Our Hobby as Therapy

[dale2242]

I have been dealing with pain in my left hip for some time now.
It has got to the point that I can only walk a short distance until it becomes too painful.
I have an appointment to have the hip replaced next month.
This has been effecting my ability to get out and shoot like I want.
I am typically an upbeat active person but having to sit around this much has caused me to get depressed.
Yesterday I was sitting around feeling sorry for myself and decided to grab my S&W Model 14 and a couple of boxes of light wadcutter loads and head for the hills.
After finding a remote area with a good backstop I shot up a box and a half shooting at knobcone pine cones.
They are great reactive targets.
I left with a smile on my face no longer feeling depressed.
Shooting is good therapy for me.
I am sure that shooting, casting , and reloading are good therapy for others.

[LenH]

I call it recoil therapy. Even if I am shooting an air gun it does wonders for my moral. And springer air guns do have a smallish recoil.

[Joe504]

Hey Dale, that surgery can be a life changer. Just expect a good bit of physical therapy when its done.

But, what I really wanted to say, there is some research that shows depression often follows surgery where you have gone under general anesthesia.

Anecdotally, I have seen this several times, so, just be aware you could have this side effect, and feel just as bad emotional, post surgery.

With the 4 people I saw this in, it did not last long, maybe 4 or 5 days, except for my dad who had major heart surgery, and he was depressed for weeks afterwards.



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[Froogal]

Agree 100% on the therapy. I am fortunate to have a target range right in my backyard. Unfortunately, I am hesitant to burn up a bunch of ammo that cannot be replaced, or reloaded any time in the near future.

[farmbif]

not for nothing but I hope your hip get fixed and you get back up and out real soon. One of my elder mentors had one hip and both knees replaced in his 80's and he's still going strong and active every day in his 90's. Before having hip replacement might want to watch "the bleeding edge" on Netflix and be sure the materials used in replacement are the current best standards, don't assume anything!
yes, reloading/shooting sports is great therapy. for it keeps me sharp and active.

[Krag 1901]

After cancer surgery last year I was stove up pretty badly and the radiation therapy didn't help my stamina. After healing up and starting to get over the radiation I started reloading for my Krag and .44 now I have ammo but need to get my eye brow lifted, so I can see well with my right eye. Next month, the VA says they will fix my eye, so by that time I'll have .38s and .308 loaded as well. Reloading has gotten my out of the house and back into living again.
Can't wait to get out shooting again!

[Thumbcocker]

For me shooting handguns requires that I clear all the junk out of my head and be calm. It is very therapeutic. Also casting and reloading doing simple repetitive things is very calming.

[Scrounge]

I have been dealing with pain in my left hip for some time now.
It has got to the point that I can only walk a short distance until it becomes too painful.
I have an appointment to have the hip replaced next month.
This has been effecting my ability to get out and shoot like I want.
I am typically an upbeat active person but having to sit around this much has caused me to get depressed.
Yesterday I was sitting around feeling sorry for myself and decided to grab my S&W Model 14 and a couple of boxes of light wadcutter loads and head for the hills.
After finding a remote area with a good backstop I shot up a box and a half shooting at knobcone pine cones.
They are great reactive targets.
I left with a smile on my face no longer feeling depressed.
Shooting is good therapy for me.
I am sure that shooting, casting , and reloading are good therapy for others.

I've had both hips replaced, and each time woke up from the surgery in less pain than when I went to sleep. First time was the one where they cut through the Gluteus Maximus muscle, and that took over a year to heal. That part wasn't pleasant, but it was still better than before the surgery. 2nd time, 5 years later, they did the newer surgery where they cut the soft tissue at the front of the thigh, and that was healed up within 8 weeks. Well worth doing!

Bill

[Joe504]

Bill, did you notice any out of the ordinary mental fatigue or depression after either one?

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[WRideout]

Dale, completely agree. When my stepson and his family of five lived with us for a period of six months, I retreated often to my reloading room in the basement. My wife, bless her heart, was very understanding.

Wayne

[lesharris]

After my stroke I found that reloading actually helped me gain back some dexterity in my hands and fingers. Thank GOD for hobbies.

[Winger Ed.]

