Help with "The Flinch"

[Juppe12]

Had a Drill Sergeant in basic that use this dry firing excercise. He would have us lay prone, bunk mate would balance a nickel on barrel.
Now break the shot without dropping the nickel.
If you drop the nickel, roll over and knock out 20.

We did train same way, only with 10, when I was conscript. Actually rolling and knock outs/push ups were forbidden but we did not care But it was effective training, our service rifle was RK-62 which is AK-47 clone, so trigger feel is quite interesting.

 

[Cemetery21]

all is perfect, and my mind is yelling "break the shot!" - wrong thing to do!

Makes me remember a comment from an instructor many years ago. "Don't try to break the perfect shot. Shoot within your wobble. With practice, the wobble will get smaller." Then he would say "I just happen to have an x-ring wobble." Supposedly, he held a few records at Quantico at the time.

 

[10XSHOOTER]

Get a good .22lr CZ ? shoot until the flinch goes away. shoot again if it comes back.

 

[nwmnbowhunter]

Stop worrying about results on target and focus on executing good shots.

In archery we call this "blank baling" large target and no aiming points. Only worry is executing a good shot with zero focus on impacts.

I can "punch/ yank" a trigger and hit where I'm aiming but i know that it was poor execution.

Hearing protection.

Lots of 22

Good trigger

Soft large butt pad on stock.

Good shoulder pad/ heavy jacket like a carhart works well.

Very few people can shoot under ten pound magnum rifles without brakes for more than 5-10 rounds at a time.

 

[KMart]

I have problem with flinching just before the round goes off, and I end up
Pulling my shot. Any help would be greatly appreciated if you have a suggestion
to help me out

It would be interesting for the OP to give us some feedback about now. A lot of people have taken the time to respond and have offered good advice.

Right now, we are just talking amongst ourselves.

 

[Gottschall]

I have problem with flinching just before the round goes off, and I end up
Pulling my shot. Any help would be greatly appreciated if you have a suggestion
to help me out

Take up golf

 

[Savage243]

You're going to get the same recoil with a flinch or without. Might as well squeeze and hit your target.

 

[JimT]

I may have missed it, but what model rifle are you shooting and what cartridge as well as bullet weight? What position are you shooting from?

 

[JimT]

It would be interesting for the OP to give us some feedback about now. A lot of people have taken the time to respond and have offered good advice.

Right now, we are just talking amongst ourselves.

I’ll bet he has a job.

 

[fivering1]

I have problem with flinching just before the round goes off, and I end up
Pulling my shot. Any help would be greatly appreciated if you have a suggestion
to help me out

While not particularly easy, the solution is relatively simple.
If you will take up about half the weight of the trigger pull, and then proceed to squeeze slowly, you will not be able to anticipate the round firing, and any flinching done after the round is fired cannot affect the bullet, as it is already out the bbl.
Like I said, this is easier said than done, and requires concentration.
As a self diagnostic tool, ask yourself if the round surprised you, (usually a good shot) or it went off when you wanted it to. (Often a poor shot)

 

[Bojo]

Poor form and stock fit will also contribute to flinching pretty badly as well.

I lived in thr peoples communist republic of new york from 2001 thru 2013.
My county was slug gun only till 2011.
Those SOB's give me a flinch that took a few years to get rid of. I still will not shoot them either.

 

[dkhunt14]

Probably 15 years ago at this point, but when I was a young man (i.e. dumber than I am today), I really wanted the biggest and baddest rifle that could "do it all", and the 300 RUM had just come out. I somehow managed to find a Remington 700 Sendero chambered in it on the shelf, and immediately grabbed it.

I also thought it "unmanly" to put a brake on the gun; I should be able to handle it as is. What a horrible mistake that was. Shooting those 'no recoil pad having' HS stocks of the era with an ubraked 300 RUM off a bipod was profoundly stupid. That thing gave me a flinch that I'm still not entirely over. Even with my F-Class guns, and little 6mms I'll occasionally catch myself flinching.

My advice:
Double up on hearing protection. It works wonders.
Avoid caffeine before shooting; I don't follow this advice, but when I don't have any, I'm WAY less jumpy.
Go shoot a lot of .223
Dryfire.

