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Getting rid of a flinch.

S

_Shay_

thing 2
Full Member
Minuteman
Jun 5, 2009
1,804
16
USA
I have a habit of flinching, but only with my 308. I dont flinch with 223, 22, etc, are all fine, but I seem to have a terrible flinch with the 308.

I dry fire constantly, but when it comes to live fire, I flinch. My dry firing consists of a good sight picture, breathing, squeezing the trigger, etc. But here is the thing, the trigger does not surprise me. I have an Xmark triggger, and I am considering replacing it, but I'd rather just get this flinch taken care of rather than coping with equipment.

I researched some, and found that focusing on a point in the reticle helpes, getting the mind off the trigger pull to the point that it becomes unconsciously done.

Well hide, what's wrong with me?
 
Re: Getting rid of a flinch.

If you have a flinch with a .22 I don't think anyone can help you. All I can say is that when I have the thought that I may start getting a flinch I start with telling myself mentally not to do it. Then I will load up some dummy rounds with spent primers and not look at the back and load up. If you have a flinch it will appear like a MFer'. All you can really do is make an effort to not flinch otherwise double up on your ear protection, get a good muzzle break, good eye protecting even a full side to side, and to to a heavier rifle platform. All this is after you work on your basic platform.
 
Re: Getting rid of a flinch.

I don't flinch with 22 or anything less than 308. I didnt have the clear enough in the OP, so I fixed it.
 
Re: Getting rid of a flinch.

I have sorta the same problem. I start out fine, rounds being fired... no flinch. Then after shooting for a while, I start to notice my body tightening up before the shot breaks. To help myself, I stop shooting and take a little walk and analyze what I am doing that changed from the beginning. It always comes back to me mentally focusing on the trigger pull and BOOM of the shot rather than where my reticle is on the target. I fired 30 rounds the last time and the last 8-10 shots I couldn't recall where my POA was when the trigger was pulled. Hopefully this will go away as it's my first 30 rounds through my new build. After a few months waiting for it to be finished, I guess I developed a flinch. More rounds should help break this habit.

Don't know if this helps, just wanted to share my experience with flinching.
 
Re: Getting rid of a flinch.

Have a buddy load your rifle for you. You will never know if it's going to go click or pow. After you drop the hammer and flinch on an empty chamber a few times, you will be shamed into relaxing. Also find someone with a 375 Chey-tac, after firing this a few times you will realize a 308 is a very mild cartridge and any intact male has nothing to fear from it. Of course there are always those who are just natural born wusses and are incapable of mastering self control. If you're gonna be a man, be a man in full, let your balls hang down like a Jersey bull. Hope this helps.
 
Re: Getting rid of a flinch.

It's really easy to learn a bad habit but really hard to break it. Know it's not practical for everyone but learning to shoot a flintlock accurately will force you to learn to squeeze and have proper follow thru. Talk about locktime, if you have the slightest flinch or even a blink till that thing finally goes off it'll show bigtime. Same with the big bore handguns shooting at long distances, you have to learn proper technique since even the slightest variance in anything will show up much more than it does with a rifle. Then the transition to rifle and the slight bump it gives you when it goes off is not even a thought in your mind.

Getting rid of that flinch sounds easy but in reality takes a lot of self control to overcome all the things that your body is trying to compensate for. Someone mentioned in a previous post about concentrating on the crosshairs or a spot on the target. You need to pour all of your concentration on the target and crosshairs. Then steadily apply pressure till it surprises you no matter how light the trigger is and you're main goal at that moment is wanting to see that bullet impact the target then you'll not be anticipating it going off. When it's done right I don't even realize when it goes off till after I see that bullet hit.

Was thinking about it last nite and I thought of maybe something else you could try. When you are staring down that target pretend that you are the spotter and waiting for your friend to shoot. He's counting on your to see his hit or miss. While waiting on his shot you're slowly applying pressure to your trigger and before you know you've shot and wasn't really thinking about anything other than staying on that target and waiting for his shot. Might sound dumb but sometimes it takes something out of the norm to help solve a problem.

You can try various methods but in the end you'll just have to find your own way of defeating the flinch demon.

Topstrap
 
Re: Getting rid of a flinch.

What poundage are you pulling on your trigger?

Extremely heavy, or noticeably heavy trigger pulls cause many people to flinch. One of the maing reasons that hunting rifles don't group well. It's not the inherent accuracy of the barreled action and load, it's the 964 pounds that ya have to pull to release the sear.

Causes many shooters to jerk off . . .
 
