Back last February, I had a little adventure that resulted in a 40 day hospital stay. As part of the fun, a goodly chunk of my right clavicle and sternum came out in a successful effort to shut down a bone infection, with a muscle graft across the "hole" to finish the job. I'm right handed, and have an 8lb load limit on my right arm now.
Whoopee.
Now, to our question of the day...I'm finally getting to the point where I'm willing to consider range time in a few months, and am debating where to begin. I'm thinking in pistol, the .22LR revolver I picked up as a training tool a few years back for the right arm...and back to the S&W M25 .45LC on the left (but definitely not the right). On the right, build back up to serious caliber over a period of years, at absolute best.
I'm pretty sure I've lit off my Marlin .45-70 for the last time w/o a guaranteed hospital visit right after I pull the trigger, so think I'll pass on that...and frankly, never having had this little challenge before, haven't had much practice shooting shoulder arms on the left side (being a rightie) and am not entirely sure what course is most advisable... I suspect I'm ok with my Marlin .22 Lever, but am concerned that anything heavier on the right shoulder would be quite bad indeed.
One option, of course, is to simply say some *very* bad words and give up on shoulder arms entirely.
Another option is to try and figure out a way to shoot a shoulder arm on the left without feeling completely contorted. Any ideas?
A third option is to start out with that Marlin .22 Lever on the right, and move up one caliber at a time in the dinkiest increments possible to discover what I can get away with...also known as "test until screaming begins"...I have some concerns about this approach.
Thoughts, anyone?
Cynic, which one is your master eye - right or left? If you're left eye dominant like I am, switching hands might not be as hard as you think. It will just take practice until it feels natural.
ReplyDeleteThe only drawback I see is that shooting lefty with side-ejection lever guns is that spent brass will be thrown right across your line of sight.
Right...the rifles stayed north when I did my little adventure tour of Southern California (ended 12/6), so it's been about 4 years since I had them at a distance I could drag them out onto the range...
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