Most interesting thread....have learned a lot about people. But from experience it is not hard to learn to shoot a light rifle well
I'll add one additional thing....When the legs start leaving you are like a boxer...the reflexes will be not far behind and you best lighten the load. Rifle included, if you want to arrive at the place to shoot.
Great legs equate more to what you can carry around comfortably than a half pound difference in rifle weight.
Addition:
One loses 1% of their VO2 max every year past the age of 35...So at 60 you have lost 25% more of your hearts ability to work. It is why marathon times increase past a certain age. Your mitochrondia stores are most likely down 50%. Which all means what works for a 35 year old has little relevance to a 60 year old. And the 60 year old needs to find a way to improve their playing time. The weight they carry, body, boots, gear, rifle all are part of it.
Age is always going to be a factor but exercise-training- and diet is likely even a greater factor. It's not as if everyone has a set standard VO2 max at age 20 that steadily decreases over time. There are ways to greatly improve VO2 Max even for older people. HIT type training seems to be one of the best.
There is simply no reason to focus on age since the only way to change that factor is to die.
