Stop Flinching! Please...

Easiest way: Get an expended case and put it on top of the barrel or other flat surface where it'll stay.
have her dry practice with the case on top of the gun, and have her keep doing it until she can dry fire it without the case falling off.

Buy or rent a .22 pistol. I tend to think that anyone who enjoys teaching others to shoot handguns should own at least one. Model doesn't really matter, although personally I prefer the Ruger 22/45's.

The next couple of times you go to the range, leave the Makarov at home and ask her to concentrate entirely on the .22. Once she's gotten accustomed to shooting something with little or no recoil, the flinch will usually go away on its own. Then you can start moving her up to larger calibers.

I've only ever shot a Makarov once, and that was a long time ago, but I seem to remember it being a little 'snappy'. You may want to consider letting her choose her own gun once you've gotten her to give up on the flinch.

start with dry firing, have her focus on the front sight and sight alignment, slowly apply pressure with just the trigger finger, not the whole hand. Keep her focus on the sights and not the trigger. If it takes here 10 minutes to break the trigger without flinching so be it, she'll get fater as she gains confidence. Another trick is so have her hold the pistol without her finger in the trigger gaurd. You stand to either side and actuate the trigger. With new shooters, I only recommend this with .22s We practice this technique at our IDPA club when a shooter is having flinching problems.

I agree with HSO.

Have someone else teach her. Boyfriends/husbands normally make the worst instructors. If she is having problems with her shooting skills you should let a pro help her. Not only is she more likely to listen to someone else but a professional instructor will have experience fixing people's shooting problems.

Beyond that, have her dry fire 15 minutes a day. Perfect sight picture and trigger press. Mix dummy rounds in every mag when she i live fires at the range so she can see herself flinching when the gun goes 'click'.

JohnKSa said: On the good side, you don't have to worry--I doubt she'll stick with it for long...

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Yep.

So what if she flinches. At lease she's there. If she's happy, why should you make it an issue? If she wants to improve on her own initiative, let her. You push her, she'll blow it off entirely.

If you haven't already......

Be sure she's using GOOD ear protection. Not some cheap earplugs. Get a good pair of shooting muffs. Sometimes muffs plus plugs is best.

When my boys were younger I found the noise of shooting bothered them much more than the recoil. Combining foam earplugs and Peltor Presidental earmuffs solved the problem.

Unfortunately the Mak is a blowback pistol shooting a fairly powerful catridge (more powerful than other typical blowback designs like .380 and .22LR). Everyone has already said all the great ways to correct a flinch.

But she has to want to learn to shoot better.

I have taken my wife shooting on occasion and she has had a chance to shoot .22, 9mm, .40, .45 (ACP and Colt)...we couldn't talk her into the .454 Casull.

Her first issue was that she didn't like anything except the .22 and 9mm. I ask if she wants to but only once and never push the issue. Kind of like how I invite her to the range whenever I go, but I only ask once and never push it. About every 2 months she surprises me and agrees to come with.

At the range I might make a suggestion here or there, but in general she is there to put some holes in the target. Last time out my suggestions were limited to 1) Keep your thumbs in-line along the frame (didn't want an errant thumb to end up behind the slide) and 2) This is a "combat hold" so center the sights over the bullseye (last time we went out the gun she shot used a target or 6 o'clock hold). Nothing major, just a couple suggestions that I see as being the equivalent of driving an unfamiliar car.

Basically, this is a fun hobby so at the end of the day make sure she is having a good time. If not you need to step back and revaluate.

my sister used to flinch like that, even with spring powered airsoft guns. the trick is to be really patient, and let them play around with an unloaded gun for a while to get a feel for it. after a little while she will get used to it and begin to love it. the recoil, the bang, all that. i did this to help my sister and she began to love to shoot. i couldnt get her to give me my gun back after that. haha.

Use a revolver

Here's what I do: I load 3 out of 6 cylinders randomly, without looking, give it a spin and close it up. I really don't know if it will fire, so when I flinch on an empty chamber, it's obvious. Helped me a lot.

I did that when I first started shooting too. Just get her more familiar with the weapon and it will stop. Shoot alot for a couple days in a row. Then she'll know what to expect from the pistol. The recoil jump will calm down after a while.

When teaching new people to shoot I usually have them shoot in this order:

-Dryfire with 1911 at the range, full hearing/eye protection on, at an actual target; once they can keep the sights on the target and get a smooth trigger pull I then...
-Explain to them that the .22 has no real "kick" and that the gun will simply move in their hands, nothing more; then I have them live fire a .22 at about 5-7 yards, usually my Walther P22. At this point, most people are hitting their target consistently. Usually, I just let them shoot the P22 all day unless they really want to try a larger gun. If they do, (or if it is our third or fourth shooting session), I'll let them try the 1911.
-With the 1911, I just explain to them that it is simply louder and moves more in their hands, but it won't of course hurt them. So I have them dryfire with it again, then try a magazine of live rounds at close range. After the first magazine, I have them dryfire again. Then another mag. In my experience, most people can handle the 1911 because they know that the gun won't hurt them at all, it just moves and barks.

All the advice you've gotten so far has been excellent and I have one last weird tip. My daughter used to flinch when shooting and I got her a really good pair of earmuffs so the noise wasn't a factor anymore. She still had a little flinch and an old-timer at the range told her to keep her mouth open. If you keep your lips parted and your mouth open a little, you're less likely to flinch than if you're grinding your teeth. Strange, but true. It worked.

The AntiBubba said:

Here's what I do: I load 3 out of 6 cylinders randomly, without looking, give it a spin and close it up. I really don't know if it will fire, so when I flinch on an empty chamber, it's obvious. Helped me a lot.

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I did something similar when training folks new to firearms - randomly load a mag with a few snapcaps and regular ammo.

Once they themselves see the muzzle dip, they understand what they're doing

Start with a .22 and work your way up to the Makarov.

TJ

As several have said, I've found random snap caps very useful, especially in identifying a flinch.

Something else that helped me a lot was just alternating snap caps in the mag. I knew when it would go bang and when it wouldn't, but it's effectively practicing your dry-fire every other round. I think it helps keep tension from building up and is a constant reminder of good trigger control. It's also a good way to open a range session, when you might be the most jumpy.

Good luck with her. Stay safe and have fun.

^^^

Similar to that, I will load two mags. I'll fire one shot and then swap mags. Then fire one more and swap mags...and so on. This helps break my concentration and make every shot the "first shot."

It also helps me work on reloads

All of the above. Except for one thing... Using a revolver, don't load the cylinder randomly. Load it like this: Load one, skip one. Load two, skip two. That way, when you close the cylinder randomly, you can be sure that you'll never know whether the next shot is going to be live or not.

+1 for the Ball and Dummy with a revolver. That's the only way I ever got past the flinch.