Could I have developed bad habits by this?

M

Mosin-Marauder

New member
While I was shooting the other day, I noticed I kept wincing and closing my eyes before each shot. Now, this was with my mosin. My first Rifle was a 260 Remington 700 and it didn't have the lightest recoil. I was thinking today as to why I might be shooting badly and considered this a possibility. So could this, my dad starting me off on a Remington 260 when I was 9, have made me develop bad shooting habits? If so, how would I go about shooting better? The past few months have been the first times I've really got back into shooting, I had a bad experience with my 260 where it popped back and busted my nose when I was 12. Anyway, sorry for rambling and thanks in advance
 
Are you shooting from field positions or off a bench?

Shooting from a bench tends to beat you up, especially with larger caliber rifles, and really does you no good at becoming a better "field" shooter.

Field positions let you move with recoil and dont beat you up near as much.

Proper positions and mounting techniques will make it a much more pleasant experience, with all rifles, and you'll also become a better shooter over all.

Do you have a local CMP club? That would be a good place to start.
 
I found that shooting 22's or shotguns cut down on my problem.

22's have such light recoil or none that getting kicked falls out of my mind. The one problem with that is when I grab a bigger rifle I know it by feel of the stock and those bad traits try to come back.

The one thing that helped the need for a bigger gun or flinch was shooting trap or clays. A 12 gauge can abuse you pretty good but when your mind is on hitting a flying disc instead of recoil you don't flinch or flinch way less.

Maybe that will help you. It seemed to have helped me.
 
It happens to everyone from time to time. like the others said, just put in some range time with the .22. try to make it a regular part of your routine. you could have someone observe you, but even without, you will notice your flinching as you shoot. just try to control it and you will do much better. another option is to mix some duds or snap caps into your magazine (if you can have someone load it so you don't know where in the stack they are) then it becomes blazingly obvious if you flinch on the dud.
 
Your problem is why I oppose starting young kids on guns that kick noticeably. A sand bag filled with cheap kitty litter between you and the gun while shooting from a bench will help take away the bite. Follow the above dummy round suggestion, or have a friend single load for you out of your sight, sometimes leaving out the cartridge. It takes a fair amount of shooting without getting hurt to reprogram the brain. As a bow hunter I can tell you that fear of missing also causes flinching, the most common reason for bad shots.
 
One of the things that also makes the effects of flinching minimal on bullet impact point is a good trigger job. I shoot with two totally different trigger pulls. I tap my b.r. triggers. I pull my hunting/tactical triggers fast and hard. I never perfected the "squeezing" or "pressing" the trigger method.
 
I'm a 308 benchrest shooter. With your past behind you, do alot of dry firing a home with the Rem 260 & range time with a 22. It will take time, when getting back to shooting the 260 start with a hard hold, after shooting the rifle for awile and your comfortable shooting again, relax with a lighter hold an shoot for accuracy. 260 is a good accurate round but you and your rifle have to become one. Takes time, you'll get there. Hope I helped Chris
 
May sound odd, but if you're shooting from a bench- give this a whirl: Brace up yourself and your rifle, get a good sight picture, then move your head back so you can focus on the rear of the bolt (but keep good shoulder contact). WATCH the rear of the bolt go forward as you dry fire a few times. THEN add live ammo.

I don't know why it helps most of the time. Even when I coach pistol shooters who have a flinch issue- watching to see what the firearm is doing and SEEING the actual movements somehow gets the mind past whatever block is there and causing the flinch. I got that from my ex-father-in-law who was on the 1955-59 Air Force Rifle Team.

After you get past your flinching from the bench- fire some from the standing position if you have a place on your range where you can do so. You'll see a reduction in felt recoil and that will re-inforce your non-flinching.
 
As the old saying goes... the first step in solving a problem is admitting that there is one.

Admitting that you flinch is apparently very hard. I've met only a handful of shooters who will say they do, along with dozens who jump like they got electrocuted when the gun goes "CLICK!" instead of "BOOM!"

In my experience, most shooters flinch and most deny it. That's why guys who don't flinch (at least with guns that aren't punishing) can out shoot the others pretty easily. Frankly, it's why I out shoot most people. They flinch, I don't. It's not a matter of "I'm better", it's a matter of "I don't flinch."

