Older Guys and Concealed Carry

Several years ago, I had a great deal of pain in my arm from touching off quite a few rounds of .44 Magnum. I also realized that shooting one-handed in the traditional bullseye competition manner was not as easy as it used to be. My "wobble area" had increased dramatically.

Now, I shoot a great deal more .22 rounds to maintain muscle memory without the pain (and expense) of centerfire shooting. And then I finish off with just a few centerfire shots to maintain my awareness of recoil and handling. And all my pistol shooting is done two-handed to maintain consistent accuracy.

As far as rifle shooting is concerned, anything more than .30-06 gives me a pain in the shoulder for quite a while. This has me shooting more .243 and .223 in addition to .22 LR. I still have a lot of fun shooting, but with less sturm und drang.

John
 
As I've gotten older...Don't see the sights as well as 30 years ago.

Practice more point shooting and night shooting than I use to.

And I am a lot quicker than I was early on, in deciding if I'm gonna shoot er not...And take a lot less chances now with an outlaw(s).


Su Amigo,
Dave
 
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Painting the sights w/nail polish greatly improved my sight acquistion.
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Since retirement I now shoot more than ever before. At least 2 to 3 times a
week and the advantage of having my own range in the backyard helps.

I've had guns in my hands since I was 7 years old. And cap pistols before that...LOL

Just requalified last month on my LEOSA, daytime score 100/98 night..not bad
for an old man...:cool:

I still carry a J frame Bodyguard better than 75% of the time. IWB strong side at 4 o'clock. Other times its either a 6906 or a SW9VE.

If going out and wearing a suit...well I just can't resist my nickle 15-3 in a Bianch shoulder rig..:D

I can't move like I used to, back and knees don't cooperate well sometimes, but still practice shoot,move and cover drills. And better sights are a saving grace for sure.

Can't go two falls out of three anymore with someone who's 20 years old.
I depend on expirence,age and treachery to gain the advantage...:D

It's truly amazing that the things we grew up with as kids carry on into our aging years..

For the over 60 crowd, I feel I do pretty well for an old man. I outshoot the youngsters on a regular basis. Notice things they don't. Recognize potential threats as well as I ever did...maybe it will change in few years for the worst. I'll just adjust...it's all we can do.

As a young lad in training....

Me1956.jpg


And many,many years later.....ready to repel boarders...lol

Mini-14.jpg
 
Maybe a little slower?

I have been accused of being slow by my Wife like when we are getting ready to go somewhere. Just the other day my Son said that he thought that it took me an hour and a half to watch 60 Minutes,:rolleyes: so I may not be as fast on the draw but I still carry a 4" .357 and a M37 snub. I don't seem to shoot any worse at 62 just a little slower I suppose.:o
Peace,
gordon
 
I have found that getting old is better than the alternative!! :D

My biggest trick is that I happened to find out I switched to left eye dominant.

Yep, open sights, I use my left eye, I feel like Danny Glover in the movie Lethal Weapon. I gotta wiggle my head around to find the perfect vision like Danny did in the movie!!

I have a sweet spot in my glasses that I can see the sights/target like I was 25 years old.

Maybe if I buy 3" high mounts I can use a scope with my left eye!! :eek:
 
mid 60's here, i carry a full size 5943 with me , and yes things are changing where I seem to have the most trouble is my long guns i cant see the dang front sight anymore and a pepsi can at 100 yards is now invisible .. I still think about that young kid on top shot that a shot a golf ball at 100 yards. geeez glasses are up to date just thats the best they can do. trifocals now.
 
I still shoot 'expert class' when I have to qualify once a year at the PD range for my conceal carry card. My firearms mindset and firearm(s) are doing well. It's the other "getting old" things that are slowing down and aching. ;)
 
Another thing . . . . I am a whole lot more likely to carry now than I was 10-15 years ago. Actually, I guess it has been since I had back surgery about 8 years ago. Until then I thought, probably foolishly, that if I could get my hands on a punk I could take care of business. I don't mean slug it out, or a prolonged fight, but at 5' 11" and 285, and still doing manual labor every day, I thought anyone I could get my hands on, I could take to the ground. No more. Back then, I guess I actually carried about 40%-50% of the time I was out of the house. Now, I carry practically 99% of the time, including when I'm in my house. Why not?
 
