Posted: 6/14/2006 6:40:53 PM EDT
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I just started my range traing for the sheriffs office as a reserve. We're shooting Sig Pro 2340 (40.cal). Its a great gun to shoot. I like it alot. During our training my rounds kept going down and left. I shoot right handed. From 5-15 yards standing i can hit paper and 25 yards prone i can hit perfectly. But no matter what range im hitting down and left. Especialy at 25 yards. Thats where i drop most of my rounds. I told my instructor to load my mags and to mix in dummy rounds somewhere so i didn't know where. we did a practice qualifing run...first mag i shot, drop maybe 5 round from 25, second mag i shot boom boom click FLINCH!!!boom boom click FLINCH!!!well found my problem..i'm flinching like no other and i don't know why... I"m not scared of the gun or recoil.I've grown up rifles and shotguns all my life but have limited experience with pistols....what can i do to solve my damn flinching problem? I want to solve this so bad. I'm pissed at myself for flinching...i look like a dumbass cuz i'm not solving my problems while everyone else is...any and all input is welcome!!! Ford |
| Welcome to my world. I have been fighting a flinching problem for years. The more often I shoot, the less severe the flinching. The best advice I can offer is to shoot as much as possible, but make every round count. Take your time and make sure every round is a suprise to you when it goes off. Pull the trigger back one hair width at a time. Dry firing can help and randomly loading dummy rounds will definitely help to identify your problem and if you're getting better but shooting is the best remedy. |
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As already mentioned, lots of dry firing is a good way to do it. Strangely enough – for me at least – lightening up a bit and not trying quite so hard can actually improve my shooting. Don’t try to put the bullet in the absolute dead center of the target – anywhere in the “10 ring” (or equivalent) is fine. Tension just seems to make it more likely I’ll flinch. Just relax and think “sights”, “trigger press”, “let it happen”. Haven’t a clue whether or not that will help you. |
Focusing on your technique more should help take your mind off from the flinching. It sounds alot like how your placing your trigger finger too far over the trigger, how your pulling it and the grip you've got. I had the same problem for years working on my pistol skills, but being a lefty I would always hit low and right. I was hooking too much of my finger over passed the first joint and with a bad pull not straight enough and following through. I pulled the gun down and towards the right when pulling the trigger. My grip was never in the best and same place for a natural aiming and lining up of the sights too and then practicing enough to keep it there till it became so natural that my grip went to the same place everytime I grabbed my pistols. Try focusing on a good consistent following through straight pull of the trigger using near perfectly in the middle of the tip of your finger and that first joint. Work on how your grip is so that grip gets to be as exact as possible with aligning the sights. Than practice, practice and practice some more. Learning to shoot a pistol well is much harder than shooting a rifle. There's much less gripping surface to steady and balance the gun and the little movements and imperfections effect each shot alot more. |
I don't get to the range but about once every 6 months (at least lately). When I do go it usually takes about 100 rounds untill I start to relax. If I am flinching I will stop, relax and think "COM COM COM" and not "hit the bullseye". Last time I went I shot 100 rounds and was all over the place. Stopped, did my routine, pushed the target back to max range (25yrds) and went through 200 rounds. didn't miss the paper once, and I would say that 98% of my rounds were within the 9 ring. Relax and let it happen. Great advice! |
"Badly" +1 for just "let it happen" i had (sometimes still do) this problem--sometimes my slide does not lock back and i keep pulling the trigger and i notice a flinch and my grip in the gun was way too tight practice on the dry firing, good grip techniques, trigger/sight control and w/ some time and practice it should go away |
Only shot 226, 229, but I didn't think they were that bad.
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I learned to watch for the muzzle flash. If I see it, that's my reward. It has worked well. I haven't flinched in years and the results on the target show it. My groups may not be the tightest in the world but they're at least pretty much where I was aiming. Dummy rounds mixed in with live ones in the magazine are a great training tool. CJ |
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Learn a proper grip. What I learned from a recent video posted here helped me out quite a bit. If you're a righty... Your left arm should be more straight that your right, and should do 60% of the gripping. Right arm should be slightly more bent at the elbow, 40% of the gripping- main focus of the right hand/arm should be the trigger pull. Relax the shoulders, don't stick them out or lock them. Body square to the target. Both eyes open. Pull the trigger using the fleshy portion of your trigger finger, not the joint, not the tip...but closer to the joint than the tip. Get this portion down to the point where its second nature. Lots of dry fire. When you're pulling the trigger, think about your wife/gf/whatever else you got, and you'll hit where you want. I find that the less I think about my trigger pull, the better shot I make, but this is of course after developing a decent "foundation" for a trigger pull/grip. Try gripping like I mentioned above. It made me quicker back on target for a follow up (since my right elbow was bent and could absorb more recoil) and also made me more accurate as well. |
| My biggest problem was not having the gun in the web of my hand correctly. I've got shorter fingers, so I'd have the gun turned enough so I could get good leverage on the trigger. When I centered the gun in the web of my hand and used the single-action trigger for reach, my shots stopped hitting low. |
If a .22 conversion is available, get it and shoot a lot. After dry-fire sessions, head to the range and shoot a brick or two  . Cheap and effective. Buy extra mags though. Shooting .22 in the same firearm seems to me like the next step up from dry-firing. As someone already mentioned... make it muscle memory. |
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Along with these other suggestions, I also suggest doubling up on your hearing protection. You didn't mention if your range was indoor or outdoor, so I don't know if it's contributing to the problem or not, but I developed a SEVERE flinch (more of a closing my eyes before I shoot  ) when I started shooting at an indoor range. It wasn't really MY pistol so much as it was all the OTHER guys pistols beside me. I just got jumpy.So I found a better set of plugs (the silicon ones... can't hear $#IT with 'em) and a set of muffs too. That has helped me a lot. I use electronic muffs and turn the volume all the way UP so I can hear what's going on around me, but when shots are fired, it's very muffled. While you're trying all these other suggestions, you may want to try that too. |
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