Re: Getting rid of a flinch.

OP,

First the trigger break should not be a surprise, surprise is not the idea. The idea is simply SMOOTH.

Now, flinching, which is essentially bracing for the expectation of pain, can be addressed physically and/or mentally. Physical adaptation may consist of a heavier rifle, sweat shirts, and shooting jacket; plus, in your case, changing from .308 to .260. Mental management might mean focus on trigger control as well as follow-though. At any rate, some of us are indeed very sensitive to pain, so flinching is not the easiest thing for some folks to fix. One think for sure, if it hurts, results will suffer too. Practice with a fast twist .223 and develop marksmanship skills with it. You may discover it is all you'd need or want for most of your shooting endeavors. Somtimes less is more.
 
Re: Getting rid of a flinch.

I'll focus more on the crosshairs and targets, and try to have better trigger control.

The XMark pro trigger does suck, so I may replace it, or find another option, maybe having it lightneed, I'll look into good priced options, maybe even add a little weight to the H&S stock.

I added a recoil pad a few weeks ago, to increase length of pull (I have long arms), so this may help.

Changing calibers, for me, is not an option. Being a teenager, money is constantly tight.

A clamp on brake might also be useful, but the recoil isn't what is making me flinch, I believe.

I'm not sure if I started flinching once I got the H&S stock, as when I shot it with the SPS V stock and SS scope, I shot better than I do now. I still haven't shot off a bipod with the recoil pad, just a few rounds off my pack in the snow, not the best shooting position in a few feet of snow, and I had close to an MOA 3 round group. Horizontal spread, cold weather destroyed my trigger control, as I couldnt feel my fingers.

I'll load some ammo, and when the wearther starts to thaw, I'll put some rounds down range, probably in the next few weeks. Till then, I'll keep dry firing, focusing on fundamentals and not focusing on the trigger. As Seth8541 in a previous thread, I'll focus on the reticle, one single point, put all my focus into it, and just squeeze the trigger.

 
Re: Getting rid of a flinch.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Sterling Shooter</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Dude, the first thing you need to do is use your brain to sort things out. Your last post is a contradiction to your first post. </div></div>

That is true. I've been trying to figure out all day what I'm doing wrong, I'm thinking of every possible explanation.
 
Re: Getting rid of a flinch.

My experience is that after having the fundamentals of breathing,smooth trigger pull, and position it is practice practice practice. if I havent been on the rifle in a week or so I willl have to start my next practice by alternating a snap cap and real rounds till i get lined out and relaxed.
 
Re: Getting rid of a flinch.

Did the comb angle or how high it is change? Are you getting a little comb smack on the cheeck maybe? If so you may try a pad.
 
Re: Getting rid of a flinch.

Its all in your head. Until you can override your brain telling your arm,"this is gonna hurt", you won't get better. There is no practice I know of for the condition besides shooting a 22 rifle a couple thousand times. If you aren't flinching with a 22 but are with a 308 then you are just gonna have to work on that stuff between your ears.
 
Re: Getting rid of a flinch.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: The Mechanic</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Did the comb angle or how high it is change? Are you getting a little comb smack on the cheeck maybe? If so you may try a pad. </div></div>

This may be it. I have my comb relatively high so my head sits tight when getting good eye position. This could be a problem?

The way I have it is when I rest my head on the stock and open my eyes, I am lined up with the reticle, but it may be on an upward tilt.
 
Re: Getting rid of a flinch.

Maybe you're over-analyzing? Concentrate on position, sight & target. Take your time. Try different positions, prone, kneeling, sitting, standing, anything that your range will allow you.
 
Re: Getting rid of a flinch.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Radar86</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Maybe you're over-analyzing? Concentrate on position, sight & target. Take your time. Try different positions, prone, kneeling, sitting, standing, anything that your range will allow you.


</div></div>

Yeah, I do tend to over analize things. I have my own 200yd range, so I'll try just about everything.
 
Re: Getting rid of a flinch.

Might sound stupid, but the way I got over my flinching problems is i shot a harder recoiling caliber, I was flinching when shooting a 30-06 and .270, but then I fired a 300RUM in an ultralight rifle (don't know what rifle it was, wasn't mine) then I told myself: you know, this 30-06 isn't that bad.

Now I shoot a 300WSM and have no flinching or grouping problems.
 
Re: Getting rid of a flinch.

That doesnt sound like a bad idea. I have a light weight 30-06 i might break out then. WOuldnt hurt at all.
 
