Ive got a terrible flinch, how do I fix it

davsco · Nov 17, 2013

if you're shooting a 9 or 40, it's really probably the noise more than anything else, as the recoil is no where near punishing. the gun's never come back and hit you in the head or eye, right? so you should understand that there is no chance of being hurt (vs shooting a 458 winchester mag).

as noted above, double up on ear protection (foam inserts and then headphones that cover your ears).

don't use a death grip, but do grip it firmly and just pull the trigger very slowly til it goes bang.

remember, you won't get hurt, and now your ears won't be hurt, so there is nothing you need to protect against because there is nothing bad to anticipate. you can do it!

and it wouldn't hurt to get a fresh start with a .22 and work your way up.

rob-cubed · Nov 17, 2013

If you are already good with the Ruger, then you already have the skills and just need to trust your instincts. Shoot outdoors, especially on off-hours with plenty of ear protection. Sound is the main thing that encourages flinching. Don't tense up, don't hold it too firmly, just let the pistol go off and allow it to naturally fall into place again. It's just a .22 that jumps more.

DoubleTap007 · Nov 17, 2013

ccarson said:
This might be it
try doubling up your ear protection

This is what I was going to recommend. I do it myself for protection, and because I normally shoot at indoor ranges.

Pwilliams1 · Nov 17, 2013

I have one that creeps up on me at times also. It seems to happen most frequently shooting my usp9, I think because out of all of my pistols it's easiest to anticipate the trigger break with that.

Snap caps help identify the issue, and therefore correct it. Shooting suppressed has helped as well. I find that I flinch the worst when I first start shooting, until I settle in, and then after I have been shooting for a course hours it will creep back in.

Practice is the best thing I've found.

ShoreShooter · Nov 17, 2013

Its more common than you think.

I'll echo what others have said:
1) very good ear protection. Eliminate that piece of it.
2) LOTS of dry fire at home. Focus on achieving a steady aim when pulling the trigger.
3) Try a grip change. Depending on what you shoot, try either putting the left index finger ahead of the trigger guard, or just pointed ahead and under it, where the index finger is supporting the pistol.

Try a drill where you shoot faster. Bring it back to aim as fast as possible after recoil, and shoot. Don't slap it. Don't jerk it. But aim fast and shoot. Don't give yourself time to over-think it. This only works if you have practiced dry fire and are not jerking the trigger in dry fire. Often I find I shoot better fast, than leisurely.

amoebicmagician · Nov 17, 2013

Travis Bickle said:
So the first handgun I ever shot was my fathers M&P in .40 when I was 14. I was a very small kid and the recoil physically hurt to handle. I think this paved the way for me developing a terrible flinch. Now 7 or 8 years later I can hit anything with my ruger mkII but when you put a 9mm in my hands I turn into a limp wristed fairy who flinches all over the place. Im much much bigger now so wrist strength is not the issue, its all psychological. How do I get over this? Ive been practicing with 9mm but havent got much better. Should I buy a lighter kicking gun in a smaller caliber to help work my way up to something bigger?

just make sure you keep your eyes open and force yourself to follow through. Just focus on keeping your sights aligned, the shot should come as a surprise

Blaster229 · Nov 18, 2013

amoebicmagician said:
just make sure you keep your eyes open and force yourself to follow through. Just focus on keeping your sights aligned, the shot should come as a surprise

The shot should not come as a surprise. If you use a pistol in a defensive situation, you absolutely, without uncertainty, need to know when that pistol is going to fire.
The last thing you need is to be surprised by having the pistol go off.

sgt23preston · Nov 18, 2013

Travis Bickle said:
So the first handgun I ever shot was my fathers M&P in .40 when I was 14. I was a very small kid and the recoil physically hurt to handle. I think this paved the way for me developing a terrible flinch. Now 7 or 8 years later I can hit anything with my ruger mkII but when you put a 9mm in my hands I turn into a limp wristed fairy who flinches all over the place. Im much much bigger now so wrist strength is not the issue, its all psychological. How do I get over this? Ive been practicing with 9mm but havent got much better. Should I buy a lighter kicking gun in a smaller caliber to help work my way up to something bigger?

Sgt Preston back again...

I don't know how experienced or inexperienced you are...

So some basic first things first:

!. Make sure you double plug you ears (internal & external)...

2. What standing position do you use = Weaver, modified Weaver or Isoceles..? There is lots of info online. You need to find one that works for you...

