Arthritis and Pistols

Some of us have had some discussions lately about how our arthritic hands are making pistol shooting harder and harder. Some of us have even had to stand down on the .40 and .45 autos because our hands just can't take the beating any more. My case is a little more aggravated than most because of some recent nerve damage on top of ol' Arthur. So I decided to see if I couldn't continue shooting pistols by locating a good pair of padded gloves.......and I did.

In my local Lowe's store I found a big glove display over by the gas grilles, and among them was a series of gloves with escalating degrees of padding in the palms and fingers. They started with "Mechanic" at around $20, "Padded" for $25, and "Impact" for $30. So I bought a pair of the "Impact" model and they're the best thirty bucks I've spent in a long time. Here's what they look like:





Realizing that a gloved trigger finger reduced the felt weight of the trigger pull to a dangerous extent, I cut the thumb and trigger finger portions of the "shootin' hand" glove off and it now looks like the following photo. You'll also note that they have a nice, wide wrist strap that secures with velcro.



Here's how they fit the gun when worn on your strong hand:


The glove tends to provide good padding without affecting basic gun handling skills, like a thickly padded glove would do. After just a couple of shots, the gun really felt good in my hand and I didn't feel like I had a mattress wrapped around the grip frame.


I took them to the range today and I feel like I have a new lease on pistol shooting. Last week merely firing ten rounds of common 9mm hardball sent me howling. But today, with the glove on my shooting hand only, I fired 55 rounds of the same stuff and my hand feels just fine. So if you're having this kind of trouble, this is a darn good option to try, especially if you're considering downsizing and selling off your harder kicking pistols. If you're shooting the big revolver Magnum calibers, I don't know if they'll help you much because of the additional stress those guns put on your wrists, but they sure worked wonders today on my palm and finger joints with my 9mm Hi Power.

My nerve damage and resultant surgery won't permit me to try out the gloves on my .40's for a while, so I'm gonna stick with the 9mm for now and maybe try my .40's with the glove next spring after all the surgery has healed.

Give it a shot.....it's only money and it may just keep you shooting longer...and I don't intend to quit until they park a dump truck on me.
Best wishes

MG

Good find. The arthritis in my hands hasn't gotten to the point that I've had to give up my .357 magnum or .45acp shooting, but I do shoot a lot more .38, 9mm and .22lr these days. I may pick up a pair of these to try them out.

Originally Posted by BryanP

Good find. The arthritis in my hands hasn't gotten to the point that I've had to give up my .357 magnum or .45acp shooting, but I do shoot a lot more .38, 9mm and .22lr these days. I may pick up a pair of these to try them out.

Give it a whirl. I found them to be a bit undersized and bought a pair of extra large, whereas I normally use a large. FWIW.

MG

I'll have to get a pair of them for the DW. She likes to shoot but the pain is real for her. Thanks.
oldogy

Great idea! This just goes to show how a little mind can overcome some matter. Another good idea - look at camera bags, fanny packs, etc. at Wally Wally World. They are much cheaper than custom concealed carry pouches. [Not as a substitute for a holster]

[QUOTE=pwhphd;388448]Great idea! This just goes to show how a little mind QUOTE]

Doggone, pwhphd, I've been accused of having a little mind before, but never on a statewide internet website!!

MG

This is a very useful thread, thanks!
I'm going to post a link on mouseguns.com.

I plan to get a SAA .45 Colt. My wife has arthritis and can shoot a .38 ok. Will the .45 "cowboy" loads be ok for her or should I get something smaller?

I sometimes use bicycle racing gloves when shooting my PA-63. They have padding and no fingers.

Nice Hi-power....