flinching drills

[Russ M]

i am finding my self fliching alot it is taking my groups from sub moa to aprox 1.5 moa i have snap caps and am usine them every chance i get to work on it. my gun dose not make my shoulder soar, the recoil dose not hurt, and still i am flinching. do any of you have some good drills or things i could do to work on this.
thank you in advance for your input

 

[statjunk]

I had a problem with this a while back. I just shot my Ruger 10-22 a bunch. Then I would take it to the range with me and shoot it in between shooting my other rifles.

Tom

 

[prtaylor]

You could try using a bench rest like a lead sled for a a few shots. It sems to help mentally as you find yourself concentrateing on nothig but the target. Then transfer to your normal shooting positions.

 

[Willys46]

If the gun dose not kick much, it is probably the noise. Try doubling up on ear protection and try shooting the 22 alot.
Dry firing helps.
Have a shooting budy load the gun with the snap cap so you do not know wich round to see if your really fliniching.
Dose it have a brake on it?

 

[johnnyk]

I developed a flinch when I used to shoot my .300WM Sendero. Like you said it didn't kick that bad, was more of a shove than a smack. I couldn't shake it so I traded the rifle for a .243 Rem 700 Varmint Special. Shoothing that "little" rifle seemed to settle my mind and me down. I'm back shooting the .300 again. Different rifle altoghther and hasn't bothered me at all. This rifle (112BVSS) has a laminated stock, it's a single shot (no magazine/bottom metal) and feels beefier than the HS Precision stocked Sendero.
There's still more recoil than a .243 but I guess my mind has convinced my muscles it's OK to relax. Wow, that's weird. I was out yesterday shooting a different .243 and .300. I shot them both at 300yds and again at 550yds.
The .243/w 75gn Hornady HP's and the .300/w 180gn SMK's. I shot a 3.641" group at 300 with the .300WM(not so great) and a 4.7155" at 550yds. That wasn't too bad and would have been better if I had paid more attention to the slight (4mph) wind. I have definately gotten tighter groups with the Nosler Ballistic Tips.
The .243 (Win70 HVB) shot a 1.457" at 300yds but at 550yd I only got on paper 2 outta 3 shots. Those two bullets were only 1.5" apart. I know, I know, two shot groups don't count! Not sure what happened, but I remember one of those three sounding a bit "squibbish". Not exactly sure but I think it landed vertically in-line with the center but about 6-7" low. All loads were dispensed/weighed on my RCBS ChargeMaster. Who knows.
Anyway, you might want to try shooting a lighter recoiling rifle until your mind settles. Works for me. JohnnyK.

 

[Jamie6.5]

No doubt dry firing practice, as mentioned above. Get a snap cap.
How's the trigger pull on that rifle. 9 pounders result in tugs not squeezes.

I once pulled up on a nice benchleg at 300+ yds, after a nice sleepy morning overlooking a likely draw. First trigger pull was with the safety on,...
FLINCH!
Oops!, safety off, squeeze, dead deer!

Funny how excitement can ruin the best training.

 

[J E Custom]

+1 on every thing said.

Flinching can be caused by sound as stated and it has nothing to do with how much recoil
you can tolerate, It has to do with mussel memory and your nervious system.

Shooting a small bore(Like the 22 rf) alot will help with mussel memory and the extra hearing
protection will help with the nervous system.

The sugestion to have someone else load your rifle will work because you will not want to flinch
in front of them so you will train your self not to.

And hopefully when you get that shot you will tell your self not to after training your self at the
bench.

You have made the first and most important step buy excepting the problem. And don't let
anyone tell you that they have never flinched ! Because we have all done it at one time or
another.

I don't use muzzle breaks on any of my rifles (17HMR to 416s and I have to concentrate to
keep from flinching. Because it is truley mind over matter .

J E CUSTOM

 

[learning]

In the archery world it's called target panic. When shooting a bow you can get release aids that don't have a traditional trigger mechanism on them, so you have a tough time knowing exactly when it is going off. Maybe try shooting with a glove on so you don't know exactly when it is going off.

 

[Russ M]

thank you all very much for your input it is all very useful
i don't have a muzzle break i do have snap caps that i practice with every chance i get, the trigger on my gun is 2lbs, i think a smaller and lighter gun would help me out allot as the system i am using is 13 lbs and soaks up allot of the little movements also i think that you are right that the sound is what is affecting me allot and doubling up on the hearing protection should help me out
thanks again for all your help

 

[LewisH]

You don't need snap caps to dry fire a center fire rifle, but use 'em if you got 'em.

In my experience the following is a good way to ward off flinching.

