I am the great "Flinch-o-matic" Help!

Fooped

Fooped

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Hey everyone,


I sustained a neck injury a few months ago, and have been undergoing PT and chiropractic care fairly successfully. Unfortunately, as I've been getting back to pistol shooting, I've noticed that I have developed a fairly significant flinch issue, which is resulting in some fairly ugly trigger pulls and inconsistent groupings. I don't have this issue with .22lr, but 9mm and above have me jittery for some strange reason. The noise or the flash doesn't conciously bother me that I'm aware of, but I notice a split second of eyes closing, and a definite trigger jerk before most shots.


Any suggestions?


Thanks!
 
Can you talk with the doctors about it? The PT folks?

I know this isn't always possible, but when I ripped up the rotator cuff, the orthopedic doctor I went to was a member of the same gun club and I was able to discuss what I could/should do and when. I found some serious personal value in being able to have that conversation be part of my treatment. Don't know if it is of any help but his current office is right next to Brockton Hospital.
 
I'm not a doctor, but I believe recoil-anticipation flinch is a mind issue, not a physical issue.

I've long been of the view that handgun skills are built with the .22s and demolished with the centerfires.
 
Try shooting off the bench on sandbags for a while, without a target or with blank paper. You might be pulling the trigger too slowly and with some apprehension which causes you to twitch before the trigger falls.
 
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Hmmm. Here is my take: I notice that I have a flinch problem, but it is not due to recoil, sound, or flash. It happens when I am in a hurry to pull the trigger if my sights are moving around. Therefore, it happens with heavier firearms as my aim starts to waver. It also happens with rifles if my scope is too zoomed in. I solved the problem with rifles by not zooming in so far, and my groups are getting much better. Basically, I have to calm myself a little and mentally keep myself from trying to snap off a shot. The same thing works for me with handguns, as long as I'm patient, I don't jerk the trigger. It is only when I try to shoot just as my sights are aligned that I rush and jerk the shot.
 
Go to the range, put one round in a revolver, spin the cylinder and pop it in. Then begin firing. Fire double action for best results.

Then when you feel pretty good about that, load more rounds in the cylinder and repeat the procedure. You know you're cured when you can do it with 5/6 and not flinch on the empty chamber.

Thanks to Lynne for this one.
 
I'm no tack driver, but I "solved" my flinching problem with my .45 by concentrating on sight picture to the exclusion of all else. I still find myself flinching from time to time. I just remind myself to concentrate on sight picture. As previously posted, this sounds like a mind problem. If you aren't having problems with smaller calibers.
 
Dry fire. Just dry fire as much as you can stand it. Get so used to the handgun not going bang that you shoot everything in sight. Just keep doing it. You'll get your "groove back" by doing that.

Then, when you go to the range, use the suggestion that Gabe posted. It's excellent. Remember, the shot should "surprise" you. Spinning the revolver is a good way to do just that.

Rome
 
Double up the hearing protection, and do lots and lots of dry firing. On the range, you may find yourself flinching at first, then get better, then start flinching again, etc.

When you find yourself at the range flinching, stop live firing for a while and dry fire instead. Pay lots of attention when you dry fire. Pull the trigger very, very slowly. Watch the front sight really, really hard. Focus on isolating the movement of your trigger finger. Make sure that you don't tighten your grip as you pull the trigger -- you want your grip to stay constant while you pull the trigger. Once your dry firing is going well and the front sight is not moving, then go back to live fire.
 
Greg said:
Do you catch yourself tensing up before you squeeze the trigger ?

My prescription is to shoot more often,with various caliber weapons.The bigger the better....Then again,that's my prescription for everything.
Click to expand...

Funny, I just picked up my first 1911. I've been shooting it alot, and now my 9mm feels like a pussy cat!! But now I'm flinching again with the .45...

All of the suggestions above are good. Double up the hearing protection. Concentrate on the sight picture and slow pressure on the trigger. Don't grab at the shot.

Where are your shots landing. 6 oclock? 7-8 ocklock?

Matt
 
Fooped said:
Mostly at 7 oclock to 11 oclock. Thanks for all your suggestions folks!
Click to expand...

7-11 is a pretty wide range for a single error. Sounds like you may have a few things going on. Take a look at these:

http://www.targetshooting.ca/docs/grp-analysis.pdf
http://www.degrata.com/pdf/commonshootingerrors.pdf

I find that to make these charts really useful I have to analyze each shot individually, rather than the group. After the shot breaks, ask yourself (without looking at the target yet) "where did it land? was there something that didn't seem right?" Don't move on to the next shot until you've identified the cause of the error.

You may want to try to spend an hour or two with a competent instructor. They might be able to help you identify the issues quickly so you don't drive in bad habits.
 
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M1911 said:
Double up the hearing protection, and do lots and lots of dry firing. On the range, you may find yourself flinching at first, then get better, then start flinching again, etc.

When you find yourself at the range flinching, stop live firing for a while and dry fire instead. Pay lots of attention when you dry fire. Pull the trigger very, very slowly. Watch the front sight really, really hard. Focus on isolating the movement of your trigger finger. Make sure that you don't tighten your grip as you pull the trigger -- you want your grip to stay constant while you pull the trigger. Once your dry firing is going well and the front sight is not moving, then go back to live fire.
Click to expand...

That's the best advice on this I've seen. It's easy to ignore the need to dry fire like M1911 says but it's critical. All great points.
 
I had the same problem but it went away after I changed my stance.

I started using the weaver stance which brings the gun closer to your body and your eyes. It stops the gun from shaking and moving because your left elbow is against your left side and your arms are less extended. Also your right elbow is level with your shoulder.

It made a big change in the way I shoot and with the sights closer to my old failing eyes the sights were once again visibile.

But this stance takes a littlle getting use to espically when shooting a large revolver. With a large revolver every once in a while you will get a slap in the face from burning powder.
 
The doubling of Ear protection is what I would suggest and i would go one step further and tell you to use the FOAM Plugs and NOT the rubber ones and then put the Mickey Mouse Ears over them.
 
Thanks for all the great suggestions everyone! I went to the range last night with just my Walther P22 and very carefully squeezed off 160 rounds (4 10 round mags over 1 target X 4) and things are beginning to improve. I notice that I tend to rush towards the end of the round in anticipation of seeing the results, so I purposely slowed down and kept concentrating on trigger squeeze and sight picture. My groups are getting tighter and things are looking up.

Thanks again for all of your input, it is well recieved and much appreciated.


Greg
 

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