I left with a smile on my face no longer feeling depressed.
Shooting is good therapy for me.
I am sure that shooting, casting , and reloading are good therapy for others.

It does me a lot of good for me too.
I figure it works along the same lines of why you never see big road/cruiser motorcycles parked outside of a Psyschiatrist's office.

[444ttd]

when i had my stroke(right arm/leg are still only about 20% good), i had to do shooting all over again. i am a leftie(right eye dominant) so that was good. flinching however, was a curse that i never had. it took me me about close to a year not to flinch, but i got it. the next step was to see how accurate i was. it me took awhile, but i could do .1 -.2" at 100 yards with 5 shots from a bench and it was a tc encore with a 23" MGM heavy factory barrel in 20 vartarg(32gr hornady vmax and a load of rel 7. now it is 1/2-3/4" at 100 yards with 34gr hp midway/midsouth dogtown bullets. i won't tell you about the case prep, but it was long and hard. i also used to shoot the 22-250ai(tc encore with 23" MGM barrel) at 600 yards. but the case prep wasn't fer me, so i sold her and got a 500 linebaugh(23" MGM barrel). i think it was
the last modern cartridge i own. (i'm own c&r license and i still buy c&r rifles.)

i use cast boolits almost exclusively and if i can get 2 - 3" group at 100 yards, then its good for deer.

i'm a "shade tree" stock and replacement parts "gunsmith"(:oops::redneck:) and i let the steel go to my true gunsmith. i like to do stocks, strip them down and then refinish them. i'm also a case reformer('06 to 7, 8 , 9.3 x57 and 7.65x53), but i'm still learning.

since i've been an early, early retirement(SS check), i have nothing to do but time. i can't trout fish(luv the creeks and rivers)and i never got into largemouth bass fishing. so i do guns, reloading, casting and shooting.

[woody1]

Dale, you will wonder why you waited for the surgery if your results are like mine. I'm exactly 3 years post hip replacement. Mostly I forget I've had it it turned out so well. Make sure you do all the post op therapy. As I recall I was up walking the day of surgery.
And just where do you live that you have knobcone? As I recall they have a very limited range.

[MrWolf]

My right hand has been more annoying lately which makes shooting pistols harder and not as enjoyable. I put together a 300 blackout pistol upper with the pistol brace that is basically a nub. Put a hand rest holder thingy in front for my left hand and just mounted a cheaper laser for sights. Took some expired tomato sauce in cans out for some fun. Having the pistol basically on your hip and blasting away was way more fun than I thought. It was great. Sometimes we have to try something a lil different to make our day. Good luck with your hip.

[Finster101]

I believe I enjoy casting and reloading as much or more than shooting. I probably have more 9mm and 45acp loaded than I will shoot up in a couple of years, which with the shortage of late is not a bad thing.

[Murphy]

I discovered long ago, shooting is the best therapy for me when I need to clear my head. When you're concentrating on sights and your trigger pull, etc. it's hard to think of anything else. I'm blessed with a nice man cave for my reloading/casting needs. And it's equipped with a nice sound system to boot. I'm a music lover and make my own play lists. Mundane reloading tasks such as working brass or casting, go quiet well with helping get my mind free of boredom. During actual reloading when powder is involved, I tend to leave the music out of it. I want my total focus on what I'm doing.

Yep, nothing like the aroma therapy of gun smoke. Combine that with a bit of busting dirt clods or making cans jump, just feels right and takes me to my happy place. I honestly believe if I could, I'd shoot every single day of the week weather permitting. I have to take a drive out into the country to do it, which in itself isn't a bad thing.

Murphy

[bangerjim]

I only shoot at paper. Never a living thing. But I do get therapy by using pictures of all the Democraps in DC as targets!

[dh2]

Like some of the others I am retired from the Army, I was working a normal job tell about two years ago, my injury's have caught up with me 7 surgeries in the last two years, I am limited as to what I can do , so I reload , cast and bits of gunsmithing, I am in no hurry to get my projects done, time in the shop is very relaxing, Wife is not excited about me looking for a lath for the shop I have had the milling machine for 4 years now. What ever I am doing in the shop I am focused on it and the rest of the world don't matter at the time.

