Pistol Shooting SHOES

mc4 · Post by **mc4** » Tue Jan 22, 2013 9:09 pm

Hi,

I am a pistol shooter, I shoot Air Pistol with a Steyr LP10 and also shoot Standard Pistol with a Walther GSP .22.
I shoot for 30 years and now I want to buy my first shooting shoes. As I am a "little" overweight, during a competition my feet complain... so I decided to buy specific shoes.

Since the beginning 2013 there are new ISSF rules, about the sole flexibility and I need to buy a pair of shoes that complies with those new 2013 rules. After a search in the net I found 3 shooting shoes that I like and complies with the rules, but don't know which ones to choose. These are my options:

ahg - Anschutz AN134 - shooting boots ALLROUND
http://www.schiesssport-buinger.de/shoo ... S-ALLROUND

SAUER Easy Style Flex - SA3032
http://www.schiesssport-buinger.de/shoo ... chuetzen_1

CORAMI Pistol shoes
http://www.shootingequipment.de/Schiess ... schuh.html

Any experience with any of those shoes?
Any help will be appreciated.

Best regards and good shooting :)

RobStubbs · Post by **RobStubbs** » Wed Jan 23, 2013 7:22 am

I wouldn't dream of buying any shoes without trying them on and that's how you should pick them. I have the AHG shoes which are good, Coramis seem to be more popular. As for the Sauer shoes, I found them horribly uncomfortable and for me it felt like I was in high heels ! Others however like the Sauer shoes.

A large amount of shooting is about being comfortable and especially so when you'll be standing up in the shoes for over an hour.

Rob.

conradin · Post by **conradin** » Wed Jan 23, 2013 8:04 am

I use a pair of older model weight lifting shoes. Much cheaper, looks better, works the same.

Richard H · Post by **Richard H** » Wed Jan 23, 2013 8:27 am

I've had the AHG's they were fine, now I wear Corami's that were custom made. I too tried the Sauers and found them very narrow and in comfortable. Shoes are a very personal item.

mc4 · Post by **mc4** » Wed Jan 23, 2013 11:47 am

RobStubbs wrote:I wouldn't dream of buying any shoes without trying them on and that's how you should pick them...

Rob.

Yes, I wanted to try them , but my problem is that I live in Portugal and here the shooting market is very litle, so I have to buy those shoes from Germany... I can't try before buying :(

I also like the ahg shoes, but they seem like a normal sneaker or tenis shoes, so I don't know if they are really useful, if they deserve the money...

mc4 · Post by **mc4** » Wed Jan 23, 2013 11:53 am

Richard H wrote:I've had the AHG's they were fine, now I wear Corami's that were custom made...

Hi, what are the main differences between AHG and Corami's? They are also my first and second choise, but don't know which one is better.

For 2013 I saw that Corami's has 4 cuts in the sole in order to comply with new rules about the flexibility of the sole, but I don't know is they could brake by those cuts... also seems that the sole is very low, compared to the AHG shoe, and maybe not so comfortable.

What are your opinion, as you know both?

Thanks :)

Rover · Post by **Rover** » Wed Jan 23, 2013 1:15 pm

I don't use "shooting shoes" myself, but I remember Arnie Vitarbo (the name should ring a bell) telling me he likes "coaches shoes" that you can buy at any shoe store.

They are just plain ol' simple lace-up low top shoes. Just get a good fit.

madmull · Post by **madmull** » Wed Jan 23, 2013 1:30 pm

mc4,

i have pistol shoes and i never wear them, they only give me pain in my feet.
You can better try to buy some weight lifters shoes, as earlier mentioned.
They give more wearing pleasure than shooting shoes.
The Korean shooters at the London Olympic also have weight lifters shoes.
There are a lot of shooters who just wear running shoes.
Comfortable fit is more important than a stiff sole.

If after an hour the pain shows up during an event you might think why the hell have i shoes which only give me a lot of pain.

My highest scores did i get with bath slippers.

god luck with finding the right shoes

madmull

taz · Post by **taz** » Wed Jan 23, 2013 1:49 pm

I had the same problem. In Greece it is impossible to find shooting shoes in stock. What I did is try other shooters shoes. Since most of the other shooters had sauer shoes and they seemed to fit I did not want to risk other brands without trying them.
I have narrow feet and the Sauer Easy Style Flex fit me fine but I have never tried one of the other brands.
Still as others have said shoe fit is something very personal.
I would suggest you try and find some shooter and try his shoes. Even if his shoes are 1 size off you will still get an idea of the fit.

RobStubbs · Post by **RobStubbs** » Wed Jan 23, 2013 1:59 pm

You will find a mix of shooters that wear them, don't wear them and those that used to, at all levels. They should help provide a stable platform which at the very least won't harm your shooting. I find my other footwear make my shooting more comfortable for longer so I now don't wear them but it is a very personal thing.

I still wouldn't suggest you buy untried. You'd be better buying non-shooting specific flat soled shoes that you can try (IMHO).

