Helping man with cerebral palsy learn to shoot

[Linstrum]

My buddy Chris is 42 years old and is paralyzed below the waist and walks with arm braces by dragging his legs because he totally refuses to get in a wheelchair, he says getting in a wheelchair is a death sentence plus women won't date guys in a wheelchair. A few years ago he bought a scoped Savage in .270 Winchester and got lucky his very first shot and nailed an antelope using a handicapped hunting license. I took him target practicing a few times where he sits in a folding chair. I don't mean to sound sarcastic because he really tries, but his flinch is so bad he falls out of the folding chair. He can't hit a cardboard box that a TV comes in at 15 feet, totally missing it from jerking and back-flipping. I thought it was a nervous condition caused by his cerebral palsy, but one time by sheer luck there was a dud cartridge in his box of ammo and when he pulled the trigger on the dead cartridge he back flipped and fell out of the chair even though the cartridge didn't fire and there was therefore no recoil, showing me that he has the world's worst case of flinching. I have talked to him about dry firing while sitting watching TV to get used to firing the rifle, and I take him out plinking with my Ruger Mini-14 but he just shoots at stuff 5 or 10 feet away on the ground without using the sights. I was shooting at stuff 200 yards away (it is one of the new improved Rugers) but he wouldn't shoot at 200 yards because he says he can't hit it! Because he is handicapped he doesn't have a job plus rural New Mexico is so badly depressed economically there just aren't any jobs for a guy who can't walk, so he can't get a job to buy a Ruger 10-22 or other decent rimfire to practice with that won't cause his jerking reflexes. I think his back-flipping reflexes and flinching is partly related to his cerebral palsy, but I don't think any state-funded medical program for the handicapped will willingly help him with therapy and exercises for hunting as a recreation even though they will for other stuff like horseback riding. Before I give up and tell him he's basically out of luck learning to get over his back-flipping-out-of-a-chair-flinch, anybody have any experience with similar problems? I just don't have any experience in helping shooters with physical handicaps.

rl 1,214

[lefty o]

dont ask a man that cant shoot well, to start shooting at 200yds. he needs a single shot 22lr or maybe 223, with a scope, and start him out at 50 yds with a decent sized target, as he learns slowly move the target back. the idea is to build confidence, not show them how bad they are.

[Omega]

Put him on a shooting bench with a lead sled, it will greatly reduce the felt recoil and allow him to reach out a bit further. Most benches have seats that are fixed in place so that should take care of the seat part.

[davidheart]

dont ask a man that cant shoot well, to start shooting at 200yds. he needs a single shot 22lr or maybe 223, with a scope, and start him out at 50 yds with a decent sized target, as he learns slowly move the target back. the idea is to build confidence, not show them how bad they are.

I'll +1 this. I started at 25 yards with a 22lr. Now 200 with a 22lr is a cakewalk. ;)

This has nothing to do with his handicap. This looks more like a confidence issue. He needs to get used to the *bang* and the realization there "will be recoil, but that's ok." Teach him to shoot the same way you'd teach any young person to shoot while ignoring any 'macho' comments coming from his direction. If you have a 22lr, let him use it. You won't miss it and he'll learn soon enough.

If you reload, put together some reduced recoil .270 loads for him. Reloading dies don't cost much if you don't have the .270 dies and they're readily available. Off the shelf ammo would be more expensive than a set of dies and some reduced powder charges.

[gkainz]

My grandson has CP ... I'm going to venture a guess that your friend's "flinch" is not a reaction to anticipated recoil - the typical "flinch" but rather, it's a CP-induced muscle spasm. My grandson has a very strong arm reaction when he gets excited - both arms will fly up to above shoulder height. However, a lot of repetitive dry practice may help your friend overcome this. My grandson does conductive therapy which is basically repetitive motions to help the brain's neuropath reprogram ... sort of like what we call "muscle memory" when we dry practice.

Good luck for you both - I hope it works out well and you both get to enjoy some great outdoor time!

[country gent]

I have MS and mobility issues. I shoot the offhand stage in shilouette matches sitting and off hand from the waist up. ( I was a high power competitor before this with High Master classification). I can tell you this is completley diffrent than standing on your feet in several ways. One is with your feet in front of you yopur equalribriam is off kilter making the mind think its off balance. Wieght distribution is diffrent and needs to be worked with. It takes practice to build the position that works best for this type of shooting. I assume he hunts from a blind and is sitting also. Maybe build the blind up with a ledge ( think bench rest type set up) with a smmoth top and smooth footed front rest for his rifle. Or a stool on wheels he can roll to position himself for angles. With the ledge/bench and front rest he may be able to get a little forward lean to offset recoil and better control it. Another big plus would be a lighter load with less recoil. at 100yds or less the 270 with even lighter cast bullet loads would be suffcient on deer sized game. Practice with a 22 or even an air rilfe would be great. The big thing is to make him as comfortable and confiedent as possible.

[Linstrum]

There are other things besides flinching going on. I think a really big part of his problem is lack of confidence in his own abilities to do anything. Because he is paralyzed from the waist down his world's worst over-protective mother kept him locked up at home for 39 years so "bad people" wouldn't mug him on the street and rob him. Another buddy and I helped him escape from his mother's house three years ago, we had to sneak him out when his mother was at work or she would have called the police to keep him from leaving even though he was 39 years old back then. He lives on SSI at Public Housing where they don't allow tenants to own guns so he has to keep his rifle rolled up in a rug to hide it from the housing maintenance workers when he carries it out the front door to go shoot. I think taking him outdoors to go shooting and do photography are good ways to help him to grow up. I have a Daisy pump up air rifle that might be a better gun for him to start since we can't get .22 ammo here in town, Walmart and Western Auto-Ace Hardware haven't had any .22s for a year or two. Maybe if I can get primers cheap enough I can load up cast 0.3125" round balls and 3 grains 700X in my Remington 700 BDL .30-06 for .22 substitutes, I enjoy shooting those into old phone books at 50 yards so I can get the lead back out and cast it again because the tire shop doesn't give out lead wheel weights anymore.

rl 1216

[LUCKYDAWG13]

if his flinch is that bad get him a BB Gun about as cheap as it gets for trigger time and a lot of fun too
its a learning tool i would say a 22LR but the ammo is not out there like it was still dont get that.
hope things work out for your friend