigeoin hide, partridge day peg or a make believe day where some 200 plus shots will be fired.  

YES, things start to break down as with any old machinery and some of us are more fortunate than others. I seriously suffer with sciatica and do not walk as well as I did when I was 40

BUT hell knows, I am still out there enjoying myself because it ain't a rehearsal.     Smaller gauge or a semi auto usually solves recoil problems.... semi auto for sure, but even then try to get the gun to fit you well.   Don't give up find a solution.

Many happy returns in two months time Walker , you will then be a member of a select band of gentlemen who are still shooting at the grand age of 80 years old , that make me feel I have got another seven years to look forward to :yahoo:, joking aside , you do very well to fit everything in a day and still have the enthusiasm to turn out at that time in the morning to sort out your ( tree rats ) , as you say , when things start becoming a bit more difficult you can normally find a way around it , I now find it is no need to do everything in one go , if I have to walk to where I intend to set up I will take what I can carry in comfort and if I am lucky enough to get 30+ pigeons I will take them back in two trips , once or twice recently I have taken my gun , cartridges and the pigeons back to the motor and left the rest tucked up in the hedge to be carried back the following day when I only go to look and not to shoot , 0ne of the benefits  of being retired

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21 hours ago, dad said:

I nearly never put this post on because i felt a bit of a fool. The neck is a real problem the wife rubs voterol in for me it leads to tension hedaches and bad sleep i struggle to get comfortable on pillows a self diagnosis is arthritis i get it while fishing too sitting down looking at a float with a bent neck as with shooting craneing my neck looking skywards i feel i hve to keep looking down and stretching all made worse by gun recoil.as for eye shutting or flinching probably not too much of a problem on driven game flying in a straight line but pigeon on a wind is a different matter a couple of times while out monday in the wind on the 2nd shot the gun was know where where it should have been.i shoot 12g o/u 30gr 6s  i am 74 a bit old for switching guns i think.

Hello, it sounds like your 6 days out shooting then some fishing is taking its toll on your health and body, much like mine with a bad back and a frozen shoulder from last year I had to stop fly fishing and won't do much this year, metal detecting is all but finished, my days out may involve shooting but most relaxing, I cannot sit in a hide for long periods as my back will get painfull that brings missed easy shots, so I stand and sit depending how I feel and lots of tea breaks, no worry on numbers it's just 2 or 3 days a week where being out on my friends farm or the one I go to beating is more like a days holiday out of town😁

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2 hours ago, oldypigeonpopper said:

Hello, it sounds like your 6 days out shooting then some fishing is taking its toll on your health and body, much like mine with a bad back and a frozen shoulder from last year I had to stop fly fishing and won't do much this year, metal detecting is all but finished, my days out may involve shooting but most relaxing, I cannot sit in a hide for long periods as my back will get painfull that brings missed easy shots, so I stand and sit depending how I feel and lots of tea breaks, no worry on numbers it's just 2 or 3 days a week where being out on my friends farm or the one I go to beating is more like a days holiday out of town😁

I know how you feel I'm just getting over 2 weeks laid up with back trouble i cant stand in one position for more than 10mins sitting is not much better so I'm up down up down i come home like a wreck sometimes.

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On ‎01‎/‎07‎/‎2020 at 14:23, clangerman said:

most older friends have had problems switch to a semi auto you won’t even know you fired a slab of carts plus you get a third shot 

That's what I'm hoping for.......my shoulder has had enough.......I'm a 1950's whelp.

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