Hand falls asleep when shooting in prone postion

[RioBound]

Hi!(:
I'm a smallbore rifle shooter (Left handed) I train once a week for 4 hours at the central florida rifle and pistol club (juniors) and I have a problem with my right hand falling asleep after around 4 minutes of shooting, causing me to have to take a break and stand up to rub it for afew minutes. I'm wondering if there are any exercises I can do at home to help this?(: I don't have much equipment at home as I do there, but I have a left handed Savage and a mat I can use for dryfiring(:

Thanks(:

[tenring]

Get a better padded mat, work on a better elbow position, Better hand position, Better glove, more practice and you'll get somewhat use to it. Problem is the nerve in the elbow. Affects some folks worse than others. Maybe those of us it bothers most can find a good doctor to remove it. I believe NRA rules allow an elbow pad. I've found that they do help, but thin ones worth wearing are hard to find. Look for a Bunga pad. Its a gell pad held on with a thin sleeve. Work great.

Tenring

[Pat McCoy]

You may have the forend stop too far back, but more likely is not getting your hand completely under the stock. You need to have the stock lying on the meaty part of the base of your thumb, not out in the palm of your hand.

[RobStubbs]

As others have suggested it's likely a technique thing. I'd suspect the sling position across the back of the hand or the glove (or the sling itself is too tight), but it could be an elbow thing.

Best thing to do is get a decent coach to look at the position and try some alternatives. Second best is get someone to take some pictures of you in position and post them here.

Rob.

[rifleshooter3]

Make sure your sling is coming across the back of your hand and not your wrist.

[bruce]

You should also try to have your wrist as straight as possible, with the rifle fore end sitting close to the meat at the base of your thumb, not in the palm of your hand.

[bugman1955]

RioBound, you have 2 very good coaches in Margaret and Al. Ask them to help you with your position.

[Bob3700]

I only occasionally shoot small bore prone but have found this to be helpful.

Take an additional handstop and place it in front of your normal handstop. Attach your sling to that. The extra handstop for your sling helps to take excessive pressure off your hand. It also allows you to adjust your actual handstop without affecting your sling tension.

I have also fabricated a wrist guard from a sweat band and heavy foam. That gives me some extra padding at the wrist where the sling rides and prevents a loss of circulation in my hand.

Hope some of that helps.

Bob

[dege41]

Get checked for Carpal Tunnel
That is what my problem was

[TPJones]

Your entire hand or just your ring and pinky? It's hard to say without seeing the position, but if it's just the 2 fingers it's most likely the elbow position and Ulnar nerve pressure. If it's the entire hand it might be the stop location or the hand location under the rail.

If you're rolling your elbow so the notch the nerve passes through is on the mat you might try more padding or getting your elbow closer to the C/L if your neck and shoulders can take the added strain.

If you're not already doing it, try having the rail just laying on your thumb swell with fingers relaxed. Your arm and ball of thumb are just a platform for the rifle to rest on, not a vise. The two hand stop method often helps.

Again, difficult to say without seeing position - but a few things to try.