Getting back to shooting

D

doubleh

Member
Joined
Feb 14, 2007
Messages
7,371
Location
NM- far south of I-40
I am doing pre-op therapy before my hip replacement and one therapist painted a pretty bleak picture of what I would be able to do. I had a pre-op appoint with the surgeon yesterday and questioned him. It seems the therapist told the very worst things that might happen and very seldom do. It is going to take a little longer than I was planning to be able to walk back and forth to the more distant target boards.

Time frame puts me at the latter part of summer before being fairly mobile due to my age but I have a work around. My 2 oldest GG daughters love to shoot and they will happily put up targets and retrieve them and pick up brass as bending over to pick up anything is going to be a lost ability. Since they go to private school they don't attend on Fridays so there is always that but I should be in pretty good shape shortly after school starts and there is always a Harbor Freight pick up tool for getting the brass.
 
Last edited:
I went to the Brass Goat for mine. It's excellent at its job. For some reason I have lost interest in the AR except in 22LR. First thing I'm going to concentrate on is an RIA rifle in 22 TCM that I acquired shortly before my running gear went haywire. I am going to see if I can work up a 1/2 MOA load for it. It's MOA with factory loads but I want to see if I can improve it. This is a fun project only as I don't really have use for it to fulfill. 🙄 Some handgun shooting will have to be done too. GG girls will gang up on me if I don't as they really enjoy that too. What's not to like as granpa furnishes both guns and ammo.
 
Try to find a surgeon who does hips from the front/side. It's a muscle sparring procedure. When they cut through the glute muscle. It's a long recovery. I had the muscle sparing procedure. I was able to walk unassisted the night after the surgery.

Direct Anterior Muscle Sparing Hip Replacement Freeman | Hip Arthritis Sioux Falls SD

Hip surgeon Dr Travis R Liddell in Freeman, Dell Rapids, Sioux Falls, SD and Pipestone, MN offers direct anterior muscle sparing hip replacement to treat hip arthritis.
www.travisliddellmd.com www.travisliddellmd.com
 
I don't know where they will cut but I have already been warned I'll get up and walk the afternoon of the surgery. I don't know how far but have been promised I won't have to jump anything.
 
My family members who've had their hips replaced recently tell me it's an easier recovery than with a full knee replacement, can only speak to the knee. I was up and walking the same day, still going through PT, but it's still painful at times, can't stand for a two-hour shooting session yet... Went through a small county airport the other day that didn't have a full-body scanner, only a walkthrough metal detector, good times (wonder who teaches the TSA guys to do pat searches, anyway?).

Good luck, and make sure you do your exercises (you may not want to watch any videos of the surgery you're having before the operation) ...
knee.jpg
 
Maybe a couple of painting dropcloths could help with semi auto brass collection as well. Cheaper than canvas tarps and easier to handle, wont melt if hot brass lands on a plastic tarp.

Just a thought…

Good luck with your surgery. 🙏 My Dad had it at 80, other than a bit of numbness in his foot he is much happier.

Stay safe.
 
I have trouble with my hips and knees. Not to mention my back.

For back and forth to my targets:

GOGJUw8l.jpg


Brass collection:

www.midwayusa.com

CTK Precision Universal Brass Catcher

For convenience at the range, and to help police your expended brass for later reloading, this CTK Precision Universal Brass Catcher is a good...
www.midwayusa.com www.midwayusa.com

For pistol I mount this on a sturdy camera tripod. For rifle the base is filled with #9 shot and I place it on my shooting bench.
 
doubleh said:
I am doing pre-op therapy before my hip replacement and my therapist painted a pretty bleak picture of what I would be able to do. I had a pre-op appoint with the surgeon yesterday and questioned him. It seems the therapist told the very worst things that might happen and very seldom do. It is going to take a little longer than I was planning to be able to walk back and forth to the more distant target boards.

Time frame puts me at the latter part of summer before being fairly mobile due to my age but I have a work around. My 2 oldest GG daughters love to shoot and they will happily put up targets and retrieve them and pick up brass as bending over to pick up anything is going to be a lost ability. Since they go to private school they don't attend on Fridays so there is always that but I should be in pretty good shape shortly after school starts and there is always a Harbor Freight pick up tool for getting the brass.
Click to expand...
This helps me . For 200 yds I use poster board from W Mart. Make black 0's every six inches. Then while others are constantly changing their little targets your kicking back. The white paper shows holes vividly unless your on the black . Black with white center on white paper is always the best
 
Some are up and going fast. Mine has been slow. Depends on how long you hobbled around not using you leg muscles. After 10 years of hobbling with two bad ones I'm at 12 weeks with the first and still stiff as heck. Ladder no , stairs hard, creeper on the floor hard. Put all the weight on it you want but muscles are so stiff. Therapy lame. Went back to work and slowly improving. Been shooting at 50 yds to not walk across rough hay ground too far. Good luck to all.
 