Re: Getting rid of a flinch.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: _Shay_ ©</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: The Mechanic</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Did the comb angle or how high it is change? Are you getting a little comb smack on the cheeck maybe? If so you may try a pad. </div></div>

This may be it. I have my comb relatively high so my head sits tight when getting good eye position. This could be a problem?

The way I have it is when I rest my head on the stock and open my eyes, I am lined up with the reticle, but it may be on an upward tilt.</div></div>
Easy diagnosis. Is your cheek black and blue? Or hurt the next day?
 
Re: Getting rid of a flinch.

Are you wearing good ear protection? I had a buddy who did remarkably better after upgrading his hearing protection. I raise this because, in one of your posts above, you said that you didn't think that it was the recoil that you were reacting to. If it isn't the recoil, about the only other thing I can think of is muzzle blast.
As stated before, concentration is the key. I don't know if you are a hunter but I hunt with calibers up to a .300 RUM.When I am focusing on an animal its like I'm not aware of anything else. I don't think I've ever felt the gun go off when it's pointed at a game animal.
 
Re: Getting rid of a flinch.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: gvanhyning</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Maybe switching your focus from trigger and flinching to concentrating on the target/sight picture and follow through. If you are managing recoil correctly, you'll see the hit. </div></div>

This!!!!!
 
Re: Getting rid of a flinch.

I had a flinch with my .45. I cured it by doubling up my hearing protection and then going through about 10 magazines of ammo... I was only looking for my muzzle blast. I knew if I didn't see then I must have blinked so I would empty the mag with my only focus being looking for the muzzle blast... I was only 7 feet away from the target. Eventually I started seeing the sights lift and the gas blast with each shot.

Maybe you can try the same thing with a rifle... line it up on the berm and don't even look through the scope. Instead focus on the muzzle. When you are seeing the muzzle blast you know your eyes are open the whole time.
 
Re: Getting rid of a flinch.

[/quote]
Easy diagnosis. Is your cheek black and blue? Or hurt the next day? [/quote]

HA! This brings back memories. After my first 200 rounds of .308 I looked like a chipmunk who just had dental work done and then got in a bar fight. I had to take 4 advil to get back on the rifle the next day.
 
Re: Getting rid of a flinch.

shoot a bigger caliber for a couple times and it will go away. I had a cheytac and pulled the brake off for 25 rounds then all was good after putting it back on
 
Re: Getting rid of a flinch.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: notyers</div><div class="ubbcode-body">shoot a bigger caliber for a couple times and it will go away. I had a cheytac and pulled the brake off for 25 rounds then all was good after putting it back on </div></div>

In a lot of cases (I didn't say most even tho I wanted to) this isn't a FIX. More so a temporary improvement.

Just my personal experience.
 
Re: Getting rid of a flinch.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: notyers</div><div class="ubbcode-body">shoot a bigger caliber for a couple times and it will go away. I had a cheytac and pulled the brake off for 25 rounds then all was good after putting it back on </div></div>

That may work for some people but for others it may make the problem even worse. Once that pattern is in your head it can be a real problem overcoming it.

Topstrap
 
Re: Getting rid of a flinch.

One more thing that I notice in my shooting is how tight you are holding the rifle. Overall if I'm too tense before a shot, i'll flinch. Loosen your grip on the rifle, its not goint to bite you. Relax, focus on the target, breath then shoot. I'm not a pro but I've identified what works for me. Most of these guys have been behind the rifle for years so shooting is easier than spelling their login names. For me it comes with time behind the rifle, the more time spent the more familiar you are with how it feels.

Sooner than later you will notice you have maintained good sight picture through the shot and you will see the hits/misses.

spend the time necessary behind your rifle and you will find your "zone". Then you find it is easier and easier to come by. It will be second nature, just like breathing. You won't even think about it.

Like I said it works for me and may or may not be the trick for you. Best of luck and good shooting.
 
Re: Getting rid of a flinch.

Flinch is the body/mind's anticipation of a big WhamBamThankyaMam taking place right in your face. It is a perfectly normal reaction to a less(more?) than normal situation.

First, pay serious heed to upgrading your hearing protection. Even if it's good, better will help, at least while you're negotiating this stage

Next, learn how to marry your rifle's butt to your shoulder. It's a marriage, not a courtship; and if it's forcible, it's not a marriage, it's a rape.

There's a middle ground here, and muscle strain maintaining the marriage is neither needed nor desired.

The idea is that the shoulder goes along for the ride. The first inkling of recoil should already be starting to push the shoulder, no amount of free recoil is good here.

