Physical Strength and Shooting Accurately

[Jammer Six]

leftiye, is it possible to adjust loads for that? (Just wondering...)

[41mag]

Personally I think conditioning is more important than physical strength. Similar to shooting a bow accurately you have to condition certain muscles or it's a wash.

I have been a mechanic for most of my adult life as well as working as a pipe fitter and welder, so I have kept in fairly decent shape. This said even though I can squeeze the bajeebers out of the little grip-o-meters they use to determine grip strength, I rarely squeeze my grips when shooting. I simply hold on to them as I would in a hand shake.

I have witnessed first hand folks who squeeze tight shoot bad groups and when relaxing shot 2X better. Not to say this works for everyone as it is an individual thing, but overall it seems to apply.

Same thing can be said for shooting a rifle. I find when I am relaxed the shot is WAY more consistent than if i am tightened up holding hard. Similar to shotgunning I guess. There again I feel it is conditioning which makes more difference as my daughter while pretty stout for her size, can easily out shoot most men with just about anything you throw at her. This said she learned to relax and not hold the rifles or handguns overly tight so that they are allowed to do their thing time and time again the same way. With her, it was either listen to me and learn to hit what your shooting at or stay home. The latter simply wasn't an option. Similarly growing up for me and my pop, same rules applied. While he was never into match shooting, the one thing folks took away from being out with him was to never tell, or bet him, he couldn't hit something no matter what the heck he was shooting. Trust me when I say, I learned my lessons early.

[leftiye]

leftiye, is it possible to adjust loads for that? (Just wondering...)

Yah, if you slow 'em down enough you'll stop flinching.

[Shoot66]

As far as I can say, strenght is not a key element for accuracy shooting. Undoubtly, it plays a role in competition where extended series are shot.

[subsonic]

I think conditioning might be the better term. Strength in the right places at the right time. In most shooting you should strive for a position that uses bones instead of muscles. But mostly because it minimizes problems from muscles that fatigue or tremor.

I know a guy that can snap off a 1/2" breaker bar if he pushes too hard. And he can't hit the broadside of a barn most days (long time flincher!). So it's not just brute strength by any means.

[Brl]

Any physical conditioning will improve upon most activities. Strength training is a big part of physical conditioning. Most people have a misconception of "strength" training. We are not trying to be professional bodybuilders or Olympic powerlifters. Strength training is any weight bearing exercise and, if done correctly, is both healthy and helpful for any activity. It's what keeps up young...or at least slows the aging.

Thanks!!

[Ragnarok]

I bought a big Dragoon Colt clone revolver a few months back....not for sure what it weighs..4 pounds plus though.

It definately requires some amount of strength just to hold it out at arms length and keep it on target. The reality of it is that it's a two handed gun.

[PanaDP]

I think strength is helpful. The closer you can be to fully relaxed while shooting the better you will shoot and the only way to do that is to have strength over and above that needed for shooting. Strong muscles using 10% effort will, in my opinion and experience, be steadier than weak muscles using 50% effort to do the same task. The strong person will also tire more slowly doing the same tasks which come into play shooting matches or shooting well on a hunt after a full day hiking. Being in better cardiopulmonary shape will also aid you in keeping your breathing under best control.

[olafhardt]

Since I have achieved that glorius status of old fart, I have found that a lighter, less powerful gun and a bigger closer target help.

[44man]

Been watching this with no comments.
You need strength and as calibers get larger with more recoil, you need to control barrel rise and torque. Even the .44 needs control without "roll" in the hand. Just get a good firm grip without shaking.

[fecmech]

Since I have achieved that glorius status of old fart, I have found that a lighter, less powerful gun and a bigger closer target help.

Amen to that!

[ubetcha]

Another way of looking at it is," a strong foundation supports the whole house"

[Longwood]

lived in an area where I could shoot IHMSA silhouette pistol every weekend, so I did.
One range I shot at had a 10 year old kid there that won every meet he competed at.
Small skinny kid that looked like he weighed maybe 70 pounds.
They did one of the "That's Incredible" TV shows there about him.
When he competed, the match was usually won by a turkey egg shoot off that involved 6" disks at 220 yards.
I saw him throw a meet because he wanted to go back to the dirt pile he and the other boys were playing on and did not want to be bothered with the shoot-off.
The last two rams, he shot at the hole in the head under the horn and hit it on the second shot. When he left the line, he and his spotter were grinning so we knew he did it on purpose.
Did I mention that IHMSA meets are shot with open sights.
I suspect that not giving a hoot if he won the match or not helped him to relax more.
It is about lots and lots of practice, completely relaxing the same each shot and most importantly, the eyes people, not the huevo's or strength.
His dad brought their practice ammo to the range in five gallonbuckets.