I have a friend (the elderly fellow who has mentored me in learning to reload) who had to have a pacemaker put in a couple of days ago. He's (even at 90) the most avid hunter and shooter I know. He is left-handed, and the surgeon put the pacemaker in right where he mounts his gun! He said he's going to have to learn to shoot right-handed.
 
Lots of ways to catch brass before it hits the ground as well as ways to stop walking down range.

The Shot Marker and reactive steel have probably saved me the most steps, guns that don’t eject the brass as you fire them make it easy to keep hold of. For that matter I don’t even use brass with my PCP air rifles and they work fine out to 100 yds.
 
I liked the Lynam sight-in targets because you could shoot a lot of groups on one. Of course they quit making them. I have also laid out white poster board with a 1" grid and little circles where the lines intersect. Both save a lot of walking. We can drive vehicles to the target boards which is great and most geezers do.

I had a chat with the pretty young lady that is currently trying to break my leg off and will do my post op PT. She said probably twice a week for a month and then once a week for another month should have me in good shape. I did find out there will be no pain in one area as the nerves there will be gone and there's a chance for some numbness. I can do numb as one side of my face has been that way since 1979 and a thumb for 11 years. Nick myself shaving and I never know until I see blood. There is still some deep feeling left in my thumb as I found out last week when my grand daughter's new pup decided it was a chew toy.

MY wife had a complete knee replacement 20 years ago and was told it would last for about 15 years. It was x-rayed late last year just to check it's condition. Still good and tight in the bone. I Think the doctor's skill has a lot to do with how good and how long implants work and the one that did her's has retired. If not I would have gone straight to him and already be done with this.She did therapy twice a week for 3 weeks and was done. The place that will do my hip is rated number 1 in the area's medical center and my referral came from the highest rated shoulder and arm doctor working there. I'm feeling pretty good about it now.
 
Last edited:
jmorris said:
Lots of ways to catch brass before it hits the ground as well as ways to stop walking down range.

The Shot Marker and reactive steel have probably saved me the most steps, guns that don’t eject the brass as you fire them make it easy to keep hold of. For that matter I don’t even use brass with my PCP air rifles and they work fine out to 100 yds.
Click to expand...
Old leftover Sprint umbrella . In the barn not in the wind.

20240227_140921.jpg
 
I keep a fold up laundry basket in the mail box bolted to the underside of the shooting bench, takes up very little space, cheap and works well.

www.youtube.com

458 socom can

www.youtube.com www.youtube.com

Have used the pool net quite a bit at home.

B91CD3FA-5586-465A-8F5A-79B7E2AE5042.jpeg

Even made some that attached directly to the firearm with QD mounts.

FE93D56C-4733-4A6B-B09B-3C9FA5303B58.jpeg

Lots of ways to make it easier, a tarp and 4 rocks, is leaps and bounds better than nothing, unless you are on a smooth, flat surface.
 
Great grand kids are an easy method but they get timed out. They used to hop out and immediately pick up everything shiny when we got to the range. The one that will be 16 the first of May has completely lost interest except for her own. There are four more to depend on now but not much longer for one that will be 13 shortly.
 
As for targets, I keep most white cardboard that comes in the house. Have a couple feet stacked in the basement..,. Especially nice are big pieces, large envelopes, big donut boxes are the nicest. Most frozen food comes boxed in white lined boxes.

I can get 6 targets on some of the larger sheets. I use the Caldwell orange dots, 1 inch for 100 yd, and 2 inch for 200 yd. With that, together with a big spotting scope, I can shoot a while without having to walk downrange. The orange are pretty easy to see, and the size tells me roughly how good the group is.

Cuts down on the trips downrange. Haven't worked on the brass issue yet.
-West out
 
The deed was done Friday morning and frankly I don't have any urge to shoot at all at this point in time. The thing is seriously tender and doesn't work well at all. Time will make a change and I have been assured it will do it's job painlessly before very long. Then I can go to the range with no need for grandkids. I hope the surgeon knows what he is talking about and his definition of not very long.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

D
  • Locked
How to get my guns back?
Replies
17
Views
2K
Roccobro
R
Highland Lofts
  • Locked
Darrington WA Shooting Pit
2
Replies
32
Views
2K
Highland Lofts
Highland Lofts
J
  • Locked
Applying for my CCW
Replies
15
Views
809
DeseoUnTaco
D
F
  • Locked
Just getting back...
Replies
2
Views
751
Fed168
F
M
  • Locked
Suggestions for gun-related 8th grade science project neeeded
2 3
Replies
51
Views
5K
dogmush
D
Back
Top