Flinching Poll:

[Mad Magyar]

Sorry about being late with poll.

[Walkalong]

Everbody does it sometimes. It's just too easy. ;)

[Rudy Kohn]

I still flinch often, and quite strongly sometimes, but I'm working on it. I shoot a couple hundred every week (I need to shoot more :) but I'm poor), mostly .22LR, and find that I often develop a flinch that goes off and on as I shoot. Sometimes it shows up and sometimes it doesn't. It seems to be almost caliber-independent--my groups in .45 LC aren't much bigger than my groups in .22LR.

I try to dry fire a lot, and almost never notice a flinch there, but put a real round in and sometimes I'll pull one almost off the paper at a measly 15 yards. It's getting less problematic, but I'm not really a good shot anyway. :o

[archigos]

Ignore/delete/etc

[Silvanus]

Had that problem when I shot my first handgun (Glock 17). All my shots went far to the left (the grouping wasn't bad for a newbie, though ;) ) After that...never again.

[HM2PAC]

For reasons that I don't know or understand, flinching has never been a problem for me.

My only guess is that when I was taught to shoot, my instructors really paid alot of attention to what I was doing.

I also like recoil. Taking a hit is somewhat fun. Not as fun as giving one, but still fun.

[Lonestar49]

...

Nowhere near like I did for the first 4 months, but it comes, IMHO, with any new, mainly, larger caliber gun one gets and shoots for the first time..

Concentration is the key, using all the techniques for balance, but every now and then, when I shoot the last shot, but fail to realize it, and pull the trigger, once in awhile, the gun will go "slightly down", and it always gets a positive chuckle from myself, and lets me consistently know that I'm still human.. and can always "improve." lol


Ls

[Brian Williams]

Once in a while after little practice.

[-v-]

Have a strange one where I slightly pull the gun BACK. The sights still stay lined up on target. Notice it when I have a FTF or I ride the mag-release. Seems I pull it back about 1" or so on firing. Don't know if it really qualifies as a flinch though.

[Thernlund]

I don't flinch anymore. I worked long and hard to overcome that problem. Same for keeping my eyes open.


-T.

[Warren]

Damn. I flinched and hit the wrong answer.

[1911 guy]

I don't have a recurring problem with the flinches, but every once in a while I get the odd flinch that shows up. Usually in the spring when I start shooting in earnest after a winter slowdown. Quickly cured, but it's there sometimes.

[FourNineFoxtrot]

I don't really think about it.

Now, I'm probably gonna think about it. And, thinking about it, I'll probably flinch.

Thanks a bunch.


Just kidding... I think.

[Clipper]

I don't flinch, but that's because I don't ask for one...I don't intend to shoot Cape Buffalo, so I don't shoot Buffalo rifles. I draw the recoil line at my Mosin-Nagant, and my 2 3/4" 12 gauge. I won't need anything heavier, and usually go lighter. Bullet placement is where it's at for me, and I do all I can to insure that...

[DMZ]

I tend to flinch when I anticipate the shot or when I get my sight picture and want the gun to discharge.... NOW. My tendency towards those bad habits is usally when I am shooting SA. So, I concentrated on smoothness and purchased some DAO pistols (which I shoot very well with). :D

[geekWithA.45]

I used to flinch just like everyone else.

That's cured with cap n ball exercises, dry fire, and sending 50,000 rounds down range.

[ADKWOODSMAN]

Flinching has never been a problem for me. I started with a pellet gun at 12, advanced to .22lr, .38--went to muffs, I credit that for NO flinching. Eventually went for the .44 Mag, .45 acp.

My major game in the 70's was bulllseye which I started with .22, you can't flinch with bullseye or game over.

I learned while duck hunting if you don't wear ear plugs your hearing is going to go.

[springmom]

Not often anymore; usually only when I'm shooting the SRH.

Springmom

[Ske1etor]

I hardly ever flinch anymore when shooting MY guns... Now, same can't be said about other peoples guns. I know I flinched when I shot my buddies Desert Eagle the other day (Well, the first shot anyway)... lol

[Floppy_D]

When I start to develop a flinch, I use double hearing protection. That helps a lot.

[Cannonball888]

http://www.gonemovies.com/www/MyWebFilms/Oorlog/PattonVlag.jpg

Be seated.

Men, this stuff we hear about Americans flinching is a lot of bullsh**. Americans love to shoot - traditionally. All real Americans love the smell and flash of shooting. When you were kids, you all admired the champion marble player; the fastest runner; the big league ball players; the toughest boxers. Americans love a shooter and will not tolerate a flincher. Americans despise flinchers. Americans shoot to hit - all the time. I wouldn't give a hoot in hell for a man who flinched and laughed. That's why Americans should never flinch, not ever, for the very thought of flinching is hateful to an American.