Some believe the discharge should come as a surprise. At first, I think that's possible, but I also think that after time, one becomes so well accustomed to the trigger's performance that one simply can no longer surprise oneself. That's not a bad thing, <span style="font-style: italic"><span style="font-weight: bold">IF</span></span> we can accept the coming racket without apprehension.

There's a thing that happens pretty reliably when we flinch. In the instant just before discharge, we blink. An observer can confirm it, and when it happens the mind is cheated of the last image of target and sight alignment.

There is no memory of where the sight picture relationship was at when the file bucked.

So, get good hearing protection, learn how to ride out the recoil instead of intercepting a flying battering ram, and concentrate on getting that final sight image so you can reliably call your shot.

Honestly, I don't think it matters whether or not you absolutely know exactly when the WhamBam is coming. I think that what does matter is that you manage the noise and recoil better, and then get on with the process of being able to call your shots.

This is not a shameful weakness. It is a natural stage in the process of developing marksmanship skills with highpower rifles. At some early stage in our development, pretty everybody goes through this. It's just your turn at this particular moment.

Greg
 
Re: Getting rid of a flinch.

This is a great way my dad got me to stop doing that with handguns and it works. If your at the range or whatever with a friend have him randomly load live and dummy ammo without you knowing when the live ammo or dummy ammo will be next. It helped me out alot. Try it out and let me know how it went for you.
 
Re: Getting rid of a flinch.

A few things that have helped me...

Focus on relaxing the muscles in your face and the back of your neck as you take the shot. While watching videos of Frank shooting, I noticed that his face always seemed to go blank of expression, for lack of a better description, when he was squeezing the trigger. You'll be surprised how many little muscles you're tensing in your brow, cheeks, forehead, mouth, and the base of the back of your head. Try letting your jaw relax to the point of just slightly falling open. Spending time focusing on this really helped get my mind off the bang and more on the proper execution of the shot.

Something that was relayed to me a few months ago, was to focus on breathing through your nose before you take the shot and try to breathe in through one nostril, then out the other, slowly. While it may not even be physically possible, it helps to relax your mind/body and get you focused on something else other than the bang that is soon to come. Do this for 3 reps or so (more if you're still tensed) before you squeeze the trigger.

It's very counter-intuitive, as you're trying to attain complete relaxation (both mental and muscular) while an explosion goes off in your face. It's the same thing that occurs in a fight when you're about to take a blow to the face... you tense up in a millisecond. In that situation, the self-preservation instinct kicks in and evokes many of the actions/behaviors that are not conducive to precision shooting. You have to learn how to override that tendency and stay mentally acute throughout that moment.

 
Re: Getting rid of a flinch.

I have a simple 3 step process to cure flinching.


Step 1- Dry fire.

Step 2- Dry fire some more.

Step 3- Repeat steps 1 and 2.
 
Re: Getting rid of a flinch.

All great info...I think I would prioritize the blink as what to target first. Get rid of the blink reflex and your CNS will handle the rest of the body.
 
Re: Getting rid of a flinch.

I agree w Greg L, just because I had the exact same issue when I first started shooting High Power rifles for more than just hunting. I flinched like crazy and over analyzed everything, but three things helped me and maybe you are like me
1- Like Greg said, hearing protection, most people flinch because it is instinctive to loud surprising noises
2- Send a lot of lead down range and just shoot all the time and you will just become more relaxed with it.
3- I learned to enjoy just laying in prone and watching my target for long amounts of time just focusing on the target and looking at it closely and just observing it for more than just an anticipated shot and when comfortable, I would fire and I would spend a whole day shooting doing this.
Just keep shooting and dont give up and it will come to you. Like anything, if you want to be good at something dont get discouraged and give up
 
Re: Getting rid of a flinch.

the dummy rounds ploy is good for identifying that you have a flinch, but it doesn't fix it.

i did that to myself in the first K&M match. I was shooting i think my next to last stage for the day (somewhere around 90 rounds so far that day) on a tire barricade and ran the bolt on an unbeknownst to me empty mag. pulled the trigger. Shannon was ROing and said "i saw you flinch" while i was doing my mag change to finish. really friggin irritating when you realize you're screwing up something so fundamental.

but it happens to people no matter how much you shoot. sometimes you develop a flinch and have to fix it.

when I was shooting HP, what worked for me was developing a routine. doing the exact same steps in order before and during and after each round. there were two steps in my sequence that were specifically to stop my flinching and they have already been mentioned in this thread, but they were:
1. right before i let the shot go, i relax all the muscles in my face. usually squinting due to sunlight, etc, but i just let it go
2. i try to watch the front sight move. this is my way of follow-through, keeping my eyes open and not blinking. i always blink, but i try to delay the blink. and also to keep me focusing on the front sight. obviously, most of us don't have front sight posts on our scoped rifles, but try keeping your eyes open just long enough to see some trace
 
Re: Getting rid of a flinch.

