I've got a theory here that I want you guys to wrap your head around and think about it before you respond to it. I believe flinching is caused by muzzle blast, as much as recoil. Imagine if you will, a .22 making the same deafening blast as a .300 Magnum....... Tell me this wouldn't cause people to flinch. I came up with this theory while observing some friends during the 4th of July fireworks display. I believe good hearing protection and some range sessions can eliminate flinching with most firearms. Recoil is something I never thought about until I got on these darn forums and now you all have put a bug in my ear and I now think about it. It reminds me of a cruel joke that I played on a friend of mine years ago. We were playing golf and he was beating me. We were about to T off on the back nine when I aksed him, "Do you inhale or exhale when you swing your club?" He didn't play worth a hoot the back nine because I had him thinking about his breathing instead of the swing. As far as recoil goes, I believe it's subjective. A .458 gets my attention, and so does a .338 and a .375. I don't flinch though, I usually just spout a dirty word and shoot again. I believe one can overcome flinching with a little practice at the range. Well maybe a lot of practice at the range. LOL! Your thoughts??????
With good hearing protection, all you have to worry about is sight picture, and squeezing the trigger until the gun goes off. Fear of recoil can be eliminated with practice. In other words, I agree with you!
__________________
NRA Life Member
God Bless the United States Military
A year ago me and my friend decided to have an airsoft war[seemingly harmless]
His was co2 powered and he got me right in the eye.
I almost lost it but the surgeon saved it and i dont know why but i dont jump or flinch at anything anymore.
__________________
Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword never found automatic weapons.
Absolutely, positively the blast makes people jump more than recoil.
It either scares them or they think its worse than it it really is.
My AR50 is a joy to shoot and recoil next to nothing. Sure, the blast will actually shake the truck you are standing next to.
Its noise people arent use too.
All guns recoil and make noise. Learn that and you are home free and wont flinch.
I shot a 454 Casull a few weeks ago and as some members know I cant hold the pistol grip like most people. It was a peice of cake!!! Hell yes, it kicked, it made a lot of noise but aint that what shooting is all about?
If I can hold a 454 with one finger on the grip, the other on the trigger and a thumb on the back of the grip then anyone can shoot. And I hit the target every time.
For me, it's all recoil. I know this because I still flinch with very good ear protection. I actually enjoy the sound that a big rifle makes (with some ear protection of course, aching ears isn't fun).
The best way to cure a flinch is to load snap caps in with live ammo, and then have someone near by to humiliate you when you flinch. This works great with handguns as well.
I agree with Bravo. When I was training my son to shoot I would take the gun and load it while he was distracted, and sometimes I would place a spent cartridge in it to let him see how much he was flinching and jerking the trigger. He is now steadier than I am. I also believe that a person should start with a gun that does not have a lot of recoil. A lot of people think they have to buy the biggest gun they can find.
Seems a lot of people tense right up when shooting from the bench. I see it almost every weekend. They try to hold the barrel down and you can see their shoulders raise as they brace for the recoil. No wonder their 30-06 kicks the hell out of them. If you think its going to kick,it probably will. A good recoil pad (P.A.S.T.) and 28 Db + hearing protection goes a long ways to remedy a flinch. Those of us who shoot the bigger stuff on a regular basis should offer our assistance at the range to those who are having difficulty. Most people do appreciate a little advice on positioning and gun hold if you don`t belittle them or make them feel insecure. I think any physically fit person should be able to handle a .338 or .375 if given proper instruction and enough practise.
__________________ If God didn`t intend for man to eat animals he wouldn`t have made them out of meat
Thing is, if ever in a position to where you have to use your gun to save you backside or your families (GOD FORBID), you really don't want to go running to get your ear protection so you don't flinch. If the sound or bang, is making you flinch, the best way is to practice and get over it, or get use to it. Same with recoil, it all comes down to practice. As with becoming a better shot, it comes from practice. Practice,Practice, Practice...
I totally understand the situation. I think everyone, myself included, suffers or has suffered from something that interferes or has interfered with their shooting at some point. But those that did and now don't, only overcame what ever it was by practicing through it.
