How do you cure flinching?

RedNeckWino has the answer above.

This is very similar to shooting a compound bow with a release aid. You have to squeeze it like a rifle trigger to group. Closing the eyes will fix you after a few giant jumps and twitches... :D
 
I have no problem anticipating recoil on smaller calibers but it comes and goes with bigger ones.

Sometimes it's good to stop and take a break when you start flinching a lot.


I also try to accept that my shoulder will take a pounding and that it won't actually be that bad. Then try to squeeze my finger divorced from the expectation that pulling the trigger will be the cause of that pain. Sometimes it's easier said than done but sometimes you can forget recoil and concentrate on staying on target and pulling the trigger.
 
its called a ball and dummy drill. It takes a second person. Assume a soild shooting position. Give the second person 5 to 10 loose rounds. Turn your head to one side, allow yourself to be fooled, have the helper either load one round into the rifle or fiddle with the rifle and close the bolt on an empty chamber, then fire the shot. Have the helper "load" as many empty chambers as it takes to get you to fire the shot without flinching, then have him load a live round. Repeat the drill untill all live rounds have been fired
 
Over the years I have grown increasingly appreciative of how the mind impacts the performance of physical tasks, including shooting.

Strengthen your mind through some simple drills:

1. Dry fire
-Deliberately run down a mental checklist prior to breaking the shot and following through.
-Stance, grip, aiming, breathing, trigger control, follow through
-Deliberately focus on maintaining a calm mind and ignoring everything but maintaining the fundamentals.

2. Live / dry grouping drill
-At a range, use a SMALL target and mix dry fire with live fire.
-4 dry fires, 1 live round, 4 dry, 1 live etc..
-Shoot as tight as you possibly can and deliberately focus on maintaining a calm mind and ignoring everything but maintaining and applying the fundamentals.

3. Ball / dummy drill
-Dry fire a few times concentrating again on a calm mind and perfect form.
-Have a buddy load your firearm with either a live round, or an empty chamber.
-Engage the target accordingly while concentrating on maintaining a calm mind and perfect form.

I can't overemphasize the mental aspect of shooting, or any physical task for that matter, enough.

Repetition helps condition the mind, and frequency helps maintain any conditioning effect. Train intensely and effectively, train frequently, and you will more easily develop and maintain the right mindset.

Shooters can also develop anticipation issues due to poor fundamentals that make the recoil seem greater than it is, which is easily fixed by simple grip / stance corrections. Once the physical issue is fixed, the mental issue are much easier to address.

Practice, practice, practice.
 
Flinching is created by pulling the trigger. Gentle smooth pressure should be applied to the trigger. Let the rifle fire on its own, concentrate on holding steady on the target The discharge should take you by surprise every time you fire it.

It takes a lot of range time to cure a flinch once it had developed. An old military trick is to put a penny on the muzzle end of the barrel and dry fire. The penny should remain in place after the trigger has been pulled.

Since dry firing is usually not recommeded, make your self a snap cap or purchace one for your rifle, A snap cap can be easily made by running a fired case through a sizing/decapping die and then triming an eraser from the head of a pencil and inserting it in place of the missing primer,
 
I thought dry firing had been proved not to harm bolt action rifles? Can't remember where i read that, but i know i read it somewhere along time ago.
 
Thank you to everyone!!! Here's more to the story, I started flinching big time with a 12 guage slug. I shoot aerial targets with normal trap loads extremely well, but the slugs are my problem. I shoot hundreds of .22 shells everyweek through both scoped and un-scoped rifles. I do not flinch with the .22's but I have started wearing ear plugs within the last few months. I've seen a large improvement!!! Well I own a .223 and just recently a .30-06 in the same rifle. I can shoot the .223 comfortably but I do flinch more often than I would like to admit. Today I went out to shoot the new .30-06, and I started off not flinching, however it wasn't long before I started. I took a break and switched to a .22 and then went back to it after awhile. I did shoot better, but towards the end of the grouping, I could tell I was flinching again. I won't get back to the range until this weekend, but I will begin my training within a week! Thanks guys for all the help and the suggestions. I will be re-reading this often! Keep the suggestions coming!
 
I would work my way up slowly stick with the .223 for a while till you get comfortable. If you want to keep shooting the .30-06 use correct trigger pull and it will over ride the flinch.
 
Military ususlly says dry firing doesn't hurt. They have armorers to replace parts and I never bought it. Rumor started by some Non-Com is my guess.

Ball n Dummy can be done by mixing up alternately and mixed up mags but use a plastic snap cap in a .22!!! A revolver is easy too -- load 4 live and 2 spent cartridges, spin the cylinder, and shoot.

Noise is an issue -- I hate the high piercing sound of the .223. Like nails on a blackboard.
 
It's harder to stop flinching when you have very short, light trigger pulls on rifles or handguns. If you have a rifle with a long, smooth pull that gets a bit heavier as you press, but keeps moving, you won't be able to determine exactly when it's going to release. My 10-22 trigger is that way and I find myself shooting better with it that way because I'm very conscious about the trigger motion and don't have the tendency to grab off a shot, especially shooting offhand.

If you have a double-action revolver, shoot it double-action and have someone watch the hammer. If it comes back fairly slow but doesn't stop before the trigger breaks, you haven't flinched and the shot should fly true. Many years ago, we trained police officers that way and it works better than anything else for most people.

JP
 
It's opposite for me, part of my accuracy comes from my trigger being set at a 1lb, I wouldn't want it any lower, but it being light doesn't let my mind have time to wonder and think about the recoil. Before i know it the gun has gone off due to the trigger being light. My sako on the other hand while smooth is heavy as hell and i can't stand the intermission between me squeezing the trigger and the gun going off takes for ever.
 
Think about your breathing as you squeeze the trigger...dont think about the shot or the trigger. Concentrate on breathing, inhale, let part of it out, squeeze, exhale....you will stop flinching if you ignore WHEN the gun is going to fire.
 
Put those slugs away for a while. To continue to shoot them once you've developed the flinch is only going to exacerbate the problem as will anything with a heavy recoil. You have to retrain your mind and redevelop good shooting habits. Mind over matter in this case. As awful, heinous and difficult as it sounds, you might be well served to not shoot for a little while. Flinching is anticipating the break of the trigger and to me its akin to a gun-shy birddog, it doesn't work and only get worse if you continue to expose yourself to it. The .22LR is a good idea as would be something like an air rifle to retrain your mind and trigger finger.

Good luck.
 
I start flinching when at the range with big-bores for a long time. When I notice it, I go back to the .22RFs and it calms down again. Always end my range sessions with plenty of .22LR.
 
Just think of it this way,nothing is going to happen to you. Just learn to get used to the noise. After many years of shooting my hearing kind of went a little bad but I can still hear pretty good but not as good,however im not deaf though. Just keep shooting,I dont think I ever flinched in my life and I been shooting shotguns,rifles,and pistols since i was 4 years old.Now Im 24.
 
Practicing the dime drill will help too.

For anyone that doesn't know, you insert a cleaning rod into the muzzle of your unloaded rifle and get into a good supported prone firing position. Then, have a buddy balance a dime on the cleaning rod while you sight in on a target. smoothly and slowly pull the trigger. The object is to fire without the dime falling off.

If it's too hard or you want to do it fro a kneeling position, balance the die directly on the barrel and work your way toward using the cleaning rod.
 
You can't flinch if you can't anticipate the firing of the rifle. Switch from your usual trigger finger to the next finger (the one you use to signal your disgust in traffic). You won't be able to anticipate.
 
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