I am over 60 and am surprised to still be here. I carry more than I used to, but I believe that has to do with the times we are in rather than my age. I could be wrong on that. I carry a M642 with CT grips because my eyes are just not what they were. If your eye sight is failing, no better way to improve your ability to hit the target than to use a laser.
 
I began wearing glasses in the mid to late 1970s, but what started out as a little astigmatism has graduated to tri-focals. Forty-one years of railroading resulted in hearing aids recently.

The usual aches and pains of being 63 have somewhat slowed the time it takes me to get a gun out of concealment, but the results are better than they've ever been!

I still carry the guns of my youth, with a few "new" ones thrown into the mix. But the ones I cherish the most are my S&W revolvers.

So, no complaints from me!
 
I've found that I need to be more serious about diet and exercise. And I need to have a regular range schedule.
 
redlevel said:
Another thing . . . . I am a whole lot more likely to carry now than I was 10-15 years ago. Actually, I guess it has been since I had back surgery about 8 years ago. Until then I thought, probably foolishly, that if I could get my hands on a punk I could take care of business. I don't mean slug it out, or a prolonged fight, but at 5' 11" and 285, and still doing manual labor every day, I thought anyone I could get my hands on, I could take to the ground. No more. Back then, I guess I actually carried about 40%-50% of the time I was out of the house. Now, I carry practically 99% of the time, including when I'm in my house. Why not?
Click to expand...

I felt the same way. 6'2" and now 310 lbs. Problem is, almost everything I do there is a chance I'm going to the ground. A couple of my Boilermaker buddies treat me like a piece of dangerous heavy equipment. They walk outside the danger zone:eek:
 
Well, I've enjoyed reading this thread. 66yrs here and my shooting is pretty good. My eyes are still good. Have only started wearing weak reading glasses in the last couple of years. Have never had a prescription pair of glassed in my life. I only realized that the years were really passing when I reached 65. Prior to that I didn't know I was not still 35. But in the last year or so things have started to develop. Nothing serious but still "things". I don't like it but I prefer not to get my mail by groundhog yet. So, I keep keeping on. Still carry everyday. Nice to know there are a few others on this great forum that are my age.
 
With the old body going downhill, I can't run away anymore.
That calls for more carry time.
As far as skills are concerned, since I'm still learning,
my shooting has gotten better, and faster. More practice
sure does have benefits.
Handgun recoil isn't a problem, but I will NOT shoot
another twelve gauge with slugs. That hurt! (sold the gun)
TACC1
 
For those of us who have issue with those humps & bumps on the top of the gun (or that usta bee seen there).......

If you can tilt your head forward to look over the glasses & suddenly the sights appear, you might want to try shooting that way.

Another option is to buy a pair of specs from companies that make industrial safety glasses. If you're style concious, they've come a long way, they're also frequently cheaper than some other sources. I've been buying my personal specs from the same guy that provides my issue safety glasses at substantial savings.

The trick with the safety glasses is to get what's referrred to as a mechanics lens or mechanics grind. This will place distance vision in the middle of the lens and closer vision at top and bottom. If you belong to the trifocal troop, the intermediate correction can go up top (I use +1.5 diopter there). That way you can see your sights by a slight forward tilt of the head. Works with rifles too.
 
I'll be 65 in 3 months and I used to be able to shoot my 45s and do 2 in groups at 15 yards. But the last 10 years have taken a toll on my body. I shoot at least once a month but i now shoot for combat accuracy not tiny groups. If I get all 8 rounds of 45ACP into a 6 in group or less at 15 yards I'm happy. That covers the vitals on a torso target and that's goods enough to stop a bad guy.

I don't put myself in bad areas if I can help it and don't mouth off to anyone. I'm also a lot more aware of my surroundings. Situational awareness is everything now days.
 
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