God knows I need to practice more. Thank Ja' for snap caps. Only problem is no bang or recoil. But it sure helps for trigger practice.
__________________ "My next door neighbors two dogs have created more shovel ready jobs then Obama has." - Gary Johnson
I always flinch when I havn't shot for awhile, mostly its the anticipation of the shot. I dont know how to explain it other than untill I know when the gun is going to go off, and i mean the point at which the trigger releases the hammer, I jerk when the gun goes off. this happens with all of my handguns but not my rifles, so the only way around this is practice for me. This happens every time I shoot a new (foreign) hand gun. I must admit when I go to the range (when I havn't been going regularly) I throw away my first target as fast as I can so no one will see it. (lol sad I know)
I've got a theory here that I want you guys to wrap your head around and think about it before you respond to it. I believe flinching is caused by muzzle blast, as much as recoil. Imagine if you will, a .22 making the same deafening blast as a .300 Magnum....... Tell me this wouldn't cause people to flinch. I came up with this theory while observing some friends during the 4th of July fireworks display. I believe good hearing protection and some range sessions can eliminate flinching with most firearms. Recoil is something I never thought about until I got on these darn forums and now you all have put a bug in my ear and I now think about it. It reminds me of a cruel joke that I played on a friend of mine years ago. We were playing golf and he was beating me. We were about to T off on the back nine when I aksed him, "Do you inhale or exhale when you swing your club?" He didn't play worth a hoot the back nine because I had him thinking about his breathing instead of the swing. As far as recoil goes, I believe it's subjective. A .458 gets my attention, and so does a .338 and a .375. I don't flinch though, I usually just spout a dirty word and shoot again. I believe one can overcome flinching with a little practice at the range. Well maybe a lot of practice at the range. LOL! Your thoughts??????
Flinching can be caused by a few different actions of the shooter.
1. ANTICIPATION of the round being fired, whether it be fear of the upcoming recoil or not or the noise or even the muzzle blast from the shooter next to you.
Solutions;
Use FOAM EAR PLUGS and get them INTO the ear, I still have some inside from several years ago. j/k The Foam ear plugs work the BEST as far as I am concerned and do not get in the way.
2. FEAR OF RECOIL
Solution;
Hold the firearm tight into the shoulder, with the trigger arm, pull it back into the shoulder pocket.
3. YANKING the TRIGGER
Solution;
Practice Dry Firing with a dime on the muzzle and what I will suggest for all of the above is get into your position and have a friend single load and close the bolt for you. Instruct that at some time you want him to insert and empty shell. note when he inserts the Empty Shell and you pull the trigger what did you do? Did the sight move off of the target. did you jerk, did you flinch what habit did you notice that you have that you can immediately start to fix? That Empty shell will be worth 10,000 rounds of Live Ammo.
4. POOR POSITIONS
solution;
If the position is bad, the firearm will slip with each shot fired, the shooter will struggle and will try to over compensate before he fires. Build a GOOD position and stay.
I use to wait for the shooters on each side of me to fire and then I would set my rythum to be in between their firing, that way their muzzle blast did not affect me. You may find that if that is the cause, you can take one step back , because sometimes their blast is affecting you because you are bit forward of their muzzles.
Real Solutions is GOOD ear protection and PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE and slowly squeeze the trigger, you should not know exactly when that round is going to go off, but you should be prepared for it to do so..
I doubt that any one thing will work.The best is the round that doesnt fire so you are aware that you have a problem.But then you have to work on the problem. The pro,s reccomend shooting .22lr,s for tight groups and precision to practice trigger release,the theory being once you get in practice firing right it will carry over to guns that recoil.I'm like Billy,I do it once in a while,just to keep myself humble.As to hearing protection,you shouldnt be shooting or allowing others to shoot without it,not even .22lr,s. sam.
Thing is, if ever in a position to where you have to use your gun to save you backside or your families (GOD FORBID), you really don't want to go running to get your ear protection so you don't flinch. If the sound or bang, is making you flinch, the best way is to practice and get over it, or get use to it.