This will sound crazy, but it actually worked the best for me....When I still shot at public ranges I would get next to someone who was shooting with the nastiest brake. Get on your rifle and start dryfiring/concentrating like you're going to shoot, and just get peppered with blast...the more the better. After 10-15 minutes of this, it was like you acclimated to the noise/blast and follow-through was much better.

Good luck!

I seem to do better if I drink a MT Dew before shooting. I believe its pretty high in caffeine. Matt

 

[divingin]

I seem to do better if I drink a Mr Dew befire shooting. I believe its pretty high in caffeine. Matt

Wasn't there a Russian Olympic shooter who was chastised for having a beer immediately before his matches?

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

The yips . Yips -mental issue about shot placement bows, firearms, or throwing a ball. Flinching- physical movement caused by anticipating pain or noise of firearms or other actions.

 

[Totosdad]

Thank You all. Looks like I have some work to do.

 

[divingin]

It would be interesting for the OP to give us some feedback about now. A lot of people have taken the time to respond and have offered good advice.

Right now, we are just talking amongst ourselves.

That's the nice thing about an online forum. The conversation doesn't go away just because you were absent when it was said. OP will likely be back to read everything. Eventually. Maybe.

 

[KMart]

That's the nice thing about an online forum. The conversation doesn't go away just because you were absent when it was said. OP will likely be back to read everything. Eventually. Maybe.

Here is his reply at 2:49 PM yesterday

Thank You all. Looks like I have some work to do.

Still didn't answer any questions that was asked of him.

 

[OmegaRed]

In archery, target panic is often cured with "blank bale" shooting. Standing 5 feet away from a roundbale sized target. You don't care about anything other than execution of the shot. It takes away all of the fears that get into your head when you fire - am I going to miss, etc. Pull back, settle in, follow through, repeat. Builds muscle memory.

You can apply the same things to rifle.

 

[divingin]

In archery, target panic is often cured with "blank bale" shooting. Standing 5 feet away from a roundbale sized target. You don't care about anything other than execution of the shot. It takes away all of the fears that get into your head when you fire - am I going to miss, etc. Pull back, settle in, follow through, repeat. Builds muscle memory.

You can apply the same things to rifle.

I do the same thing with bullseye pistol shooting when I start having problems. It takes away any reason to be looking anywhere but at the sights. Break the shot and confirm how the sights last looked. I find it somewhat amazing at the groups you can shoot offhand at 25 yards with nothing to aim at other than a 21"x24" blank piece of paper.

 

[Laguna Freak]

I have problem with flinching just before the round goes off, and I end up
Pulling my shot. Any help would be greatly appreciated if you have a suggestion
to help me out

I never did see where you mentioned the caliber of rifle you are shooting. Obviously 30-06 + and magnums have potential to hurt some when shot inappropriately, with inadequate recoil pad, or just too many times in one day.

Nonetheless, it is imperative that your trigger not be too heavy. Nor too light as that presents an accidental discharge hazard. I like the 2.5 to 3 lb range. IMO, trigger weight is a learned feel. Hence the dry fire exercises mentioned. Keep your booger hook away from the bang switch until you are “almost” ready to fire. Other than that, as mentioned by others, control your breathing while sighting. Remember to breathe steadily the entire time. If you hold your breath, your vision will fade. Brain requires O2! When sighting / ready to fire, make sure the butt is snugly against your shoulder, not in on your collar bone. Exhale approximately half of your last inhale then hold as you squeeze the trigger straight back into your shoulder while maintaining steady pull into the shoulder with trigger hand. I like trigger hand thumb aligned down the target line behind the bolt. Also, I prefer to cradle the butt in the thumb : forefinger crotch of my off-hand with the crotch, finger pad and thumb pad lightly pressing the butt into the shoulder. This technique achieves a secure butt : shoulder weld and tends to naturally square your shoulders more to the target. Which helps prevent pulled and pushed shots. It also helps to mitigate the effect of torque. Free recoiling muzzle jump is your friend when your alignment and rifle : body weld is appropriate at both hands, cheek, and shoulder.

Best wishes and tell yourself that you enjoy recoil. Because when you master it, and start shooting sub-half moa at 300 yards, you will.