Need tips for helping my son overcome flinch after scope-eye

I just don't understand why some scope manufacturers insist on having a really short eye relief. I refuse to buy one that has less than 3.5" of relief.
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Eye relief is around 3" on 90% of the scopes on the planet. Eye relief is not the issue. Proper fit of the rifle is. Every weekend I see the same thing. Scopes set to far back, shooters holding their heads back to get proper eye relief/ sight alignment.

Step one to curing flinch: Fit the rifle to the shooter. Put the shooter behind the rifle, have him grab the rifle grip with his trigger hand, pull the rifle smartly back into the shoulder. Have the shooter push his neck forwrd and rest his cheek on the rifle. Move the scope away from the shooter untill proper sight alignment (no shadow visible in the scope) is achieved.

Step two: Ball and dummy. The shooter takes position behind the rifle. The coach(you dad) takes 5 rounds in his hand. The shooter turns his head away, the coach loads the rifle with either a live round or closes the bolt on an empty chamber(dummy). The shooter fires a shot. The rifle goes click or bang. The rifle should go click until the shooter stops flinching. Once he stops, feed him a live round. Repet the procedure untill the flinch goes away.
 
Eye relief is around 3" on 90% of the scopes on the planet. Eye relief is not the issue. Proper fit of the rifle is. Every weekend I see the same thing. Scopes set to far back, shooters holding their heads back to get proper eye relief/ sight alignment.

Step one to curing flinch: Fit the rifle to the shooter. Put the shooter behind the rifle, have him grab the rifle grip with his trigger hand, pull the rifle smartly back into the shoulder. Have the shooter push his neck forwrd and rest his cheek on the rifle. Move the scope away from the shooter untill proper sight alignment (no shadow visible in the scope) is achieved.

Step two: Ball and dummy. The shooter takes position behind the rifle. The coach(you dad) takes 5 rounds in his hand. The shooter turns his head away, the coach loads the rifle with either a live round or closes the bolt on an empty chamber(dummy). The shooter fires a shot. The rifle goes click or bang. The rifle should go click until the shooter stops flinching. Once he stops, feed him a live round. Repet the procedure untill the flinch goes away.
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Okay - got it, on all counts. From fitting the rifle to "ball and dummy."

I like Warbird's idea of the blindfold, but I think this will work just as well. I'm also strongly considering buying some of that managed recoil .30-06 that was mentioned (embarrassingly - I'd honestly never heard of it before, but found it on CTD :))

I do want to say though that each and every one of you that have posted on this thread has helped us. You've all either given me explicit tips, or have provided bits of wisdom that in hindsight I probably should have done. Oh well, we live and learn! Point is, I want to thank all of you again.

I'll keep working with him and we'll get this under control. We went out and put a few hundred .22lr downrange this weekend, and he's now not flinching with his .22 any longer.

Will post back here and let you know how this is progressing.
 
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The ball and dummy may not work as expected. I used this trick a few times and caught the shooter in a yank. The teenager became both embarrassed and mad at being caught in his mistake and left the bench.
 
Eye relief is around 3" on 90% of the scopes on the planet.

None of the ones I would use. I've got Leupolds and Bushnell Elites. All have 3.5"+ of eye relief - and I've never been bitten.
 
Are his eyes bad? If they aren't I would just ditch scopes in general. They aren't all that great. I was even less fond of them when I had 20/20+ vision.
 
My 2 cents.

Hind sight is 20-20,no intention to criticize!I congratulate you for helping him to learn shooting and hunting.

Often the more "value line" scopes lack good eye relief.I do not know what scope you have,maybe its a Schmidt and Bender,but I suggest at least Weaver or Redfield quality,and really,4x will get a lot of hunting done.

Your son will have to work back up to it,and the .22 is a good place.An intermediate like a .223 might be a good rifle for a next step.

Reduced hand loads or managed recoil loads are a good step.

The advice on fitting the rifle and setting up the scope are right on.That is critical.

As far as a technique for your son:It is "follow through" or "calling the shot"

It is a focus,a concentration dicipline.

If your eyes are open when the rifle fires,you will have a last image of where the sights were as the rifle recoils.So,the excersize is making a point of capturing that image of where the sights were as the rifle recoils.Then "call" it,"A 7 at 4 o'clock"or mark it on a target at the firing point.

If he feels himself getting squinty,do not push the shot!Relax,breathe,re-focus,begin again.It is important to NOT just fling the shot.Better to not shoot.If he only shoots 5 good ones in an hour,that is better than shooting bad ones.

And,for what it is worth,if all this shooting is on the bench....bench shooting is tough with full power rounds,brutal maybe.If it must be on a bench,get the rifle up high enough he can absorb the recoil.
 
Whatever gun you have him shoot in the meantime, make sure he keeps it tight to his shoulder. no good practicing with an open-sighted .22 if he doesn't hold it tight enough, when he does move back up a loose grip will let the bigger gun move around plenty and maybe hit him again. I learned this with a .308, glad i got scope-eye with a .308 first too, I held on tight and kept my head well back when I moved up to 30-06!
 
DON'T SHOOT PRONE ! Nearly all , if not all of the scope cuts I've seen , were administered from the prone position ! The prone position is not that easy to master , and never works very well for a novice . Good coaching and supervision will prevent these things , As is always the case , an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure . Your best bet is for him to cure himself by dryfiring , with proper eye relief ! Never give a lad too much gun .
 
The real answer is get a scope with more eye relief. He's going to get hit again sooner or later and you'll NEVER get him over it then. Ditto on the 3.5" eye relief. I'd suggest even more if possible.
 
I agree w/ the 243.
Or some downloaded 30-06s-see Hodgdons website for 'youth loads'.

In any case make sure he gets the stock on his shoulder to absorb the recoil-NOT on the arm (biceps).

Might look for a Weaver K4 on eBay-longer eye relief. Please dont bid against me.
 
If his flinch is severe, dry fire-.22lr-.223-.243-.308. In that order is what i would do. Work him up. I used to flinch bad when I started on a 12 gauge too early. Dry firing helps a ton, as does a .22lr.

Some will disagree with this for safety weapons but as long as your in there with him and are watching everything it should be ok. Dry fire in the dark helps further muscle memory.

http://www.6mmbr.com/TacticalFroggyA1.html
 
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