3. Also look up (on line) & study hand positions for auto pistols...

4. Use a 2 hand grip, grip the pistol firmly like you would a hammer BUT do not use a death grip...

5. Consider going to a friendly indoor gun range & renting a gun & asking for information on how to shoot better...

byf43 · Nov 18, 2013

Blaster229 said:
I'm sorry. But snap caps do NOTHING for you getting used to muzzle blast and recoil.
Bad trigger finger/control has nothing to do with how you react to these pistol explosions.
Snap caps or empty brass loaded with live rounds in a magazine just tell you if you flinch anymore or not.

You need someone coaching you through shooting this pistol while you are shooting it, along with you just getting used to it after shooting it for awhile.
You are flinching during the recoil and you are landing bad shots. You see these bad shots and are getting discouraged and angry because of a poor group. Then you get tired and give up and go away upset.

A lighter recoil .22 pistol is not going to help you with a larger caliber pistol.

^^^This and doubling up on hearing protection.

Now, the sarcastic bastige in me will tell you to stop drinking milk, and get some V8 juice and put three shakes of "Old Bay" in it, and five twists from a pepper mill into it, and drink it down.

Get some coaching, from someone who's qualified. :thumbsup:

HT4 · Nov 18, 2013

My wife had this problem... awesome with a .22LR, but crap with the .40. I tried everything (coaching, snap caps, mixed snap caps and live rounds, etc.), but the flinching remained. Then I found the cure-all: a suppressor. Throw a can on the gun and she turns into freaking Annie Oakley. Turns out she was just scared of gun's report. Once we tamed that and she felt how little the recoil really was, the problem evaporated.

TomisinMd · Nov 18, 2013

sundazes said:
Use a revolver and only load a couple of random cylinders. Spin it before you close it. No don't do a hollywood and slam it.
Fire it on single action. You won't know when a round is coming up. Keep practicing.

This is an excellent post. I did this with my revolver and the results are excellent! Kepp practicing with this advice as well.

trickg · Nov 18, 2013

fivepointstar said:
don't expect the recoil....pull back on the trigger slowly and let the round go off and surprise. don't anticipate!!

That was how my Dad taught me to overcome my flinch.

Blaster229 said:
The shot should not come as a surprise. If you use a pistol in a defensive situation, you absolutely, without uncertainty, need to know when that pistol is going to fire. The last thing you need is to be surprised by having the pistol go off.

I don't think that's what proponents of that method are saying. Of course we "know" that the gun is going to go off, so from a grip point of view you are still holding the pistol correctly, but you simply take the anticpation out of the equation - smoothly and slowly squeeze until seer breaks and the gun fires, all done without anticipation of the actual shot. There will be some surprise, but not to the point where you won't be able to manage recoil or you drop the gun. It's far safer than jerking the trigger and causing the round to go Lord knows where.

I'm not really in agreement with the people who suggesting doing a lot of dry firing exercises because it's a totally different context. When you are dry firing, you KNOW that there isn't a live round, so you know going into it that there is no recoil to anticipate. While it will give you a much smoother trigger pull AFTER you lose the flinch, and therefore make you a better shooter, I don't see how it's going to help with the real flinch once you put live rounds in the gun. As a trumpet player, that would be like me telling a kid to learn how to play trumpet by buzzing a mouthpiece and doing their fingerings in the air - it's just not a practical approach. "Practice as you perform" - that's the way I like to approach it.

Getting back to the subject, something else that will help along with what FivePointStar said, you need to go shooting frequently to learn to overcome your flinch - several times a week until you have it under control if you can. It won't take long - 4 or 5 trips to the range and you should be good to go - 7-10 trips if your flinch is really bad and ingrained.

Magnumite · Nov 18, 2013

"I'm not really in agreement with the people who suggesting doing a lot of dry firing exercises because it's a totally different context. When you are dry firing, you KNOW that there isn't a live round, so you know going into it that there is no recoil to anticipate."

Maybe this should be written into the training plans of all the world class shooters who find dry fire a tremendous aid to precision shooting. Dry firing IS IN FACT the very method used to achieve the nice smooth pull we need in good shooting habit. If the shooter is not maintaining grip and follow through during dry fire, those habits will be carried back to the range with resultant poor results. Dry fire us not carefree happy time, it is serious focus and will leave one knowing they have worked in a training exercise.

The OP may very well have soft handed 22 RF hold and form which the heavier recoiling 9/40 cartridges reveal. Again, proper form dryfire at home and dryfire a few times at the range between shots in single or two round loaded mags working to full mags. A good focused practice session with structured drills at the range shooting 25 rounds in one hour is far more productive than 100 rounds shot in the same time frame shooting in a less than structured.

Docster · Nov 18, 2013

sgt23preston said:
Sgt Preston here...

This is NOT a new problem...

