Thoughts or ideas please.....

[rb288]

I am interested in taking a long range shooting class this summer.
My only problem is there will be a lot of shooting from the prone position.
Back problems from my youth and the aging process has made the very difficult, if not painful.
Do any of you shooters have problems with this and what, if any, solutions have you been able to come up with?
Thanks for any ideas or suggestions.

 

[Jont22]

Could you lie on a table? That way you aren’t getting up and down from the ground.

 

[MrSmitty]

Is shooting from a bench an option?

 

[rb288]

Shooting at this range is 100 to 1000 in 100 yd increments.
We will be moving to shoot at distances between 200 and 900 so no benches for those distances.
However, I have come up with something.
A small, light table a little over a foot high that I have reinforced and stabilized.
I can sit on the ground and still get a good sight picture and it is stable as a rock.
I can pick it up and carry it anywhere I need to.
I'll be doing some "testing" the next few days and will upload a pic when I get it done.

 

[Gabriel]

Ibuprofin and a nice, thick shooting mat. Beyond that, you my have to just suck it up and hope it doesn't affect your enjoyment of the class. You're probably th ebest person to determine what little thigns you can do to get up and down into prone the least painful way possible for you since you've been living with it.

 

[Cameramonkey]

Talk to the instructor. Dont just show up with your idea and blindside him. Any instructor worth their salt will work with you to find a solution that works. If they refuse to work with you, that is not the class/instructor for you. Find another.

You might not get to put into practice everything the instructor is teaching, or be as accurate, but your enjoyment and comfort is more important.

 

[bwframe]

Ibuprofin and a nice, thick shooting mat. Beyond that, you my have to just suck it up and hope it doesn't affect your enjoyment of the class. You're probably th ebest person to determine what little thigns you can do to get up and down into prone the least painful way possible for you since you've been living with it.

I can attest that some folks can work into the (very uncomfortable for me) prone position.

I struggled with prone when Appleseed instructors encouraged me to practice at home. Between dry fire on the mat and just forcing practice to the up and down onto the mat, it helped a lot.

Another thing that helped was Hawkeye7br putting a foot in my butt to come shoot his long range 22 matches. I learned from him and other top of the national score sheet shooters.

Between minor shooting position changes and practice stretching, (essentially working out,) to get and stay in the prone position, it worked for this guy anyway.

Icing on the cake, especially to us more seasoned guys, is that this kind of "working out" is the sort of "physical therapy" that enhances your mobility. I see way way too many of us allowing our selve's to be trapped in the "aging" narrative, only to perpetuate the physical problems, rather than address solving them for a much better aging life.

 

[The Bubba Effect]

Yoga, stretching.

 

[bgcatty]

Check with the instructor first! Take several Tylenol before the class and go very slow in your movements. From a veteran of 3 lumbar laminectomies and complete fusions! Trust me!

 

[mark40sw]

I currently have back issues myself. Range i shoot at has concrete tables.
There are tripods made to support the weight of a rifle. I am about to buy the vortex Radian (carbon fiber) to help me out for other shooting locations, People have commented that Leofoto makes this tripod and available at a lower price under there name (without extras that vortex includes). I do believe there are even lower cost options made of aluminum by other makers.