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Thread: Our Hobby as Therapy

  1. #1
    Boolit Master

    dale2242's Avatar
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    Our Hobby as Therapy

    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.

  2. #2
    Boolit Master

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    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.

  3. #3
    Boolit Buddy Joe504's Avatar
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    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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  4. #4
    Boolit Master
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    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.

  5. #5
    Boolit Master
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    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.

  6. #6
    Boolit Buddy
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    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!

  7. #7
    Boolit Master Thumbcocker's Avatar
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    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.
    Paper targets aren't your friends. They won't lie for you and they don't care if your feelings get hurt.

  8. #8
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by dale2242 View Post
    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

  9. #9
    Boolit Buddy Joe504's Avatar
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    Bill, did you notice any out of the ordinary mental fatigue or depression after either one?

    Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

  10. #10
    Boolit Master WRideout's Avatar
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    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
    What doesn't kill you makes you stronger - or else it gives you a bad rash.
    Venison is free-range, organic, non-GMO and gluten-free

  11. #11
    Boolit Buddy
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    After my stroke I found that reloading actually helped me gain back some dexterity in my hands and fingers. Thank GOD for hobbies.

  12. #12
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    Winger Ed.'s Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by dale2242 View Post
    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.
    In school: We learn lessons, and are given tests.
    In life: We are given tests, and learn lessons.


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  13. #13
    Boolit Master 444ttd's Avatar
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    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"() 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.
    Ad Reipublicae his Civitatum Foederatarum Americae, ego sum fortis et libero. Ego autem non exieris ad impios communistarum socialismi. Ora imagines in vestri demented mentem, quod vos mos have misericordia, quia non.

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  14. #14
    Boolit Master

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    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.
    Take a kid along

  15. #15
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    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.

  16. #16
    Boolit Master


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    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.

  17. #17
    Boolit Master Murphy's Avatar
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    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
    If I should depart this life while defending those who cannot defend themselves, then I have died the most honorable of deaths. Marc R. Murphy '2006'.

  18. #18
    Boolit Grand Master
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    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!

  19. #19
    Boolit Master dh2's Avatar
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    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.

  20. #20
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by Joe504 View Post
    Bill, did you notice any out of the ordinary mental fatigue or depression after either one?

    Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
    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
    Last edited by Scrounge; 06-05-2021 at 07:02 PM. Reason: forgot to mention...

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check