Tips for wife to shoot without twitching in anticipation of recoil

[golfer]

Some good ideas here, please let me suggest two more.
1. Pull the trigger with a coin on top ot the sight. With a little practice, you can do this with a doubble action pistol.
2. Let her roll some cans. Take her out where she can shoot at fun targets. Rolling cans halps take the mind off the recoil and switches concentration to impact on the can/target. When she is having fun, recoil is not the issue.
3. OK, I added one more. The 22 is the best training gun you could ever use. To cure this issue, 90% of her shooting should be with one.
Best wishes.

 

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

When I took my girlfriend shooting, I started her out dry firing. Then she shot the P22, and then moved on to the 9mil. I think starting out gradual like that helps people ease into larger calibers. That way each step up is just a little more than what they are used to. Shooting a .45 can be scary at first. But going from .22, to 9mil to .40SW, then to .45 is easy. Small steps, taking care to get used to each one before moving on.

 

[jgo296]

not sure it would work but just thinking how about go against the grain here
get a 500s&w sbub nose and some hot and heavy loads have her shoot it a while after than recoil wont bother her

 

[Darthbauer]

Try all of that and hope it works. I know two guys that are active marines and they have the same problem and cant get rid of it.

 

[Exmasonite]

Aside from going to the .22 for practice, here's one other idea:

Get a GOOD airsoft gun. My buddy purchased a beretta one for ~ $140 and the thing is SCARY realistic, right down to the trigger pull. Excellent practice and cheap/convenient to boot.

Nice thing is, he can fire at a cardboard box in his living room. I spent a few evenings practicing with it and i think it really helped me, even.

Something to consider... i'm looking at getting one myself.

 

[QuakKillz]

another AirSoft vote.... got the P99 model myself.....way cool realistic (even has the light rail) and it shows you the jitters....

 

[Prose]

Switch to glide. Point the gun at the target.

Imagine the trigger pull as a gliding sweep. Like a swing on a swing set in slow motion. Concentrate on the action of the trigger finger. 100%.

Tell her to COMPLETELY focus on only ONE thing. And that is the sweep of the triggerfinger as it comes back. One continuous motion.

Teach her to glide through the trigger pull. It's like learning to use the Force. Just like Obi-Wan Kenobi said, you need to let go of yourself.

Focusing 100% on the trigger pull makes you forget about everything else. Pretend you are pulling in a 15 pound Pike with a 5 lb test line. Gentle, yet, firm.

Hope I described it right. When I teach people to shoot this method cures a flincher in about 5 rounds.


Her trigger finger must be the only thing in her universe that exists.

 

[Jordan85]

Ok, here's something that hasn't been brought up yet....

I'm a new shooter fighting the flinches too, however I am aware of what I am doing and actively working to cure that.

My question is on the trigger pull. I am a novice and still teaching myself the fundamentals. When you are shooting, should you pull the trigger steadily throughout the shot? Or should you pull up until the point where you can tell the trigger is about to break? Does it matter what type of shooting it is for? Obviously or competition, speed shooting, proper defense, you need to get to a point where you shoot and let the trigger reset and pull again seemingly in a fluid motion.

But for a beginner like me, who is just trying to learn the proper mechanics and shooting one shot at a time, should I be trying to have a steady trigger pull, from beginning all the way through to where it breaks for the shot? Or should I take up the slack up until I can feel where it is about to break, and then pull through the break once I have my sight picture correct?

 

[golfer]

jordan; you have an excellent question.
IMO and there may be other helpful suggestions to come; steadly take up the slack on the trigger. When practicing, the trigger break should not be anticipated. It should come as a surprise.
A couple good ways to practice;
1. See how slowly you can take up the slack until the trigger breaks. Try to feel every movement in the trigger. Do this both with dry firing and with ammo while pointing at you target.
1. Put a coin on you front sight and pull the trigger. Be sure the coin stays in place. Do this dry firing only and if you can get or have a double action pistol, this is excellent practice.
Try to set aside several moments while at the range to practice trigger control. Do not try to creat one large block of time. It will be eaxier to maintain you concentration during multiple short moments of a few shouts than a longer time of multiple rounds.
If you have any problems or concerns let me invite you to PM me and I will offer my meager advice or we will find someone that can help.
Best wishes.

 

[Jordan85]

Well the way I have been practicing, I take up the the slack first, and then try to break w/out moving the front site.

But it seems like there is a lot of agreement that you want to be 'surprised' by the shot; to me it seems like it is impossible to be surprised by the shot when I know exactly when the shot is about to break.

To me it sounds like (for a beginner like me) i want to get the stroke to where it is one controlled seamless pull, from beginning to end (slack and all), so that I am squeezing the shot the in the SAME controlled manner while I am squeezing through the slack AND while I am squeezing through the break, almost unaware of when the slack ends and the break begins

I know that there is MUCH more to it than this (especially once I want to learn to control reset for better follow-up shots, etc.), but in terms of a beginner who is just trying to to build up good trigger control muscle memory, does this sound about right?

 

[PaulBk]

Lots of really good advice here so far. I am not sure I have anything new to add, but...

I also have a wife who is VERY recoil sensitive. She likes to plink occaisionally but almost never will do anything resembling structured practice or training. She can shoot close to 'minute of angle' with an air rifle and almost as well with air pistols. Move up the chain and she gets progressively worse (and also less interested). My suggestions are:

- Make it fun. Maybe plinking instead of target shooting.

- Outside is better if available. Sound doesn't get channeled as much.

- Keep her at her level of comfort until SHE wants to move up. This might mean airsoft, pellet, or .22 cal. for a long while. My wife has shot 9mm, .38, and .45 - She doesn't like any of them. But she will kick my butt with a .22 when the mood strikes her.

Good luck.

