Overcoming flinch

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Sisco

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Never had a problem with this before but I sure do now.
I bought a Savage 10FP in 308. First time I took it to the range I discovered real quick that the scope I was using didn't have enough eye relief, bounced it off my eyebrow. Not hard enough to cut but enough to make me wince everytime I pull the trigger.
Replaced the scope with another and went to the range yesterday, I'm still doing it and my groups are suffering because of it. It was really apparent one time when I pulled the trigger and stll had the fired case in the chamber; no bang, no recoil but I still flinched. I find myself closing my eyes as soon as the trigger breaks.
Any tips??
 
Assuming now no risk to eyebrow!! You have to impose a ''discipline'' - hard to put it any other way. Just the same with handguns often. Dry fire is certainly one useful measure.

The goal IMO is to always have the shot go with the thought ''oh, it went''!! Any obvious conscious effort to ''make it go'' will usually mean some sorta trigger snatch or rough treatment, and with that often some sorta flinch. A flinch can be established in seconds but take hours sometimes to cure.

Hard to describe this but - maybe think in terms of TOTAL concentration on target as trigger pressure taken up and pressure increased ... concentration to exclusion of all else. OK, so - you know a bang is coming and so is recoil - but somehow you have to keep that to one side. I am also of the opinion that too long a dwell in the aim will be prejudicial.

Once comfortable with position and breathing - and once you are settling on target - go for one smooth (but not rushed) continued trigger operation - as that target concentration is honed. Two good breaths during set-up should allow for a comfortable 5 to 10 second spell with breath held as you complete the shot.... long before discomfort or pulse effects.

If you were here at the range - I'd have you cured of this in a matter of minutes!!! (It's the bullwhip ya see! :D )
 
Dry fire, dry fire, dry fire!!! Don't let people fool you, modern firearms will NOT be damaged by dry firing! Personally, I spend a LOT of time dry firing at targets to watch how much my trigger pull move the rifle. Squeezing your trigger wrong WILL cause a miss.


P.S.-Shooter's eyebrow {;0p ) looks cool, chicks dig it!
 
Well, assuming that the scope you have now is mounted well forward and is not close to your eye whatsoever, I'd agree with HankL and P95Carry and say that the only thing that will break this habit is practice.

I had a similar problem. I always closed my eyes when I squeezed a shot off with my .30-06. Here's some tips:

Don't take any shots from prone or from a rest - make all your shots from a standing position. Your shoulder will experience less felt recoil that way.

Dial down your scope to its lowest power and concentrate on hitting targets from about 50 yards away in quick, compressed squeezes. It's best to use something reactive, like a water-filled milk jug.

Make a conscious effort NOT to close your eyes. If your scope bounces up from the recoil and you can't see the target as it's being hit, fine - just make sure to keep those eyelids peeled open.

Try going to the range with a bunch of friends. I found that I didn't notice the blast and recoil of my own gun when a bunch of other people were cutting loose with ARs and AKs. Ironically, for some people, the noisier your environment, the better your concentration on the actual shot will be.
 
P95Carry Wrote: If you were here at the range - I'd have you cured of this in a matter of minutes!!! (It's the bullwhip ya see! :) )
Click to expand...

P95Carry -- I might just have to find what range in south central western-ish PA you're at. I've got a flinch with a mil-surp mauser I can't seem to kill with any amount of dry firing. I know I'm doing something wrong, but I lack a knowledgeable observer that can see what it is I'm doing.

Wife & I are moving back the Bedford/Blair/Centre county area by late spring/early summer. (The decision has been made, just need to get the plan together. :D ) Might have to rent your bullwhipping services for an afternoon this summer if you're available. :D
 
Sisco,

Dry fire is one of the best ways to work out the flinch. Well, it worked for me, anyway.

I sufferred from a flinch a while back after shooting a Ruger Blackhawk Hunter in 44 mag. I had some rather hot reloads. The recoil with the single action wood grip dug into the palm of my hand and hurt like hell. After that I was flinching with every handgun I had.

I sat at home and dry fired before each trip to the range. I Practiced my breathing and trigger control. (after visually inspecting all firearms to make sure they were unloaded !!!!)

It took about 2 trips to the range to be completely free of the flinch. I never did shoot the Blackhawk again and sold it. Which was ashame, it was a nice revolver. But I also had a S&W 629 Classic that I enjoyed shooting more anyway. The grips on the S&W were much nicer and easier on the hand.

Give it a try and don't worry, you will overcome it.
 
It was really apparent one time when I pulled the trigger and stll had the fired case in the chamber; no bang, no recoil but I still flinched.
Click to expand...
Sisco:
Many have given you one of the best cures for flinch and that is to dry fire your rifle alot and you accidentally discovered the other half of the solution.

Dry firing will illustrate to you exactly what is happenining to the cross hairs when you break the shot. Dry fire until you can repeatedly acquire an acceptable sight picture most of the time and when not acceptable you will know why without the masking recoil of a live round.

This is where the second phase comes in. Take a friend with you to the range and let him/her load your rifle for you each time so that you do not know whether there is a round in the chamber or not. You will find yourself concentrating on sight picture each time rather than dreading the recoil and find the crosshairs were there when the shot broke, loaded or not.

Try it, it works. :)

Regards,
hps
 
Thanks for all the input!
Cold and rainy today, been sitting at the kitchen table sighting in on the lawn gnome in the back yard and dry firing a lot. No flinching but I'm sure that's in part due to the fact that I know it isn't going to go bang.
Next time I go out my son will go with me (half this rifle is his) and we'll do the blank round thing. Might even load a round with a spent primer so it will chamber but I won't know if it's the first round or the last.
 
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