Anticipating recoil

[Steve C]

IMO anticipating recoil is a mental problem, mostly a failure in concentration on site picture and trigger control while allowing the mind to wander on to other things. If you get a proper surprise trigger release its pretty impossible to anticipate the recoil. You are probably trying to make your shot happen rather than letting it happen. Practice on concentrating on your sites and trigger control, just letting the recoil happen and not thinking about when it is is coming.

Take a couple minutes to watch this: Jeff Cooper on Proper Trigger Pull

A whole lot of good shooting is mental rather than the physical.

 

[Hokkmike]

I had a semi that was uncomfortable to shoot.

Switch to a revolver of a smaller caliber.

99.9999999999999999% of handgun shooting is practice. The rest MAYBE for actual defense. If you can't enjoy practice then what is the point?

 

[Byrd666]

Hokkmike

My pistol IS comfortable to carry and to shoot. That is not the problem. Anticipating, or over anticipating recoil is. Not the pistol.

 

[BCRider]

SteveC, you are quite correct. But KNOWING these simple things and forcing or training our bodies to ignore all the other stuff isn't as easy as all that in many cases.

 

[Blackstone]

SteveC, you are quite correct. But KNOWING these simple things and forcing or training our bodies to ignore all the other stuff isn't as easy as all that in many cases.

Agreed, the faster I shoot, the more likely I am to pull a shot.

 

[Hokkmike]

My pistol IS comfortable to carry and to shoot. That is not the problem. Anticipating, or over anticipating recoil is. Not the pistol.
Byrd666

I think we are communicating but not understanding each other. What I mean is that recoil, both felt and heard, is inherent in the design of a gun. A pistol may feel and look good in your hands but when you shoot it the recoil is part of the "gun" experience. For example - I had a Walther PPS .40 that looked and felt good in my hands. But it was so light that it bucked like a tiger in recoil. Sounds is a factor too but shooters here are savvy enough to wear ear protection.

If the felt recoil of a particular handgun given the best grip possible is not sharp or painful then there is little or nothing to anticipate or over anticipate. I have fired some .380's for example of the same approximate size and weight where the design of one over the other has lead to less felt/perceived recoil. They may all feel good in your hand up to the second they are fired. Some guns are just not fun to shoot. Others are a pleasure and you can fire away all day.

I hope I have explained my thought a little better to you. Perhaps I do not fully understand what you mean by anticipating and/or over anticipating recoil. The term I would be most familiar with is "flinching". Are you talking about that or simply adjusting the hold to accommodate for the effect of recoil on the first and following shots for accuracy?

Thanks... Good discussion.

 

[The M]

It's already been mentioned about dry firing being invaluable. I'd like to go a step further and add a laser sight to dry firing. It makes it painfully obvious to see the dot jump (or not) when the hammer snaps forward.

 

[Blackstone]

It's already been mentioned about dry firing being invaluable. I'd like to go a step further and add a laser sight to dry firing. It makes it painfully obvious to see the dot jump (or not) when the hammer snaps forward.

There's no need to even buy an expensive laser sight. Any cheap laser that you can tie to your gun is all you need. You just have to be able to see a dot downrange to give you direct feedback.

 

[Byrd666]

Okay,let me try to explain in a bit more detail.

The pistol I'm using for this discussion is a Smith M&P c9 with the medium grip swell. No lasers or lights, etc., and bone stock for now. A trip to Bowie Tactical is in the future. I was using Wolf 115gr ball ammo for this session, 200 rounds worth, and one (12) twelve round clip of Black Hills 124 grn HP at the end. Pretty much dead on with the latterat about ten yards. Hearing and eye protection was used, both ear plugs and Mickey ears. And at ranges varying from 7+- yards to 50+- yards using a "dirty bird" type silhouette target.

As stated earlier, different grips and finger placements were used with varying degrees of success.

Where my problem is, was that even though all but one or two flyers, due to total loss of concentration on my part, were within the center mass area of the target my "anticipation" was causing me to make continuous though unintentional heart shots instead of sternum shots. Where I want to get myself to be in terms of accuracy is quite simple. Thirteen continuous head shots at fifty yards.

Since I'm normally by myself, as said before, it's hard to get feedback from others to tell me if it is a flinch. I don't feel as though it is a flinch but, more of a reaction to the recoil itself. Just in advance of it. I know when the trigger is pulled back to "that" certain point, the pistol is going to go BANG, and there will be pressure pushing back at me and the muzzle is going to move upward a bit. But, for some reason, that alone is effecting my shooting.

 

[9mmepiphany]

I know when the trigger is pulled back to "that" certain point, the pistol is going to go BANG, and there will be pressure pushing back at me and the muzzle is going to move upward a bit. But, for some reason, that alone is effecting my shooting.

Yup, that isn't a flinch per se, but it is anticipation...you're tightening your grip in anticipation of the impending recoil.

The objective is just to keep adding pressure to the trigger until the shot breaks. I had a simular problem with the stock M&P trigger...it was gritty and there was a hump at the rear of the travel just before it broke. The installation of Apex Tactical parts made the stroke very smooth and the problem went away

 

[Byrd666]

That is almost exactly what I was thinking. Just that minute change in grip is throwing me off ever so slightly. Guess that I'm gonna have send 'er off to Bowie Tactical sooner than later.

Thanks ya'll
Byrd

 

[Mousegun]

It is a natural thing for the body to simply dislike recoil. It took me a year of shooting three times a week to get over it but I did.

I tell my trainees that it is more important to squeeze the trigger smoothly than it is to be exactly on target and pull the trigger when you are on target. There is a natural movement everyone has, some more, some less but if the gun fires without any sort of flinch, generally you will make a better shot than if with a pulled trigger.

If your problem is anticipating the recoil, that is something you will have to get over with repetition and loss of natural recoil fear for lack of a better word. All the above suggestions will help but nothing beats constant hammering that the ole' bod will eventually get used to.

 

[brickeyee]

The diagnostic target works for right handed Bullseye style shooting.

It has for years, and is not likely to change.

It originated in an old army handbook.

 

[DoubleTapDrew]

Here's a free one to try. It helped me.
Concentrate on a smooth trigger pull (not letting it stack or pause before the shot breaks) and to take your mind off when it's going to fire, repeat "front sight, front sight, front sight" as you are increasing pressure on the trigger. Keep saying that until the shot breaks. Repeat a few hundred times.

 

[9mmepiphany]

Repeat a few hundred times.

The rule of thumb is 10k

 

[Byrd666]

Thank you guys and or girls for all the input.

Quite a bit was learned during this thread for me.

 

[brickeyee]

The rule of thumb is 10k

Only if they are 'correct'.

Otherwise you need to start over for another 10k.

I know I am way over that 'limit' by many many times.