Rob.

mc4 · Post by **mc4** » Wed Jan 23, 2013 5:20 pm

Guys, thanks for all your inputs.

I didn't even knew that there are weight lifters shoes in the market. I'll try to find some in a sports shop and try them to see how I fell with them.

Best regards,
MC4

John Marchant · Post by **John Marchant** » Thu Jan 24, 2013 2:33 am

Some of the shooters have been recently using the 'skate board' shoes. These have a flat sole, but are flexible. There are reported to be very comfortable and because of the larger potential market, are not as expensive as some of the specialised shooting shoes.

mc4 · Post by **mc4** » Thu Jan 31, 2013 5:27 pm

John Marchant wrote:Some of the shooters have been recently using the 'skate board' shoes. These have a flat sole, but are flexible. There are reported to be very comfortable and because of the larger potential market, are not as expensive as some of the specialised shooting shoes.

Hi, thanks for your input. I couldn't find any weigtlifting shoes here where I live so I'm going to try some skate board shoes.

I'll let you know what I decide.

Regards and good shooting :)

Neon21 · Post by **Neon21** » Mon Feb 11, 2013 8:35 am

I used to wear skate shoes the first few month but always noted that I’m not that stable and waved between the ball of the foot and the heel.
Also after 1 hour of standing my legs started to hurt, so I finally decided to get some pistol shoes.
I didn’t thought of trying different brands, so just ordered the Corami (if they wouldn’t fit, I would have sent them back).

The shoes are great and only the first 2 – 3 times shooting they hurt, but now they are broke in and perfect!
I wouldn’t give them away anytime.

One big advantage of the Cormai (don’t know if others have it too):
You only have to tie the shoes one time, then fix the bootlace with the loops (click system), so everytime you have the same pressure on your feet.

cpe · Post by **cpe** » Mon Feb 11, 2013 10:33 am

I think shoes are a lot like other equipment in that the personal fit is most important. I tried a lot of different weight lifting and skate shoes and found that there was not a great fit. Finally, after looking through and trying everything I could find with a flat sole, I was surprised how much more comfortable a particular skate shoe was versus the others in the sales bin even though they all looked similar which was great in that I got a discount shoe with the best fit.

It is important when shopping to test on a flat hard surface and find the right fit for the foot to get the equivalent of a good grip fit. ie having the shoe have the maximum contact on the surface of the foot with as close to an even pressure as possible.

This helps insure comfort standing in them for an hour plus and goes a long way to avoid the rolling of the foot or unsteadiness while standing. When I found the "right pair" of skate shoes, I spent several minutes standing in my typical shooting foot orientation while testing them and found they were both comfortable and felt very even across the foot which really helped to anchor my foot position. Trying some of the other shoes, I found some would feel ok to start, but could feel pinch points while standing for awhile.

toddinjax · Post by **toddinjax** » Tue Feb 12, 2013 2:41 pm

I bought a pair of Tony Hawk skate shoes at Kohls here in the US that I'm happy with. I know I paid less than $50 'cause I would never pay more than that for sneakers! They're very comfartable, flat soled and have a good deal of padding/material in the uppers. Feels like a bit of "support" on your feet rather that just canvas like Converse all stars.

antispar · Post by **antispar** » Wed Feb 13, 2013 7:29 am

I shoot in Adidas Power Lift Trainer (http://www.adidas.com/us/product/mens-w ... hoes/SN823) and I’m quite satisfied. I haven’t start to use then at the shooting range until I saw Korean shooters using weightlifting shoes, and then it rang the bell. The sole is dead flat and incompressible (it is a must for WL shoes), upper is solid and heel rise allows comfortable standing for longer period of time. I was using them only for heavy squats and deadlifts in the gym, but now they are dual purpose. Skate shoes are too much mushy in the heel support area and in the upper. However, the sole is also flexible in the forefoot area (olympic weightlifting, lunge, etc.) but most people do not rock that much that require totally inflexible soles as in the “real” shooting shoes. And the price is only $ 90!!!!

md123180 · Post by **md123180** » Sat Jun 28, 2014 6:47 pm

Ummm... Has anyone thought of/used bowling shoes? They tend to be flat-soled, and good ones offer some, well, ok support... I'm curious if they may be too inflexible, though.

Just brainstorming...

Isabel1130 · Post by **Isabel1130** » Sun Jun 29, 2014 5:05 pm

md123180 wrote:Ummm... Has anyone thought of/used bowling shoes? They tend to be flat-soled, and good ones offer some, well, ok support... I'm curious if they may be too inflexible, though.

Just brainstorming...

Yep. I know some people who recommend them. However, under the new rules, I don't know if they would pass. I am quite comfortable in a indoor format, shooting in just socks. Have shot some good scores that way.

Rover · Post by **Rover** » Sun Jun 29, 2014 5:27 pm

Yes, Isabel, but you're a petite flower. Some of the stumbling oafs on here suffer from terminal stinkfoot!

Tell the truth, I've never felt the need for special shoes. If this guy feels his feet/legs will feel better....I doubt it.

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