Fear of bang

D

der koenig

Inactive
I have been flinching badly lately. Noticed it while competing and confirmed it when I dry fired not being able to hold it togeather even then. I have been an averege shooter and struggled with other details but not this. I shoot mostly 9mm, .38, .22 and .357mag.

Question: Ball and dymmy confirms it but what cures it? Dry fire only or is there a brainwash? I have all winter cause its no fun competing right now. Not before Im normal in the head..

Thanks, Fred
 
You are probably focusing on the gun or the process of shooting, instead of hitting the target.
Try focusing on the target and forgetting about the rest.
Use an interesting target to help.
Another way is to shoot at the empty backstop at your range.
No target, just try to hit the same place in the dirt with each round.
If it's indoors, use just the target backing, without a target.
And do it fairly quickly, without a lot of fiddling around and second guessing.
If you're flinching even when dry firing, even an airgun would probably help to practice with.
 
Hi Fred,

I wrote an article about this a long while back, which you can find here. Lots of info there.

The short answer is, you'll need to do some dry fire work. And then more. And more after that. Follow up with ball-and-dummy drills.

One tip that isn't in the article: instead of the more usual magazine of live rounds with just one or two dummies, try filling an entire magazine with dummies, with just one or live ones in there. That's a much better way to begin your healing process. You get more reps of doing the right thing with the dummies, and will be surprised into doing the right thing with the live ones often enough that your physical responses will begin accepting the recoil more naturally.

As for the brain fix, try this one:

Pay attention to your front sight as you press the trigger smoothly. Never try to make the gun fire. Just keep realigning the sights (yes, they wobble, accept it, keep realigning them) as you keep smoothly increasing your pressure on the trigger. The gun will fire, when it fires.

pax
 
I might be a little different than some here.

There are lots of people who talk about focus on the FR sight while squeezing an indefinate squeeze. . . .until surprise. . . .bang. This is fine for basic marksmanship.

I find I need to develop muscle memory for a speed squeeze on each gun. This means I apply an increasing squeeze which breaks the trigger quickly and consistently. I do this with dry fire without sights first, then work sights in. Then I do this on live fire. The key is to develop a consistent squeeze that you can apply quickly to anything you put sights on.

The "pull" or "flinch" occurs when you try to go too fast. . . . you have to press through the trigger cycle, even at warp speed. You have to develop a specific muscle memory with many dry fires and then go to the range with this new skill to reinforce it with live fire.
 
Nathan,

Yup, there's more than one way to develop the skill of pressing a trigger quickly while keeping your sights lined up. And that's a reasonable one.

But once someone has already developed a flinch, it's faster in the long run to slow them down on the trigger press, let them learn it in slow motion, and then bring them back up to speed. A guy or gal who's already flinching, if you tell them to move the trigger quickly, they're just going to flinch more and embed the core problem more deeply.

Here's the process I recommend for bringing someone's slow trigger press up to speed without losing the basic skill set: The Speed Up Drill.

There's another cool drill I like to do for quick accuracy without a flinch. Requires either a friend or a random-start buzzer to give you a signal, though. Put your target close enough that you can easily shoot one ragged hole. Get your sights on target with your finger resting on the trigger, ready to shoot. As soon as you get the signal, immediately press the trigger. (This one works really well with dummy-and-ball loading, btw.) Do it repeatedly in dry fire, then go live until the flinch comes back. The moment the flinch comes back, move back to dry fire for at least 10 reps, more if the muzzle dips. Keep going back and forth between dry and live, gradually increasing the number of live reps, until you can always keep on target with a quick press the moment the signal goes.

pax
 
Thanks guys n gals! Will read all answers, articles and drill away. I need to re-learn fast shooting too but will work on it when "the fix" starts kicking in.
 
I have three thoughts:
pax said:
As for the brain fix, try this one:

Pay attention to your front sight as you press the trigger smoothly. Never try to make the gun fire. Just keep realigning the sights (yes, they wobble, accept it, keep realigning them) as you keep smoothly increasing your pressure on the trigger. The gun will fire, when it fires.

pax
Click to expand...
1: I heard of this, used by range instructors with new recruits who claimed to be unable to aim a rifle, but whose real problem was anticipating the recoil or noise.