...
God knows I need to practice more. Thank Ja' for snap caps. Only problem is no bang or recoil. But it sure helps for trigger practice.
When deer hunting, I never flinch because of noise or recoil, I flinch in anticipation of shooting the animal. It has nothing to do with the gun...which makes it really hard to fix, since I get only so many chances to take a shot at a deer. Another thing, I rarely feel the recoil, or hear a loud blast when I shoot at a deer. I'm usually very honed in on my target.
The snap caps are great for trigger practice, but put them in an autoloader randomly with live ammo. It's hard to see if you're flinching with live ammo, but if you are, it will show when you fire on a snap cap and expect a bang.
Sure, it's still easy to fix Bravo, just go hunting deer more often. lol Practice, practice, practice. JK, I know what you mean.
But at the risk sounding stupid I have to ask this.
In putting a snap cap in with live rounds, that would only work with a revolver or a bolt-action rifle wouldn't it? And not with a semi auto? I mean with a revolver you just keep pulling the trigger and with a bolt, you still have to manually eject your rounds anyhow, so i suppose not knowing when the snap cap or live round is coming is still possible, as long as you don't look. But with semi-autos you need the live round to help with ejection and to chamber the next round. The whole point would be to not know when the snap cap is coming or the live round is right?
I mean as I read when you first mentioned it in your first post for this, I thought, wow, good idea. But then it dawned on me, that they won't eject, you'd have to do them manually, again, except in a revolver or bolt action, so you'd still kind of know when the snap cap or live round was coming wouldn't you? Or do you have someone else load your mags to not know where they are in the magazine or what? Or am I missing something? Again, asking at the risk of sounding stupid, not the first time to risk sounding stupid, so it really don't bother me. LOL
__________________ "My next door neighbors two dogs have created more shovel ready jobs then Obama has." - Gary Johnson
It doesn't matter if they EJECT, you would have gotten your information when you pulled the trigger, prior to ejection.
I have NO experince with Snap Caps, so don't know if they look like a round or not. Have someone load for you, one at a time and you don't need anything special, just an assistance and she can be beautiful or ugly, your choice.
Right, they won't eject, but that's ok, because the damage is done before the brass ejects anyway.
The best way to do it with any gun is have a friend load the magazine, and then give it to you. Go about your business and fire normally, you won't know when the snap cap gets loaded into the chamber. When it does, and you squeeze the trigger, you're going to just hear a click. Hopefully you didn't flinch. Now, you have to manually operate the slide for the next round (don't look, in case it's another snap cap, surprise is the point here).
Another cause of "flinching" (aka pulled shots) is finger placement and incorrect movement on the trigger.
I.E. - Placing too much of the index finger on the trigger and then moving the finger in a circular pulling motion as opposed to middle of first digit and straight back pull.
Last edited by Silent Shooter; 02-20-2008 at 01:20 PM.
Trigger should be pulled Straight back and that is why many will tell you to use ONLY the forward part of the finger, so you don't curl as you pull back.
Flinching is a natural response to impending pain.
What causes it to happen and the degree to which
it happens will be a little different in all of us.
Sound and physical impact both join to form the
flinch although logically speaking flinching would not
reduce noise.
We can learn from flinching. Our body is telling us
we are firing the wrong gun. Ear protection and
combinations of rubber/foam between the shoulder
and the gunstock help. But more realistically it
is a better course of action to seek what we can learn
to shoot and shoot well through practice and concentration.
I used to shoot heavier calibers of guns but now I am
really happy with the .243.
I do understand others will post differing opinions and
I wish both you and them good shooting and good hunting.
I have an excellent Rem 700 to cure that. The trigger is set to 1.000 lbs with zero trigger movement before or after dropping the hammer. It weighs in at 16 lbs. and is chambered in .243Win so there is very little recoil.
The "jerker" never sees it coming. All the fear and jerking comes AFTER the bullet is already downrange...
Flinching 
Thank Ja' for snap caps. Only problem is no bang or recoil. But it sure helps for trigger practice.