Thanks fort he help gentlemen, I'm going to see what works for me, and get behind my rifle a lot more. Going to focus on seeing the trace and keeping my eyes open, gonna try just about everything and see what works.
 
Re: Getting rid of a flinch.

My advice? Focus on the fundamentals, keep real focused on your target/sights, relax. Now focus on keeping your reticle where you want it and slowly pulling the trigger and call the shots. Even if you are a good shooter and natural with the fundamentals, focusing on them to shut out bad habits that aren't all that strong or merited is helpful.

This is real important: call the shots. You can't do this with your eyes closed, so trust me, this may help. Essentially try to stay focused on the things you should be focused on and that will make it a little harder to flinch... Don't think about NOT flinching, think about all this other stuff you need to do right for the perfect shot. You may find your brain a little too preoccupied to flinch.

If you call your shots, you'll be following your sights or reticle as it wobbles a little and when it goes bang you mark down where you last saw the targeted image, where you think the round went. Practice that and see how good you can get at calling shots.

So the practice and familiarization with this weapon (is it new? Because that can cause flinching) combined with focus on fundamentals and calling shots should leave you too busy to flinch or at least give you a way AROUND the flinching as opposed to trying to stop it.

The longer you do it flinching, the harder it will be to break though. Try calling your shots like I said. It worked pretty well for a lot of folks.

Some can also do a few mag dumps if it is a semi, shooting fast kind of makes flinching more difficult, but it all comes down to the individual and how much time he or she has with that weapon.

But if you have poor ear pro and the flinching comes from fear of ear pain, you may need new ear pro. If the flinch has no basis, just sort of work it out of the routine by making no time or priority for it.

So those are a few tricks I've seen work. Fighting it outright was about the hardest way to do it.
 
Re: Getting rid of a flinch.

I've helped several guys through this one. Get a PAST magnum recoil pad for
your shoulder, put a limb saver on your butt stock and if that isn't enough put
a brake on the muzzle. Earplugs and muffs. Use the unknown blank rounds mixed
in or some very light loads with 5744. When you are comfortable start stripping
the PAST and the muzzle brake. It can be expensive to get over it just by using
guts and ammo. I'm kind of a recoil junkie, getting boomers passed to me to sight
in kind of got me into helping the owners.
 
Re: Getting rid of a flinch.

bigwheeler has good suggestions. I'll add mine. Go back to the mouse guns and work up. Start the .308 with light bullets and loads and work up. Get a good shooting sling and sling up. That gets you into being a part of your rifle. It also reduces the upward recoil of the rifle. You may not notice the scope approaching your eye when the shot fires, but your eye does. A LOT of the flinch is caused by the eye reflex. Years ago a friend and I both had .300 Weatherbys. The upward speed of recoil was upsetting unslung. We both had "Mag-Na-Ports" cut into the barrels. When we fired them as a comparison, we were astonished at the difference...and the Mag-Na-Port only reduces recoil 15 to 20 percent. The difference was that the upward recoil was nearly eliminated. A good sling in the prone position will do the same. JMHO
 
Re: Getting rid of a flinch.

I agree with some of the other posts about just over thinking it. It all comes down to the fundamentals and primarily a slow steady squeeze on the trigger. The biggest cause of flinching is anticipation and using a interupted trigger squeeze expecting the recoil. Focusing on a different part of the reticle is only going to hurt your point of impact. Concentrated on the center of the reticle, a good sight picture and body position, and forget about the recoil just use muscle memory to develop a good slow trigger squeeze and concentrate on everything but that.
 
Re: Getting rid of a flinch.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: StrykerSDM</div><div class="ubbcode-body">My advice? Focus on the fundamentals, keep real focused on your target/sights, relax. Now focus on keeping your reticle where you want it and slowly pulling the trigger and call the shots. Even if you are a good shooter and natural with the fundamentals, focusing on them to shut out bad habits that aren't all that strong or merited is helpful.

This is real important: call the shots. You can't do this with your eyes closed, so trust me, this may help. Essentially try to stay focused on the things you should be focused on and that will make it a little harder to flinch... Don't think about NOT flinching, think about all this other stuff you need to do right for the perfect shot. You may find your brain a little too preoccupied to flinch.