Insert a remote trigger control in the trigger guard, controlled by the instructor. Have the shooter aim the rifle at the target (the aim will wobble, but, just keep aiming). The instructor then observes the shooter and muzzle and when a pattern of muzzle movement and breathing is observed, trigger a shot at a likely moment.

Invariably, this exercise produces a good group because all anticipation-induced problems are eliminated.

A mechanical remote camera shutter release could be adapted to this exercise or a simple string (observing all due safety precautions).

2: Mounting a laser on your firearm and observing its movement as you dry-fire might be revealing, as would having a friend observe its movement as you live fire.

3: I find that doubling up on hearing protection reduces perceived recoil. Just taking the extra noise out seems to have a psychological effect of insulating me from all outside influences. Strange, maybe, but that is my experience.

Good luck.

Lost Sheep
 
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One thing that I have found to be helpful in some instances is trying to see the discharge flash when the gun fires and trying track the motion of the gun during recoil and recovery. This gives the brain something useful to do that is completely incompatible with flinching.

Flinching is the brain's attempt to protect itself from all the noise, flash and motion that is (as far as the brain is concerned) taking place far too close to it. If you can convince your brain that the flash and motion are actually interesting and important incidents that need to be studied it helps a lot in terms of keeping it on your side instead of having to fight it for control.

That and do lots of dryfiring. I TRY to squeeze in at least a little bit of dryfire practice every day but I probably only manage it 4 or 5 days a week.

For your dryfire practice, I recommend a DA revolver or a DA autopistol. Your goal will be to try to wear it out dryfiring in double action. Absolutely do not stage the trigger for this practice--you need to pull the trigger through from start to finish in one smooth stroke. It doesn't have to be a FAST stroke, but you can't jerk the trigger or squeeze it in small increments--it needs to be all one smooth motion. Then repeat.

Your focus will be keeping the sights aligned and on target through the entire trigger pull AND release.

Most of us have flinching trouble at some point in our shooting "careers". It's a common problem and one that can be solved. But the solution does take some time and effort.
 
Thats also great about the flash. When in the zone I see the flash and trying to see it will geg me in shape. I will wear my GP100 out for sure, haha.
 
"fear of bang"
Indicates to me you may already have some subconscious "fear" of firearms or shooting(but, hey, I don't know anything).
I mentored a beginning hunter 4 years back who had "issues" that I had a tough time overcoming. Even with ear plugs AND muffs, at times he would choke and not be able to pull the trigger or tense up and yank rather than squeeze. Had nothing to do with recoil. He tried several low recoil rifles but refused most because they "made too much noise". I know for fact that with double ear protection, he could barely hear the shot let alone tell that one was significantly louder than another.
I'm having similar problems with my Grandson. He's had a "noise affliction" causing him to clap his hands over his ears and run away from ANY loud sound-shot, chainsaw, or equipment for years. Apparently his Mother told him loud noise would make him deaf. He refused to shoot my 300 AAC last week because he said "it was too loud" even though he wore ear protection and stood 20' away. It is not louder than the .223 which he shoots occasionally but to him, it's perceived as being "louder".
 
You'll have to teach your subconscious that the "bang" is not going to hurt you.

Relax your shoulders and breathe the proper breathing cycle. Some yoga exercises might help. If you feel skittish...stop the trigger press an start over again.

Accept the sight picture wobble over the target face, and try not to snatch the shot.

Go back to shooting 22 rimfire till the flinch is cured. I would tend to stay away from shooting the 357 magnum for awhile, and stick with the easy shooting 38 Specials for the time being.

Besides dry firing...you can practice your trigger press, by clicking a top mounted ball point pen.
 
You'll have to teach your subconscious that the "bang" is not going to hurt you.

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That's more explicit than my Zen comment :). Well said.
 
Jim567 --- I like your Zen comment as well. I only wish that I could have the nerves of a Zen master, during my shooting sessions; since the favorite sport of Zen masters is archery.
 
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