Getting rid of a flinch

[WhoKnowsWho]

Not for me, but for my wife

I am going to pick up some snap caps for her P99, and some for my revolver, to strengthen her trigger finger some. And a quarter to put on top of the slide.

She didn't flinch before, hasn't been shooting any "ow" guns, and now suddenly is doing it more and more.

I would just give her a brick of .22LR ammo and stick her at the range with her P22, but her stamina isn't that great yet either.

Any other suggestions?

 

[Hkmp5sd]

Take her to the range and you load the cylinder/magazine without her watching. Randomly insert live rounds and snap caps and then let her shoot (or make some dummy rounds with no primer or powder, but well marked so as not to confuse them with live ammo). Since she won't know which ones are which, she won't know when to flinch.

 

[10-Ring]

Lots of slow purposeful dryfire practice. I had my son do this w/ a dime on the front sight...holding a good sight picture, he would pull that trigger as often as possible as quickly as possible w/o dropping the dime.
Good luck

 

[Rich357]

Good ear muffs backed up with good foam ear plugs help greatly in reducing flinching. I find these work the best for me...
http://www.sharpesafety.com/catalog/product-display.php3?ID=114

As others have suggested, dry firing and practice. Unless she has developed a problem with her hand or wrist and the recoil is causing her pain. Is the recoil hurting her hand?

Good luck,
Rich

 

[Penforhire]

Last time I was at the range I flinched everytime the guy next to me shot his Desert Eagle. I don't know what it was chambered in but my earplugs-plus-muffs wasn't enough!

 

[cool45auto]

Penforhire: I did the same thing not too long ago. Some guy was shooting a deer rifle and everytime it went off I'd jump! I don't know what it was but waited till he was between shots before I fired.

 

[Standing Wolf]

All the advice above is worthy, so I'll just add this: I've found it helps to shoot five rounds of center fire, five of .22 long rifle, five of center fire, et cetera.

 

[Jeeper]

The double ear protection is one of the best.

The other idea is to get onto the target (make sure of this) and then close your eyes and pull the trigger. This way you can feel the gun. Your body has a tendency to flinch when there are so many reactions going on at once.(ie seeing the gun lift, feeling it lift, and hearing it) Good double ear protection and closing your eyes gets rid of two and then you can just feel the gun. It works rather well.

 

[Chris Rhines]

Focus on follow-through.

Every shot, watch the front sight lift.
Keep holding the trigger back until the sights are back on the target.
Then, and only then, release the trigger until it resets.

- Chris

 

[Greybeard]

Yep, yep. Especially on what Chris said about follow-thru. It is virtually impossible to hold sight picture during recoil, but getting her to TRY to can help greatly with flinching.

 

[WhoKnowsWho]

We were bouncing between the .22 and her 9mm, the .22 was fine, no flinching after the first shot... then the 9 would be good for the first two or so, then flinch up or flinch down.

We will both probably do the double ear protection next time too. Some of those booms were getting to me, so they have to be getting to her. There was someone shooting something louder than the .357 Mag we had... must have been a .41 Mag since .44 Mag and up are not allowed for the indoor range.

I am also going to dig out my airsoft stuff too, she used to do real well with the gas operated Beretta 92 model. That and the dry fire should make the next time out a little more on target.

Thanks for the comments! Feel free to add more!

 

[Island Beretta]

Jeeper,

I disagree fully with your advice to 'close your eyes'. The eyes should remain open and focus on the front sight both for flinch control and getting back on target quickly for follow-up shots.

How you train is also how you fight and you would not want to be closing your eyes in a self-defense situation.

 

[New_comer]

IMO, flinching is more psychological than anything else. It's not only the cracking sound, but also the jerk of the recoiling slide that tend to 'scare' the wits out of a newbie shooter to fully control the weapon. In addition to the tips already mentioned, I also have these to share:

1. Shooting often has that 'numbing' effect. Have her shoot more. She'll then learn to trust that the weapon won't bite, consciously and sub-consciously.

2. Also, check for trigger smoothness, the smoother the better. Being unable to predict the break or trigger 'staging' will pre-empt flinch, plus also promotes accuracy.

3. I don't know if this matters, but I believe that strengthening shooting muscles involved in the trigger, grip, alignment, stance - may improve her confidence in holding the firearm.

Hope these help...

 

[tiberius]

I second the practice of randomly placing a snap-cap or 2 in revolver cylinder to test for flinching. If she is having problems with an auto, you can place a snap cap in the mag. at a random depth for the same purpose. It important that they don't know when to expect the "misfire" so that you will see if they are flinching.


Double hearing protection may help, but 9mm isn't that loud and if someone is going to shoot, they are going to have to get used to it. I have found that just making someone aware of the flinch with the above method is very helpful in convincing them that they are flinching...and that's most of the battle.

good luck.

 

[Leibster]

One exercise that works well with flinchers is this:

Have your wife sight in on the target, and place her finger on the trigger. Once this is done, stand next to her, and place your finger on her finger (if this causes discomfort, she can keep her finger clear of the trigger guard). While repeating to her something like, "get on the target" or, "stay on the sights" over and over, slowly build up pressure on the trigger, until it fires. This will come as a surprise for her, and she won't be able to flinch. Repeat this about 5 times, and she'll have a nice group on the target.

In the past when I have done this drill with my students, their confidence is built up. They see the group that they shot, and they now know that they're doing everything well EXCEPT the trigger pull, and all they have to fix is one thing.

It also reinforces the importance of a good trigger pull to them, which causes them to want to have a good trigger pull.

Hope that was helpful,

--Leibster

 

[4v50 Gary]

HKMP5sd says it all. If you can't go to the range, then use those Speer plastic bullets in the comfort of your home. Be sure to pad your target to make sure it doesn't dimple the sheetrock and make sure (1) Your grandfather's grandfather clock isn't in the line of fire; (2) family cat & dog are in another room; (3) eye & ear always.

 

[Jesse H]

Shooting for 2 years and I still flinch, even after lots of dry-firing and x00 rounds a week. I've learned that if I think too much about the trigger break, I flinch.

If I just let go and shoot, I tend to shoot better.

 

[Jeeper]

Jeeper, I disagree fully with your advice to 'close your eyes'. The eyes should remain open and focus on the front sight both for flinch control and getting back on target quickly for follow-up shots.

How you train is also how you fight and you would not want to be closing your eyes in a self-defense situation

Island Bereta.

I dont know if you misunderstood me or if I wasnt clear enough. I am not saying to close your eyes EVERYTIME while shooting.

Flinching is a result of too much stimulus (noise, sight, feel) causing your body to react. ONe result of a flinch that isnt discussed as much as it should, is the reaction that most flinchers BLINK. The first way to cure this is to take some of the stimulus away. Double ears do part. The next is to let the person just feel the gun going off so that they wont be scared of it. THis can be done by closing your eyes. Then you only have the one stimulus left which is easy to control. Another way to to focus not on the sights but only on keeping your eyes open while shooting. Focus on the muscles in your face to keep your eyes open. IF you still dont believe me then all I can say is that some of the best teachers in the world use this method to teach their students not to flinch.

One other notion that many have here that I think is incorrect is the idea that dipping the gun if a snap cap is inserted is a flinch. This is not true in all cases. In USPSA for example the dip caused by a misfire or squib is a result of the force required to get back on target. It happens after the trigger pull and not before like a flinch. For slow fire I would agree but not for rapid fire like IPSC.