If you call your shots, you'll be following your sights or reticle as it wobbles a little and when it goes bang you mark down where you last saw the targeted image, where you think the round went. Practice that and see how good you can get at calling shots.

So the practice and familiarization with this weapon (is it new? Because that can cause flinching) combined with focus on fundamentals and calling shots should leave you too busy to flinch or at least give you a way AROUND the flinching as opposed to trying to stop it.

The longer you do it flinching, the harder it will be to break though. Try calling your shots like I said. It worked pretty well for a lot of folks.

Some can also do a few mag dumps if it is a semi, shooting fast kind of makes flinching more difficult, but it all comes down to the individual and how much time he or she has with that weapon.

But if you have poor ear pro and the flinching comes from fear of ear pain, you may need new ear pro. If the flinch has no basis, just sort of work it out of the routine by making no time or priority for it.

So those are a few tricks I've seen work. Fighting it outright was about the hardest way to do it. </div></div>

The rifle is relatively new. I've only put 180 rounds through it, according to my log book. Shooting more, fundamentals, mix of snap caps, focusing on fundamentals more tons of dry firing, fundamentals and lightening the trigger is my plan.
 
Re: Getting rid of a flinch.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: rusty815</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Might sound stupid, but the way I got over my flinching problems is i shot a harder recoiling caliber, I was flinching when shooting a 30-06 and .270, but then I fired a 300RUM in an ultralight rifle (don't know what rifle it was, wasn't mine) then I told myself: you know, this 30-06 isn't that bad.

Now I shoot a 300WSM and have no flinching or grouping problems. </div></div>

This is what I was thinking. I constantly hear guys saying how their ___ mag doesn't seem so bad since they tried a 375, etc.
 
Re: Getting rid of a flinch.

Maybe concentrate on calling your shot. If after touching off a round you're unable to tell exactly where the crosshairs were when the rifle fired, you have a flinching problem.

You may be able to forget the flinch by concentrating on calling your shots and becomming proficient on that. If you focus hard enough on the fundamentals of shot calling, you may find that you have to fix your flinch to accomplish that task.

Just a thought.

EDIT: After reading some of the posts I skipped, Greg basically said almost the same thing. When flinching, you basically anticipate the shot, close your eyes and have no idea where the rifle was when it recoiled....

If you concentrate fully on shot calling, you should solve your flinching issue, IMHO. So, it may be more contstructive to try to do something rather than psyche yourself out of doing something. Either way, your flinch will get addressed.

I'd also agree with Greg that after some time, you don't have to be suprised in order to call the shot but, you have to be able to call a shot before you can learn how to break a shot and maintain your ability to be able to successfully call the shot.
 
Re: Getting rid of a flinch.

If poor recoil management is causing your flinch, one possible problem is body position (as has been stated). What helps me is getting my body completely behind the rifle so from muzzle to torso is a straight line. No body cant. You want all the recoil going through your entire body so your using all your weigh to manage recoil and not just your shoulder.
 
Re: Getting rid of a flinch.

This is a good thread, I too have ocassional issues with flinching. I have narrowed it down to these reasons:

1. Fatigued
2. Poor shooting position
3. Over analyzing

One and two are directly related, I shoot 20-40rds a session with my .308. If I am sloppy with my positions and don't shoulder the rifle 100% properly, I get fatigued faster as it does cause slight discomfort if I am straining, or if the recoil is poorly managed. This normally results in a small flinch after a couple dozen rounds.

For number three, I find I over analyze a lot when looking through a scoped weapon. I am not sure why.

Thankfully, flinches rarely affect my shooting. I can usually feel when I am going to flinch and mentally take care of it.

The dummy round idea is a great one, I've had other people load and insert my mags for me with my semi-auto weapons.
 
Re: Getting rid of a flinch.

Try the 'ball and dummy' drill - and this may be a variation on what has previously been discussed.

If you shoot with a partner, whilst you lay prone behind the rifle/in position close your eyes whilst your partner randomly loads/chambers either a live round or a dummy round. You then open your eyes, take over and execute the shot. Repeat.

The extent of your flinch will be revealed on the first dummy round and over the length of the drill (I recommend about 8-10 rounds), your flinch will decrease.

Dry Fire immediately before and after your string of fire will also help cure flinching.

I think people need to recognise that extended shooting/fatigue and recoil will induce flinch at some point and it is just an ongoing problem that can easily be managed.
 
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