The mysteries of recoil

A

AL45

New member
I own a .45 Colt Ruger Blackhawk and after shooting well over a thousand rounds of light and moderate loads, the temptation of loading up some 30,000 cup loads finally got the best of me. I read where guys had "busted knuckles" and "drawn blood" with these loads and was a little nervous when I fired my first. My first thought was what all the fuss is about. They were pleasant to shoot and not at all intimidating. My problem is I have been known to "anticipate" the pop of opening a can of biscuits and the recoil on guns is a tad more than a can of biscuits. What are some ideas on eliminating the "anticipation" of recoil and start shrinking my groups?
 
What works best for me is to only load one or two live rounds into the cylinder, and leave the other chambers empty. Give the cylinder a good spin so you don't know when the live rounds will go off. Then concentrate really hard not to flinch every time you pull that trigger. You'll see how badly you are flinching each time a round doesn't go off. You'll see your groups get significantly smaller once you can keep from flinching on the empty chambers.
 
Percieved recoil is different for everyone grip position your strength and simple mind set can all affect perceived recoil..when i was first taught to shoot i was told squeeze the trigger dont pull it this way you are both more accurate and dont know when the gun will fire..id say go back to the basics of deep breath and slow squeeze and that should help the anticipation of the recoil
 
Skip loading, as Gdawgs suggest. That's the classic exercise. I do it a lot. It also saves ammo, or extends your shooting day, depending on how you look at it. I like to load 2 - skip 1 - load 1 - skip 2.

I"ve also had people skip load 38s and 357s if they're a little afraid of the magnums. Unless you're using really light 38s, or really monster magnums, you always end up saying "Was that one the magnum or the 38?".


Sgt Lumpy
 
I use dryfire at home and skipping chambers in loading the cylinder and it has helped me, even had some interest in what I was doing at the range one day by an older gentleman that was curious about my revolver.
 
I've been shooting a long time, and I still have to mentally say "Front sight. Squeeze." Sometimes I repeat this a couple of times before the gun fires.

Bob Wright
 
When skip loading, I always find it embarassing after jerking on an empty chamber. Verbalize that to myself "Man that was WAY off to the 5 o'clock"


Sgt Lumpy
 
Bob Wright has it correct. Concentrate on the sights and squeeze the trigger.

Concentrating on the sights keeps you from anticipating the shot by giving the mind something else to think about. And the squeeze lets the shot come as a surprise. At some point, you will forget about the squeeze and know that the shot is going to go off because you make it go off. At that point, you are well on your way to mastering the art of shooting well.

Jim
 
Ah, the mental game. For me, all six of my Rugers had to have custom stocks to remove the bite. Second, I grip the piece firmly and roll with the recoil. I also concur with Bob Wright.
 
One thing that I read that helps is to imagine the gun is empty, and that it IS a dry fire exercise. Imagine it will not recoil..

The skip loading thing helps identify a flinch, but on the other hand, the remedy is probably different for each shooter. Its certainly mental game.
 
I certainly agree that it is all mental. I have tried counting ( to get my mind off of recoil) as I squeezed the trigger and this seems to help some. I have tried the empty chamber excercise and there is a definite flinch downward.More concentration on the front sight is something I need to work hard at. None of the loads I have shot have been painful or abusive in the least, it's just the thought of the recoil I need to remove from my mind.
 
AL45 said:
What are some ideas on eliminating the "anticipation" of recoil and start shrinking my groups?
Click to expand...

The last part of your sentence suggests your mind is on the target (the goal), rather than the process of executing the shot, so get rid of the target altogether: Shooting into the berm or the backstop frees up your mind from trying to shoot a good group to simply watching the front sight while smoothly breaking the shot. Once you can do the latter, put the target back and remind yourself that the target, recoil and muzzle blast aren't what's important, and that the target will take care of itself so long as you keep your focus on good execution.
 
And practice like this, too:
Imagine that the target is really out to get you.
Focus on putting a hole in the target exactly where you want it.
Like the survival of the world depends on it.
Become the bullet, forget the gun.
Recoil will just become a minor irritation, pushed to the back of your mind.
Try it.
 
G.Willikers, I have thought about doing that very thing. MrBorland, that is also worth a try. Thanks
 
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