The Flinch

[grahamsy2k]

So just recently I have no idea why, on my 30-06 and my 270 I've started to flinch and I close my eyes as I pull the trigger.... Ive gotten over it before when I first started shooting but now its started again, and its pretty embarrassing.

Does anyone have any suggestions to help me out? Besides just going out and shooting tons.

 

[Grelber]

Shoot a 22 or 17 for a while and then go back to the big bore after you are happy with form and follow through.

 

[David Rose]

Are you shooting indoors or at one of the dnr ranges with concrete baffles over head, they are flinch factories. If not, dry fire or a .22 would be a good cheap way to retrain yourself to keep your eyes open.

 

[ol' Huff]

The fix is simple and its been around for probably a hundred years (it was part of the PMI for the M1903 and probably used before that). Its called Ball and Dummy.

you need a coach next to you who will put dummy rounds in your mag for you. As you squeeze a shot you should be still, they should be watching your eyes, trigger finger, or shoulder for a flinch, buck, jerk, or bail (what i would call a combination of a flinch and a jerk). Have them feed you dummy rounds until you are perfectly still and calling all dry shots good then, at their discretion, they sneak you a live one.

Diagnose what happened and they should feed you several more dummy's and then sneak a live one. Increasing the frequency with which a live one is snuck as long as everything remains perfect.

If you are on your own your can mix up a dummy with the live uns and see what happens but it is best with a coach who can diagnose and start a dialogue with you about it.

it is important to use dummy rounds if your can. If you are shooting a bolter your won't get the same immersion just dry practicing because you won't feel the round being fed and you will know its an empty chamber. If you are really sensitive it will be the same for an autoloader. Dummies can be made or found online fairly easily. I have some homemade ones in a couple different calibers and they work alright.

 

[Sgtusmc]

Ball and dummy is a great technique as Huff said. Personally I dry fire alot. The point between starting the squeeze and the break of the trigger should occur within 5 seconds lets say. Practice starting the squeeze and start to count to yourself (or out loud). Your mind is wrapped up in the count and the break will happen typically before you get to five, say 3 or so. Let yourself be surprised by the break as you count. Practice this over and over.

If I'm at the range and find myself flinching, I eject the mag, clear the chamber and dry fire a couple shots before taking another shot.

 

[ol' Huff]

Being surprised by the shot break is critical. You should start by squeezing with such slow control that you cannot predict the break. If you know your trigger well enough to know the feel of the break you should slow down the squeeze significantly to remove that familiar sensation.

 

[grahamsy2k]

The fix is simple and its been around for probably a hundred years (it was part of the PMI for the M1903 and probably used before that). Its called Ball and Dummy.

you need a coach next to you who will put dummy rounds in your mag for you. As you squeeze a shot you should be still, they should be watching your eyes, trigger finger, or shoulder for a flinch, buck, jerk, or bail (what i would call a combination of a flinch and a jerk). Have them feed you dummy rounds until you are perfectly still and calling all dry shots good then, at their discretion, they sneak you a live one.

Diagnose what happened and they should feed you several more dummy's and then sneak a live one. Increasing the frequency with which a live one is snuck as long as everything remains perfect.

If you are on your own your can mix up a dummy with the live uns and see what happens but it is best with a coach who can diagnose and start a dialogue with you about it.

it is important to use dummy rounds if your can. If you are shooting a bolter your won't get the same immersion just dry practicing because you won't feel the round being fed and you will know its an empty chamber. If you are really sensitive it will be the same for an autoloader. Dummies can be made or found online fairly easily. I have some homemade ones in a couple different calibers and they work alright.

Thanks ! Ill have to try that out this weekend

 

[jdhaines]

I vote to skip the ball & dummy and dry fire until you are past this point. If you are, then go to the other techniques.

This is a post I wrote for another forum back in March 2010. It was early in my shooting career and I was still learning. This helped a few people then and hopefully it will again here.

I realize this is super simplistic to many of you veteran shooters, but I just wanted to post this because it was like a damn revelation for me. If it helps anyone else out then it was worth it.

