Oh, my friend! This is, truly, a classic question as well as a problem that most new shooters ( and a lot of experienced ones, too) have to overcome. I have a friend who had heart problems a few years back; afterwards, he discovered that he had acquired a nasty flinch whenever he tried to shoot a pistol. So, here was a guy who had previously been a decent competitor and a good shot, suddenly, unable to use a pistol - well! I would go to the range with him; and he really made me earn my credentials by, probably, subconsciously fighting everything I had to say to him. Some days we, just, wasted ammo! Getting this guy to, ‘let go’ and start shooting decent, again, was like trying to get him, ‘reborn’.
I’ll go through the regimen with you, here, that finally turned my friend into a decent shot, again:
First, you own and use shooting glasses and ear muffs – right? OK, take the advice you’ve already been given and start with a 22 caliber pistol. Do, get yourself a bunch of snap caps. (I love the point about putting a coin on the top of the pistol and dry-firing without letting it fall – very good!) You DON’T need to do a great deal of dry-firing. Fifteen or twenty minutes a day is sufficient; and a ten minute session before you load live ammunition into the gun can produce surprisingly good results.
Use those snap caps mixed in with live ammo in your guns. You don’t need someone, else, to load the gun for you. I have six magazines for an S&W Model 41; and I, just, load them up all different ways and pay no attention to which magazine I’m picking up. On my S&W Model K-17, ‘Masterpiece’ I play, ‘Russian Roulette’ to load the cylinder without looking. You can, also, load your HK speedloaders in a random fashion and, simply, don’t look when you charge the cylinder. Snap caps and dry-firing practice, alone, will take you a long way toward developing a steady trigger release.
Recognize AND admit to yourself that you were born with and continue to possess a NATURAL FEAR OF LOUD NOISES! Frequently remind yourself that: NOISE CAN’T HURT YOU! NOISE CAN’T HURT YOU! NOISE CAN’T HURT YOU! Got it, now?
Here’s some uncommon advice that you’re, probably, only going to hear from an uncommon (Read, ‘grouchy old man!’) teacher like me: FORGET ABOUT THE SIGHT PICTURE! You’re not ready for it, yet. Great shooting starts (As Rob Leatham has, often, pointed out.) with excellent trigger control. That’s right! You need to concentrate on smoothly shooting through the entire, ‘trigger release’ sequence. Don’t be confused. I’m not talking about shooting to a, ‘surprise break’. I’m talking about SHOOTING THROUGH THE ENTIRE TRIGGER SEQUENCE – THROUGH THE RELEASE – AND INTO RESET FOR THE NEXT SHOT.
Now, completely forgetting about sight picture for the time being, simply hold the pistol in front of you. I don’t care whether it’s: Isosceles, Weaver, or Modified-Weaver. Use a two-hand hold – any two-hand hold that you’re accustomed to. I want you to work with a minimum 5 shot string – more, up to 10, is OK. There are two points on a pistol stock that I want you to become very sensitive to: (1) The front strap – this is where I want you to focus your attention and feel the most pressure. (2) The back strap – this is where I want you to, ‘anchor’ your grip, especially on the, ‘nickel-sized area’ at the bottom of the back strap.
(Please note that with a two-hand hold most of this pressure will be supplied by your support: hand, locked wrist, locked elbow, and arm. Your gun: hand, wrist, elbow, and arm will be unlocked and, somewhat, more, ‘loose’.)
Now get this: IF YOU TEACH YOURSELF TO BE SENSITIVE TO, AND CONTROL THESE TWO AREAS OF A PISTOL STOCK (Grip or frame for traditionalists.) I, ABSOLUTELY, GUARANTEE THAT YOU WILL GO FAR TOWARD GETTING RID OF, BOTH, FLINCHING AND POOR MARKSMANSHIP. Now you’re ready to practice for trigger control by squeezing through a: surprise break, stop, and that all important trigger reset. One fluid motion covers ALL aspects of pulling that trigger! Believe me, it takes a lot longer to read about this than it does to make it happen.
With this skill in hand you’re, now, ready to learn how to focus on a front sight or, as some of my teachers have shown me, the entire back of the gun! I, also, hold to the uncommon opinion that much of aiming derives from the shooter, ‘intuitively knowing’ HOW the pistol normally feels in his hand. I’m so convinced of this that whenever I grasp a pistol wrong and fire, I already know that the shot’s going to be off!
FEEL IS A BIG PART OF SHOOTING A PISTOL STRAIGHT. It’s actually difficult to maintain a, ‘nasty flinch’ when you are keenly aware of, ‘How’ a pistol should feel in your hand. Your hand is able to monitor the pressure on those two, ‘sweet spots’ I mentioned. When your mind is aware of how the gun feels, the sight picture will, in large part, take care of itself; and, then, you’ll be able to concentrate on STROKING THE TRIGGER – a subject I’ll save for another post.
Lastly, work in close to the target – close enough to see your bullet holes; and, whenever you practice, start close to the target and work back as the session progresses. Try to keep all your shots inside a 4” circle. Don’t practice to exhaustion, or what I like to call, ‘muscle confusion’. One hour at the range and a hundred rounds is a good typical session. If you want to do this more than once a day, fine.
Should you, ever, end up in life looking down the sights at another gunman I think you’ll find that this kind of training will completely take over your personality and your reflexes (The feel of the gun, the vertical stroke on the trigger, AND the sight picture) will do the correct shooting for you. As a matter of fact, I’m sure of it!