[Scrounge]

Bill, did you notice any out of the ordinary mental fatigue or depression after either one?

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Not a bit. First time, it was hard to do some stuff, with a 3" long hole clear through the glute. In both cases, however, I was up and ready to walk as soon as the anesthesia wore off, and exceeded their expectations. I was 54 for the first surgery, and 59 for the second, not the 70 or so that my docs (different one for each surgery) said was their normal patient. That may have something to do with it. Also, for the 2nd one, I was in the best physical health of my life since I was a teen, having been working a very physical job and getting lots of fresh air and sunshine. It's pretty hard to be depressed under such circumstances. YMMV has to apply here, I'm afraid. The newer stuff they're using for anesthesia doesn't seem to be as hard on the body as the old stuff was, either.

Forgot to mention that I developed obstructive sleep apnea the year prior to wearing out the first hip joint. I was so flakey and forgetful it was pitiful, and that is why my new teaching career crashed and burned. Being depressed would actually have been a reasonable thing.

Hope that helps!

Bill

[tankgunner59]

You are absolutely right, during the lunatic lockdown last year cabin fever was almost the norm for me. When I felt it setting in I moved to one of the three. Either breaking out the casting set up and spending the day with it, mounting one of my presses to the bench and going to town, or loading up a couple boolit launchers and equipment for the range and getting out of town. It is all definitely therapy for me!

[FISH4BUGS]

My significant other calls my casting and reloading "man knitting".
She does have a point.

[bluebird66]

Same here, sitting at my reloading desk or just a walk in the woods does wonders for me.

[Carbineone]

Yes I get a relaxed feeling just being out by myself doing anything..Not just shooting, Fishing, just walking around the woods..ETC

[JoeJames]

I surprised one of my buddies awhile back when I said I had just had my medication. He was kind of surprised as he knows I don't take any medication, except for baby aspirin. I explained that I had just shot a decent group testing one of my new loads, and I just felt real good. Casting and reloading are also good medication. It is indeed good therapy.

[Scrounge]

My significant other calls my casting and reloading "man knitting".
She does have a point.

I don't know about that. I spent the run up to Desert Storm "knitting" a shirt of chainmail out of scavenged galvanized coat hangers. I think of that specific activity as man knitting. ;) I don't think I even have a photo of the result, anymore. That was long, long ago, and far, far away, in another universe, after all. I believe I still have the #4 Phillips screwdriver and one pair of the pliers I used for that project laying about somewhere, though. Packrat ancestry.

Bill

[Krag 1901]

After spending the last year getting over my cancer surgery and radiation treatments, I finally felt like I needed to do something other than bitch about politics on the interwebs and relearn the Ukulele. It took a couple of months before I could form a two finger chord when they cut a hunk of bone out of my wrist to replace the bone they cut out of my my scull.

In Feb I cleaned my bench, got out my reloading stuff and started prepping brass and digging out my reloading notes. I had stopped shooting and reloading around 2014 when powder became so hard to find and primers were sparse, so it took a while to find the notes and get arranged. I finally got all my brass prepped, at least my .30-40 and .308, found I had stocked 2000 primers and had collected a good amount of Cast Boolets and powders.

As I worked out in the garage, the weather warmed and I've gotten more stamina to last out fifty rounds of decapping or sizing or loading. Over the last few months I've gotten 100 rnds of .30-40 and 100 rnds of 308 reloaded with four powders for testing, did some .38's and .44 spcl ~350 rounds and sold off my extra loading dies on the S&S board.

This month the VA is going to fix my right eye that was screwed up during the cancer surgery and I hope to be able to use my new scout scope on the Krag now. Getting my shooting truck a new battery and got my drivers license renewed so my wife doesn't have to drive me everywhere.

I'm tired of reloading and not shooting but happy days are coming and I'm feeling a lot better. I got a new mold and need ot get my casting set up to make some 314299's for the Krag.
I looked at my ammo cabinet the other day and decided to no load anymore ammo until I get some shooting done. I'll just clean and reoil my guns, which will take a while as I've collected quite a few and revolvers take some time to detail.

[Gator 45/70]

It does give a person a certain satisfaction to cast and load his or hers own projectiles
Work up you're own loads for accuracy then go out and take game with confidence !