I have been dry firing for probably 2 years...I always hear the same thing Dry Fire, Dry Fire, Dry Fire. It was only this past Sunday that I realized what the hell I was supposed to be doing while dry firing. I knew that when the shot broke, the sights shouldn't move. I had this down pat. Simple.

As a background, I'm a very jumpy person. I'm the guy who sits in the theater and jumps 10 inches when someone jumps out of a dark closet on screen. I can't help it. Been this way all my life. I almost never get stressed out, am very relaxed, very mellow person, but everything makes me jump. Including shooting.

I never realized what a true surprise break was until I saw this video by Jeff Cooper. The way he explained it finally made sense. I went to the range on Sunday ready to slow fire 5 shot groups with my Glock 17 until I figured out the damn surprise break.

YouTube - Jeff Coopers Defensive Pistolcraft Tape Series

I was shooting at about 12-15 yards. All of my shots were going very low and left, as they always have. (Right handed) About the third set of shots I was able to finally feel the difference. I actually saw the slide recoil before I jumped which had never happened before in my life. I noticed two different possibilities.
When I was able to surprise myself by slowly applying pressure and not knowing when it was ready to fire I jumped but it was after the bullet was gone and I hit the black area. When it was done correctly I actually witnessed the slide recoil, the muzzle flash, and the paper move before my eyes closed.
When I knew it was going to fire and I pulled the last little bit I would jerk a little (lean on it in Jeff's terminology) and the shot would go low and left. This way I never saw the slide movement, flash, or paper move.

Here is one target to show the difference. I had 1 good one, 2 bad ones, then 2 more good ones. Still not perfectly centered, but the difference is distinct. I've never put three as close to the center as I put the three on this target. Especially from 12-15 yds. I usually shoot 7 yards.

I'm not able to surprise myself yet by doing the shot quickly. I have to squeeze very slow indeed, but by the end of the day I was able to do it a little faster. I finally know what I need to practice and what I need to do while dry firing. It's not about keeping the sights steady (though you should) it's about pulling the trigger but keeping unknown the exact moment the trigger breaks. If you can stay steady and let the bullet go while not jerking, then I guess the surprise break doesn't matter to you. I'm imagining with enough practice I can get the "Aircraft Carrier" steadiness on every shot. I hope this helps others as it was very eye opening for me. I realize now how people can actually hit in the same location at 25 yards, although I'm not to that level yet. Feel free to ask questions about my experience or make comments if this is something that is old hat to you, or you have taken it much further. I'm certainly still learning.

 

[Jackson]

I agree with all of the above. Those exercises are good. I want to add that it is all in your head. You need to relax. It sounds simple and silly, but its true. You accept that the recoil is going to happen and there is nothing you can do about it, and just let it happen.

Sometimes when I'm having flinching issues I can feel the tension build up just before I'm about to break the shot. When I get to that point and I can feel the tension building, I put the gun down, relax my shoulders, clear my head, and come back a couple minutes later.

 

[rvb]

When it was done correctly I actually witnessed the slide recoil, the muzzle flash, and the paper move before my eyes closed.
When I knew it was going to fire and I pulled the last little bit I would jerk a little (lean on it in Jeff's terminology) and the shot would go low and left. This way I never saw the slide movement, flash, or paper move.

This is the imporant bit... seeing more AS the shot breaks. Now we can talk about the next step in the seeing... Learn to call your shots. If you can tell where the bullet hit the target based on the sights relationship AS the sights lift in recoil, you cannot flinch.
You cannot call the shot if you flinch, and you cannot flinch if you correctly call the shot..

Dave's suggesting about removing some of the distraction absolutely helps train for this. open-air, plugs+muffs, .22, etc.

It's ok to get jumpy because of the noise/recoil (occurs some time after the shot where the time = your natural reaction time). It's not ok to get jumpy because you know it's going to have noise/recoil (flinch before/during the shot).

2c

-rvb