[Edit]

Don't relax completely, you could fall down and hurt yourself.

[c3d4b2]

+1 I have heard this from several very good shooters.

It is about lots and lots of practice, completely relaxing the same each shot and most importantly, the eyes people, not the huevo's or strength.
His dad brought their practice ammo to the range in five gallonbuckets.

I was also told that conditioning was important and you should do your conditioning by practising shooting......

[starmac]

Strength can't hurt, but the ability to hold still is more important.

The absolute best grip strengthening exercise is hand milking a cow.

Robert

LMAO I take it you never milked goats. I have seen a couple that made you think someone else must have milked the cows for you. lol

[ColColt]

Since I have achieved that glorius status of old fart, I have found that a lighter, less powerful gun and a bigger closer target help.

I'm 66 now and getting SS checks. I still shoot the 45 ACP more than any other but enjoy my M29-3 just as much. Within reason, I think strength may play a minor roll in shooting accurate(speaking for myself only). I don't have the strength I had at 35 or 40...50 for that matter and I've quit climbing ladders, doing my own brake job(can't get back up good) and trying to cut grass with a 19" push mower. I hire that out now. I doubt I get old enough to stop shooting. I may not be able to see woodpecker lips at 75 yards like I once could but I can still get respectable groups at 10-15 yards. I'm not a long distance pistol shooter...never was, even at 25. Beyond 25 yards for sure I go for a rifle.

I still get groups that make me smile, however.

[olafhardt]

Colcolt, glad you enjoy your booming boat anchors. I am currently working on a32 S&W short project. I can keep them all in the center of the back yard. Standing on the bank I can hit the water every time! Your pecker must be longer than mine. However with my cat fart loads I can repeatedly shoot one shot half inch groups with my 500S&W Handyrifle at lots of ranges!

[Multigunner]

I have an advantage when it comes to holding anything steady, due to my hands having been badly burned twice, once as a child and once as an adult, my hands feel like I'm wearing thick tight gloves and when I've held my hand out to show how steady they are one guy even thought I had an artificial arm and was pulling his leg. He even said that it couldn't be a real hand and wanted to look up my sleeve.
Though my hands no longer show obvious scarring, and look normal most of the time, they occasionally swell and the skin then looks like shiny plastic. The tendons show up like cables and theres almost no padding on the palms or in the V at juncture of thumb and fore finger.
The last makes it difficult to use a pistol that has a grip safety, which is why I no longer carry a 1911.

A tip should anyone have scar tissue they wish to remove. Balistol solvent is non toxic, in fact its recommended for cleaning restuarant meat cutting machines. The solvent also soaks into a over time softens and can dissolve thick scar tissue. After taking notice of the effect after getting balistol on my hands while cleaning a rifle, I used balistol and 0000 steel wool to gently buff the rigdges of scar tissue. I only used it when I already had gotten the solvent on my hands, and cleaned the skin throughly after each session.

PS
While this condition is a distinct advantage when shooting, second and third degree burns are no joke. A good shooting glove would be better since you can take it off when not needed.

[bbqncigars]

FWIW, Lee Jurras did wrist and grip exercises when he was regularly shooting his hand cannons.

[Alan]

IIRC, the only civilian every to clean Camp Perry was Jim Clark. He was short, and his arms were the size of my thighs. I met him a few times, as his shop in Keithville La was about 25 miles from my parent's house.

I carried an old pre-war M&P Target model by there to get it checked out, as it was shooting rediculously high, even w/ a home-made tall front sight. I had some handloads with me, and he lifted the gun, and fired 3 shots offhand and one-hand at 25 yards that were a clover-leaf.

If you do a lot of shooting, you will probably develop the strength you need. Evidently, a little extra doesn't hurt. 8)

(The problem with the gun - a South American re-import - was that the frame below the barrel was stretched a bit, whether from impact or leverage I guess we'll never know. The mating of the crane to the frame could be seen to be a _tiny_ bit wider at the front than the back. This left the barrel pointing a bit up.