Mount a target somewhere indoors (so you can practice at night). This target may be a little blurry through your scope because most centerfire scopes have a minimum parallax set at about 25 yrds.

Dry fire on target (offhand), concentrating on crosshair movement. Repeat night after night until you can achieve a smooth let off and FOLLOW THROUGH with minimal cross hair movement...and until you can transfer this feeling/sensation/sound to releasing the trigger on a live round (not at the same indoor target, of course ). Repeat as necessary.

Practicing with a pellet gun with a heavy trigger and stout come-back (like a RWS 48), is also good anti-flinch medicine. You must really hold, squeeze and follow through on these sobs to shoot good groups,

 

[HUAINAMACHERO]

Hey Russ M,

I have found that I start flinching when I try to shoot faster, than when I shoot in a very paused way, letting the barrel cool down and my mind reset for a new shot, works for me. I try to concentrate in squeezing the trigger very softly. When I try to rush rounds or groups of shots I start flinching.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[canyonman1]

I also use the indoor target method for my dry fire practice. I also use a coin rested at the tip of the barrel. If you move even ever so slightly it will fall off.
Start with a quarter and work your way up to a dime. It may take some time but your flinch will go away.
It's been years since I picked up a noticeable flinch but I dry fire 100's of thousands of times in a year. I shoot a 338 edge @16 lbs. with no break and 300 mk. I think the amount of rounds I send down range through this rifle caliber combo. keeps the flinch gremlins at bay. I go through 3-4 barrels in 1 year with each rifle I own. Each rifle gets 5-7 thousand rounds.
Keep shootin'!gun)

 

[Coyoter]

Gotta throw in my .02...
I definitely agree with the "double up on hearing protection" suggestion.
Completely tame the recoil. A lead sled, shoulder pad, anything that will make it so that a 6 year old can comfortably shoot 100 rounds without any discomfort.
Don't use a "rock solid" shooting rest for a while. Put that lead sled on a card table or something that wobbles a little. Concentrate on sight picture, breathing control and trigger control to the exclusion of all else. Squeeze the trigger when the sights are on, stop when they drift off. Squeeze the trigger while your breath is good, stop when you're running out of air. If you feel yourself tensing up or getting ready to jerk the trigger, let it off and start again. It will take a few sessions before everything comes together all of the time, but you'll develop sound shooting technique that from there you only have to maintain.
I find that when I shoot an auto loading .22 I tend not to worry as much about my shooting technique and just pop off rounds (although it is a lot of fun). With a single shot, I take more time and try to do it right, so you may want to take that into consideration if you try that route.
Good luck,
Coyoter

 

[300rum]

Hi Russ,

Do a lot of DRY FIRING as they are REAL ROUNDS.
STAGE I:
- Get in shooting position at home (unloaded rifle)
- close your eyes (or work in the dark room)
- control and focus on your your breath (2-3 breaths)
- stop your breath
- slowly put pressure on the trigger till you are close to the breaking point.
- STOP THERE... do not increase the pressure.
- release the pressure on the trigger.
- come back and put the pressure on the trigger till you are close to the breaking point.
- slowly break the point.
- start breathing again
- open your eyes.
DO THIS 3 SERIES OF 20 TIMES per day


STAGE II:
-ALL THE ABOVE BUT in the day lite at a target. (no live ammo)
- DO NOT CLOSE YOUR EYES WHEN BREAKING THE TRIGER.
- after breaking the trigger stay on position, and wait for the muzzle to come back, and record the jumping direction.
- MAKE NOTE OF EVERY JUMPING DIRECTION AND ASSOCIATE THIS WITH THE PRESSURE WHAT DID YOU USED TO BREAKE THE TRIGGER
- after session done, review your notes, and you will notice a pattern of good or bad breaking points.

Do 4x30 dry firing in every day for a 2-3 weeks

STAGE III:
Get at the range with LIVE AMMO.
- all the above from Stage II, but before every live ammo, do 2 dry firing and notice muzzle jump and record in the Notebook
- insert live ammo, and notice the muzzle jump when you press the trigger.

AS A REVIEW YOU WILL NOTICE ALL THE GOOD DRY FIRING AND LIVE AMMO FIRING WILL HAVE THE SAME MUZZLE JUMP DIRECTION.
- after 2 weeks you will start slowly use the technic before every live shot(2 dry firing)
- your flinck will graduately dissapear, but focus on the pressure breaking point and muzzle jump after the shoot
- just seen the muzzle jump you will know if your shoot was good or bad.

- You will get a habit of dry firing before taking live shoot.( helps on controling the pulsation of the heart, breath cycle, and no flinck on the trriger)