-Paul

 

[MGD 45]

I just finished training one of the new female Officers in my Dept. who had never shot a pistol prior to being hired. I started her off with a magazine full of dummy rounds (she knew they were dummy) so she didn't worry about the gun going off & the recoil bothering her. We strictly praticed on sight picture & sight alignment & then a smooth trigger pull for about 5 or 6 loaded magazines of dummy rounds. I had her sighting in on a small bullseye target from about 10 yards away.

She got so used to making a smooth trigger pull because she wasn't ever expecting the gun to go "Bang!" After doing this drill about 70 times, I slipped in a live round about 4 rounds into a magazine. When she hit that round, she still shot a center of the bullseye & was amazed that she was able to hit it even with the recoil. She then realized that the recoil wasn't as bad as she thought it would be.

We then progressed to mixing multiple dummy rounds with live ones in each magazine, until she was comfortable with the recoil & it didn't bother her at all. The most important thing is to make sure that she has a good solid shooting grip & stance, because otherwise the recoil will seem worse with bad ones. She was shooting .40 S&W HST rounds, which do have quite a little snap to them.......& she handled them with ease. Good Luck!

 

[golfer]

jordan; It would be great if the trigger pull was just one seamless pull. Put that coin on typ of your sight and make one seamless pull and see what happens. If the coin falls, you probably missed the target.
When you make the pull, the sights must remain on targert. Once you can do that, the pull does, in a sense, become more seamless.
MGD above made a great sugestion once you have the trigger pull under control. Have someone mix dummy rounds with live and practice. Then fire two full clips and have someone mix a dummy in the next and see what that does for your trigger pull.
Always watch your sights and target when practicing and of course, shooting.
Best to you.

 

[LKB3rd]

Have her fire 50 rounds with no target, focusing on the front sight intently until the shot breaks. I had a flinching problem for a while, and doing this at the beginning of every range session helped a lot. The first time I did it, my first shot with a target was a dead bullseye.
I actually did it with my .357 magnum, then when I switched to the .45 it felt smooth in comparison. But i have done it with the .45 too, and it works that way as well.

 

[Templar223]

Flinchers...

Two things I do in my classes for people with flinching problems. Of course, YMMV...

1. I'll 'ride the trigger' with them to give them an idea of what the proper trigger pull feels like. How? Have them assume the grip, stance, etc. Tell them to line up the sights and put their finger on the trigger but let me do all the work on the trigger. Then I begin a slow and deliberate trigger pull. Their finger gets a little squished, but it's usually not uncomfortable for them. About half way through ("staging" the trigger), I ask if their sights are still aligned. When they answer in the affirmative, I carefully finish the pull smoothly. More often than not, it yields a perfect shot. Sometimes I'll repeat the drill if I feel they need it. Then I'll watch to make sure they repeat the process without jerking, flinching or slapping the trigger. Group sizes (and shooter happiness) usually improve dramatically.

2. If it's really bad and I suspect they might not have an appropriate gun, I'll move them into a S&W Model 65 that's had an action job. I'll give them some custom loaded light .38s (I prefer ones travelling about 450-500 fps, but my reloading guy won't load me up with anything less than about 600). The gun shoots like a .22 at that point and you eliminate that sharp crack, unpleasant recoil (remember, they are beginners unaccustomed to these things) and so forth. Make it enjoyable and as they master the basics, they'll be able to carry those back over to the semi-autos with the potent factory ammo loads.

With patience, positive attention and reassurance, I haven't had a student yet who couldn't make the gun do what they needed it to do for them.

And, I might add, it makes ME feel good when they execute the drill shooting well!

John

 

[Freedomv]

Have the shooter concentrate on seeing smoke and fire from the muzzle as the gun goes off. Strangely enough it seems to help.

Vern

 

[BamBam-31]

But for a beginner like me, who is just trying to learn the proper mechanics and shooting one shot at a time, should I be trying to have a steady trigger pull, from beginning all the way through to where it breaks for the shot? Or should I take up the slack up until I can feel where it is about to break, and then pull through the break once I have my sight picture correct?

There are some pistols that have a smooth trigger pull throughout (my Kahr MK9 Elite 98 comes to mind) where you can do what you describe. Most pistols, however, will have the initial take up, then the resistance, then the break. I think it's more important that the smooth and steady part of your trigger pull be in how you gradually increase pressure on the trigger rather than the trigger's actual movement. What I do is take up the slack til I get resistance, then start my almost hourglass-like increase of pressure. Once I decide to start increasing pressure, I no longer think on that. It goes into autopilot. I'm 100% focused on proper sight alignment. Try not to consciously pull the trigger when you see the sights line up perfectly on target--that might lead to anticipation and/or flinch. Just focus on holding the sights on target (accept the slight wobble), then....bang! Bullseye.

That's for slow fire. For rapid fire (more advanced), you gotta learn stuff like trigger prep and trigger reset. In a nutshell, you have to train yourself to immediately and only allow the trigger to go forward as much as needed for it to reset after a shot, and then you have to immediately "prep" the trigger by adding a hair less pressure than you'd need to fire the shot. Once your sights are on target again, you add that hair of pressure to let that shot go, then immediately prep the trigger again for the next shot. Basically, you're gaining speed by cutting out as much of the time-consuming initial trigger take-up process as possible. That's what the USPSA/IPSC guys do, anyways.

 

[LAK]

Ever notice the tranquility of a .22 after using your favorite cannon - handgun or long arm?

Skimming the replies of softening the gun as it were; I might tend to try the opposite - pick something bigger and louder. Not sharp on the hand, just alittle blasty. Have them give it their best to exercize their anti-flinch drills and stare down each shot "fearlessly" with it for awhile. Switching back should make the current piece feel alot more friendly.

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