You are not all going to flinch. Only two percent of you here today would flinch in a major shoot. Flinching must not be feared. Every man flinches at first. If he says he doesn't, he's a godda** liar. Some men are flinchers, yes! But they shoot just the same, or get the hell shamed out of them watching men who don't flinch. The real hero is the man who shoots even though he flinches. Some get over their flinch in a minute while firing, some take an hour. For some it takes days. But the real man never lets flinching overpower his shooting and his innate manhood.

That is all.

:p

[mnw42]

The flinch fix that has worked for me:
Have a buddy load your revolver with 1 live round and 5 snap caps/empties and hand it to you. Trust me it works.

Patton is never wrong!

[Deanimator]

Flinching is a sign of two things, lack of concentration and a firearm that's uncomfortable to shoot. When my concentration flags, I flinch.

Something that REALLY bothers me is the ludicrous idea that the way to teach a kid "gun safety" is to give him or her a too powerful [for them] firearm and let them shoot it without proper instruction. I have a good friend [fortunately not a gunowner] who thinks that's the way to teach a kid "respect" for the power of a firearm. Mostly, it's the way to teach them to flinch.

[CountGlockula]

What about adding a button saying: "Overcoming the Flinch Monster" or something in that text of no longer flinching?

Because that's me.

[Mad Magyar]

Be seated.

Men, this stuff we hear about Americans flinching is a lot of bullsh**. Americans love to shoot - traditionally. All real Americans love the smell and flash of shooting. When you were kids, you all admired the champion marble player; the fastest runner; the big league ball players; the toughest boxers. Americans love a shooter and will not tolerate a flincher. Americans despise flinchers. Americans shoot to hit - all the time. I wouldn't give a hoot in hell for a man who flinched and laughed. That's why Americans should never flinch, not ever, for the very thought of flinching is hateful to an American.

You are not all going to flinch. Only two percent of you here today would flinch in a major shoot. Flinching must not be feared. Every man flinches at first. If he says he doesn't, he's a godda** liar. Some men are flinchers, yes! But they shoot just the same, or get the hell shamed out of them watching men who don't flinch. The real hero is the man who shoots even though he flinches. Some get over their flinch in a minute while firing, some take an hour. For some it takes days. But the real man never lets flinching overpower his shooting and his innate manhood.

That is all.


That was great! I can hear George C. Scott rambling on.....:D

[boomer1911a1]

Nine words:
Dry-fire practice, dry-fire practice, dry-fire practice.

I voted "Not to me" or whatever the topmost "cocky" option was, although technically, I suppose I do tend to get a little fatigued after 150 rounds of 10mm (even the "soft" Blazer stuff.) Maybe sooner with Magnums.

But dry-fire practice helps. Just remember Rule #1, because you're going to have to break Rule #2 and #3! (And #4 if you use TV characters as dummy targets.) I recommend removing all live ammo from the immediate area and inserting orange foam earplugs into the chamber to insure nothing gets chambered inadvertently...

[HM2PAC]

boomer1911a1 wrote:
Nine words:
Dry-fire practice, dry-fire practice, dry-fire practice.

Odd that you mention that in relation to flinching. I'd never thought of it as anything other than an accuracy drill.

I dry-fire every night while I watch the news.
Over and over and over.........

[MCgunner]

I suspect that everyone that goes though the magnum revolver introduction after shooting .22s to .45s has to learn to control the urge to finch. It's not hard to do once you let the gun quit intimidating you, but it does require some shooting and practice. I don't think it took me more than a half dozen shooting sessions with a Ruger Security Six (had an evil amount of muzzle climb) before I conquered it. My first bouts with a .44 magnum weren't too bad once I'd figured out to quit worrying about the gun and concentrate on front sight and trigger control.

Guns that hurt can still cause me to earn a flinch. That's why I don't like Scandium .357 J frames. :D

[mokin]

I don't believe that I flinch on a regular basis. Either I notice it while shooting and start to correct it or on an FTF. Usually on the FTF occurances I've shot several nice groups, close/in the bullseye and I think, "Wow, I shot like with that kind of flinch?"

[Smith357]

An exercise to help with flinch is to load your revolver with only 3 or 4 rounds, spin the cylinder and don't look at it when you close it, or better yet have your range buddy load it with an unknown number of empty chambers, then fire as normal, if you flinch you will catch it on the empty chamber and can correct for it. I still catch myself every once in a while, especially with magnums.

[BroughtEnoughGun]

I never flinch with any of my handguns, and I do own a .454 Casull and a S&W 500 Magnum, now since Im new to rifles I do flinch maybe the first 5 rounds out of my .300 win mag, but once I establish that the scope isnt going to hit me in the eye, Im good for the rest of the day.