Old Shooter

[bench]

Whats a old shooter to do.
I have hit the age where I can no longer shoot FTR prone position but do not want to give up shooting.
Bad neck and back are going to put me on the sidelines because of the old age effect.
I do not want to shoot benchrest as I am geared for FTR and if I could shoot from a bench that would be great.
What are my options???

Bench

 

[F Class John]

While rare, F-Class has medical provisions that will actually allow a participant to shoot off a bench during competition. I've been to several high profile f-class matches where someone brought there own portable bench. Admittedly they were quite incapacitated (wheelchair bound in one case and walking with a cane in the other) so the bench was definitely warranted but I have no idea what the criteria level is to be allowed a bench. But the point is that there IS a way for those who a physically incapable of belly shooting to still participate within the rules.

 

[aka Hunter]

Exercise?

 

[rardoin]

Exercise?

Really? Unbelievable.

 

[rardoin]

Bench, I don't know where you are located but some ranges have a subclass called F-bench. Basically you are shooting from a bench and are competing only against like shooters. I think St. Louis may have this and LRA in Shreveport spoke of this at the last match I attended.

 

[Medic505]

Really? Unbelievable.

Not unbelievable at all. It works.

 

[dolek]

Whats a old shooter to do.
I have hit the age where I can no longer shoot FTR prone position but do not want to give up shooting.
Bad neck and back are going to put me on the sidelines because of the old age effect.
I do not want to shoot benchrest as I am geared for FTR and if I could shoot from a bench that would be great.
What are my options???

Bench

I wish you the best, don't give up ...adapt until you can't enjoy the sport any longer .

 

[redrockranger]

Bench Rest. Sit down instead of lay down. We are running out of options as we age.

 

[Forum Boss]

I think more clubs have benchrest fun matches than F-TR or High power these days.

You don't need to go the full PPC route with loading at the range and shooting only registered matches with moving backers.

AT my club I can shoot rimfire at 50 yards, Benchrest for score at 100/200, and steel and paper at 600.

We have factory classes and vintage military classes so you can be competitive without spending much money.

We have a guy who regularly shoots his .308 F-TR rifle from the bench at our 600-yard match and he is competitive.

Personally I think rimfire benchrest may offer the best "bang for the buck" but it can also be frustrating because of the low BC, low velocity.

Frankly I am disappointed that the 17 HM2 never took off. The initial ammo coming from Eley was VERY accurate. But then Ruger ruined the whole thing because they changed the ammo spec so it would function in 10/22s. This required bullets to be seated so short that concentricity went to heck.

We actually built a 17 HM2 benchrest rifle and Stan Ware tested it with a variety of ammo. The gun could show VERY impressive accuracy at 100 yards with good ammo.

 

[watercam]

Obviously there are options! Regarding 'exercise'. I must agree. I have been fighting lumbar (3 discs gone) and cervical (4 discs gone) for over 15 yrs and bad knees for the last 6. The only thing keeping me shooting is exercise. Walking is the #1 item on that list along with leg extension for the knees. I stopped eating poorly as well. Still on the mat but had to change my head support in a major way so as to not tweak my neck.
It may be doable!

 

[Uthink Uknow]

Bench,
How lucky for you that you live in Michigan. They shoot G-Class at Oscoda. This is F/tr and F open shot from a bench. Check with Andy Taber for days and times. They shoot week days since everyone in that class are old and retired. Hence the G-Class, Geezer Class.

 

[chop house]

Hence the G-Class, Geezer Class

priceless

 

[F Class John]

Bench,
How lucky for you that you live in Michigan. They shoot G-Class at Oscoda. This is F/tr and F open shot from a bench. Check with Andy Taber for days and times. They shoot week days since everyone in that class are old and retired. Hence the G-Class, Geezer Class.

We do the same thing every week at the matches I run. We have 11 benches and 11 prone platforms so anyone is able to participate and it's been fantastic.

Here's a pic of our line (you can see one of the benches in the bottom left corner and there's obviously a line of them you can't see)

 

[Stumpy1]

Whats a old shooter to do.
I have hit the age where I can no longer shoot FTR prone position but do not want to give up shooting.
Bad neck and back are going to put me on the sidelines because of the old age effect.
I do not want to shoot benchrest as I am geared for FTR and if I could shoot from a bench that would be great.
What are my options???

Bench

Bench,

Depending on your goals, I would talk to your local match director. If you don't care about directly competing, but only want to shoot and hang out with friends, you may have options.

If it can be done SAFELY, I would have no problem with someone shooting from a bench while the rest of the line is on the ground. If it can be done SAFELY.

I would talk to them and see if they can make some accommodations to help you out, and keep you hanging out with your friends.

Frank

 

[MGYSGT]

We do the same thing every week at the matches I run. We have 11 benches and 11 prone platforms so anyone is able to participate and it's been fantastic.

Here's a pic of our line (you can see one of the benches in the bottom left corner and there's obviously a line of them you can't see)

View attachment 1187202

Very clever.

 

[bsekf]

Hang in there. I am 81, no longer shoot tournament trap, but still flirt with 25's for a couple of rounds at local club. Have to limit my hand cannons, arthritic hands. Some morning I can't open the action on my Encore.... have to use both hands. I am still building rifles and looking for the one that puts them "all in one hole". Position shooting is out for me, can't get up off the ground! Even at the bench I have to limit the recoil or I suffer the next day or two. Getting so I really love the 6BR and my 6x223! Even the 6.5x47L hurts.

I am very lucky, physically pretty good, it's my eyes that are getting me. I used to chuckle when my 95 year old Mother would tell me "my eyes aren't as good today as yesterday" Well, Zelda was right again!

HANG IN THERE, the smell of burnt gun power is therapeutic!

Bill

 

[rjtfroggy]

Exercise?

Not unbelievable at all. It works.

Does not always work.
In some case it is not feasible. Exercise can and will cause more pain and damage.
In my own personal case I not only would love to do it but miss my 2 hours a day of it.
My entire spine is compromised, both knees are bone on bone and my hands are always numb and burning. There is not an exercise routine any where that will help, and the doctors can't or won't agree on a treatment plan.
Neuro won't perform surgery because I have had 8 lumbar already.( multi level fusions)
Ortho won't do knees or hip because of spine problems.
So for me it off a bench all the time.

 

[Uthink Uknow]

That idea of the prone position on top of the bench is a good one as this gets the berm more in line with the flight of the bullet from the shooter on the ground.

 

[TAJ45]

By golly UU, you just my be onto something.

 

[Uthink Uknow]

I’m not just a pretty face, Tom. But I do remember that to shoot 100 yard prone at WWCCA they moved to the 100 yard line to lie down and shoot the 200 yard backers instead of shooting the targets at 100 and lying down at the benches for that vey reason. So I’m not even a brainy person as they thought of it first.