Why don't I flinch? Easy. Because I don't shoot guns that make me flinch. I don't like recoil and I won't pretend I do. If I shoot high-recoil guns along with the guys who "don't" flinch, I flinch just like they do unless I consciously think about it and force myself not to. If I flinch, I shoot just as bad as they do, if I don't I still win... because those guys who "don't" flinch almost all DO.

Over-coming flinch? Intentional practice. Dry-fire, 22LR and center-fire rifle like .204Ruger, .223Rem and .22-250 that don't cause flinch.

Concentrate on not flinching, not on shooting groups.
 
Brian, I agree with you. Having said that, I shoot the punishers enough that dealing with flinch is something I always have to be concerned about. When I shoot my BR rifles, I do not flinch because I know they are not going to hurt. Even if I did, it would not really matter. The stock is 3/8" off my shoulder and the only two contact points I have are finger for a millisecond before pin drop and about 1/4 ounce of "Cheek Weld." Tap the trigger and in all honestly I could flinch like a mule was kicking me in the rear and it would not really matter. I learned how to shoot that way from a Russian Bench Rest shooter. It really takes the skill out of shooting. The only skill is lining the rifle up with the target. After that, the rest does the rest. When I shoot the bigger guns that rattle my teeth, I put the death grip on them and pull the trigger fast but controlled. If one goes snap, there is still a bit of flinch, but the groups are very good so I ignore the "problem." The only way I can cure it is quit shooting teeth chatterering rifles and I am not going to do that.;) I do usually tune my triggers to be very light, very crisp, and have almost no over travel.
 
Get some dummy rounds and have someone load them in your magazine (or chamber) when you can't see them. When you pull the trigger on a dummy round, you'll see whether you're flinching or not. Works for handguns too.
 
Concentrate on not flinching, not on shooting groups.
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I agree.

I think a big advantage to dry firing is, you can always go into dry fire mode, even while shooting live ammo. You simply state to your brain, "Im dry firing", and focus on holding your sight alignment and breaking the shot, like you do while dry firing. Those are the only to things in your mind at that point, and your brain now knows to expect the "click" when the trigger breaks. The bang and recoil just occur, and you just roll with it, and follow through.

You also REALLY need to learn how to properly hold/mount the rifle. When properly done, the rifle does not "kick", you simply move as one with the rifle as it recoils.

This is where the difference in shooting from a bench, and shooting from good field positions comes in. You tend not to be able to become one with the gun at a bench, and the gun does kick.

Improperly fitted guns are also a big detriment, and I find long LOP's and recoil pads actually add to the problem, rather than fix it. Ill take a checkered steel butt plate on a rifle with a 12-13" LOP over one with added LOP due to a recoil pad, or worse, a long LOP and the pad. All youre doing with a gun that doesnt fit, is fight with it. If you shoulder it quickly, like you do with a snap shot, the sights should come into alignment, with a natural cheek weld, without thought, and you shouldnt have to fiddle with the gun as you get there. It should be fluid and natural.

As far as shooting groups, the harder you try, the harder it is. Dont look until youre done either. Whats left when your done, is reality. If you were calling your shots, you should already know what the group looks like anyway. ;)
 
The stock is 3/8" off my shoulder and the only two contact points I have are finger for a millisecond before pin drop and about 1/4 ounce of "Cheek Weld."
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I've heard of this technique many times... I lack two things. One, a trigger light enough to make it work on most of my guns and, two, the confidence that even a gun like my 10lb .243AI isn't going to hurt when it has a running start.;)
 
As others have said practice with the 22..there is a reason it is so many kids first gun because it is a great training tool..it teaches you how to handle the gun and develop proper techniques without dealing with recoil.im not sure about others but for me personally if I go to the range for the day and bring my 22 ar15 12 gauge and mosin after a while of shooting the 22 and ar I honestly don't notice much change in recoil moving up..yes I do feel the difference but it is minimal.now if I go to the range and start out shooting the shotgun or mosin then go to the 22 and ar I notice a lot of difference.its funny how that works..anyway next time you shoot send a couple hundred rounds down range with your 10/22 and make sure you concentrate on keeping still proper controlled breathing and keeping your eyes open..after you feel good with that then load up 5 in the mosin and do the same paying very close attention to each shot trying to concentrate on proper techniques.if you do this for a while then good habits won't need to be thought about they will simply become second nature..
 
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