Lots of people have had it...

The soloution is very simple...

Step 1. Buy a set of snap caps...

Step 2. Make sure that the pistol is empty & clear...

Step 3. Using the snap caps, hold the pistol in you hand & without looking at the sights, very slowly squeeze the trigger = Dry Fire to learn the "feel" of the trigger...

Step 4. As you confidence builds up look at the front sights, they should not move or flinch when the hammer falls...

Step 5. After you have mastered getting the feel of the trigger (this could take a week or more), take the gun to the range & focus on squeezing the trigger & making perfect shots, do NO pay much little attention to the sights at first, just don't flinch..

Step 6. Practice, Practice, Practice...

THIS. It works! After this practice drill, the only jerk will be the guy behind the gun...... :lol2:

bkuether · Nov 18, 2013

ziondogg said:
Come shoot 20 rnds out of my .454 Casull and then go back to the 9mm. Problem solved!

My Glock 17 feels like a pea shooter after putting 30 rounds of .45 through my XDS.

So I agree with this statement.

Blaster229 · Nov 18, 2013

bkuether said:
My Glock 17 feels like a pea shooter after putting 30 rounds of .45 through my XDS.

So I agree with this statement.

Shoot thousands of Sig .357 yearly. Everything else becomes .22

Blaster229 · Nov 18, 2013

Magnumite said:
"I'm not really in agreement with the people who suggesting doing a lot of dry firing exercises because it's a totally different context. When you are dry firing, you KNOW that there isn't a live round, so you know going into it that there is no recoil to anticipate."

Maybe this should be written into the training plans of all the world class shooters who find dry fire a tremendous aid to precision shooting. Dry firing IS IN FACT the very method used to achieve the nice smooth pull we need in good shooting habit. If the shooter is not maintaining grip and follow through during dry fire, those habits will be carried back to the range with resultant poor results. Dry fire us not carefree happy time, it is serious focus and will leave one knowing they have worked in a training exercise.

This is spot on. I too will reiterate again. Dry firing and snap caps have nothing to do with learning to get over muzzle blast and anticipation. Snap caps in and of themselves are not "training aids". They are only training aids in that they help prevent damaging the firing pin, etc.. while you are training by DRY FIRING working on your smooth trigger pull. I can dry fire with my 1911 without snap caps. They give you no feedback at all.

You can have the smoothest trigger press in the world, but if you are pushing that muzzle down, WITH YOUR GRIP (not your trigger finger) when the pistol goes off, you HAVE TO SHOOT TO GET USED TO THE MUZZLE BLAST.

Don't confuse bad shots due to poor trigger press(by having too much or not enough finger on the trigger) with being startled when the gun goes off. These are two different issues.

Overboost44 · Nov 18, 2013

sundazes said:
Use a revolver and only load a couple of random cylinders. Spin it before you close it. No don't do a hollywood and slam it.
Fire it on single action. You won't know when a round is coming up. Keep practicing.

This!
Another method that I like. Take a .357 revolver and have a friend load some chambers with .38 and others with .357.

trickg · Nov 19, 2013

Blaster229 said:
This is spot on. I too will reiterate again. Dry firing and snap caps have nothing to do with learning to get over muzzle blast and anticipation. Snap caps in and of themselves are not "training aids". They are only training aids in that they help prevent damaging the firing pin, etc.. while you are training by DRY FIRING working on your smooth trigger pull. I can dry fire with my 1911 without snap caps. They give you no feedback at all.

You can have the smoothest trigger press in the world, but if you are pushing that muzzle down, WITH YOUR GRIP (not your trigger finger) when the pistol goes off, you HAVE TO SHOOT TO GET USED TO THE MUZZLE BLAST.

Don't confuse bad shots due to poor trigger press(by having too much or not enough finger on the trigger) with being startled when the gun goes off. These are two different issues.

I don't think Magnumite was agreeing with me, but you and I see it the same way. I think dry firing is a fantastic training method to improve accuracy, and it will work wonders for people who already have strong fundamentals, but it's not going to do much to help a flinch. Like you said, it's two separate issues.

huesmann · Nov 19, 2013

HT4 said:
My wife had this problem... awesome with a .22LR, but crap with the .40. I tried everything (coaching, snap caps, mixed snap caps and live rounds, etc.), but the flinching remained. Then I found the cure-all: a suppressor. Throw a can on the gun and she turns into freaking Annie Oakley. Turns out she was just scared of gun's report. Once we tamed that and she felt how little the recoil really was, the problem evaporated.

Prolly helps that the can adds some weight to the gun, reducing recoil a bit.

Ive got a terrible flinch, how do I fix it

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