How Do You Keep From Flinching When You Pull The Trigger?

Answer 1

Bound's hubby here:

Actually, learning to not flinch is easy, just concentrate on on gently squeezing the trigger, to the point that you are surprised when the hammer falls and the cartridge goes off.

Answer 2

There could be a number of factors that are causing you to flinch. Your experience level would also greatly influence my answer.

A flinch is usually caused by either muzzle blast, recoil, or bad habits.

1. Wear ear protection. I've always used the foam plugs that go inside my ears then use quality ear muffs over those. If you are not using good ear protection, even a cartridge that doesn't mick much will seem like it kicks a lot due to the muzzle blast and the concussion felt in your ears. Recoil results in flinching.

2. Back down on the cartridge. As I mentioned, recoil causes flinching. If you are a beginner shooting a 375 H&H Mag, you are going to flinch. Start out with a mild recoil cartridge (223 Rem, 243 Win, 22 Rimfire, 30 carbine, etc..) and perfect your technique.

3. Fire your rifle, without the ammo. If you live in a rural area, take your gun out to the backyard, make sure it is empty, and "shoot" at birds, animals, trees...just pick a target and shoot, cycle the action, and shoot again. Concentrate on making a smooth, accurate shot. If you live in town, shoot at things in the house or things on TV. The preferred technique is "BRASS" (Breathe, relax, aim, slack, squeeze).

Breathe = breathe in or breathe out (personal preference) and half way, hold it.
Relax = loosen up. Hold your gun tight, but don't strangle it.
Aim = self-explanitory
Slack = squeeze the trigger to the point where the slack in your finger is taken up and the slack in the trigger is taken up.
Squeeze = shoot the rifle. A good trigger is compared to breaking an icicle...it breaks clean without any notice.

Dry firing shouldn't hurt a rifle any more than shooting for real (if you worried, you can buy a snap cap for a few dollars from the local gun store or from http://www.midwayusa.com). If you are using a handgun...I do not use them so I can not say if dry firing would hurt them or not.

4. Shoot for real. Once you got ear protection, you've got an appropriate sized cartridge, and you've "shot" at everything int he back yard, go to the range and practice for real. Remember, BRASS. If you have to back down to a 22 rimfire to get your technique right, then do it. I've been shooting longer than I can remember (probably since 4 or 5) and I didn't shoot a 30-06 until I was 13 (about 8 years into shooting). Once you learn proper technique, you can move on to bigger cartridges.

5. You can consider some recoil reducing devices. If you bench shoot, a shooting device called a "lead sled" (made by Caldwell) allows you to add weight to the rifle, thus reducing felt recoil. Hyskore makes a shooting rest that utilizes a piston to reduce recoil. There are also sandbags that fit around the butt of the rifle that increases the weight of the rifle, thus reducing felt recoil. If you have a factory recoil pad, you can replace it with a higher quality recoil pad, such as one made by Limbsaver or Sims Vibration Laboratories.

Good Luck!

Answer 3

Squeeze the trigger, not pull. Relax, control your breathing be as steady as possible. Shoot from a rest, not off hand if it can be avoided. Practice, I load 'dummy ammunition" or I will leave a one of the chambers in a cylinder without a round to check for flinches.

Answer 4

There is no real cure for flinching. You can practice a shot by unloading your rifle or whatever and practice sqeezing the triger. Another great way is to have a freind load your rifle and not let you see it. You dont know if it is loaded or not when you squeze the trigger as you are aiming down range at your target. This will help put the first I mentioned will teach you to squeze the trigger.

Answer 5

dont think about it, if you think about not flinching you are going to breathe at a much faster page and thats the last thing you need just take deep breaths and concentrate on making the shot and squeezing the trigger slowly

Answer 6

Don't anticipate the shot. Just slowly and even squeeze the trigger with the meaty part of your finger tip. Squeeze until you have pulled the trigger back all the way, then release.

Answer 7

First you must line up on your target but you need to take a deep breathe as you do hold it make sure you are still on target and slowly squeeze the trigger do not pull it hard cause this will throw you off.

Answer 8

Let out a slow breath, and pull the trigger gently. When the silly thing goes off, is is OK to jump to the loud noise!

Answer 9

Start small and have fun. Everyone and thier brother can tell you the fundamentals of shooting and you'll never get it till you learn to enjoy it. Start with a .22LR rifle, no recoil and low noise. Shoot at papre targets, pine cones, dirt clauds(be cautious of ricochettes) and learn to enjoy shooting. once you do, you'll be able to see why the fundamentals work. Once you see that, they'll start working for you. The flinch is your body's reaction to the fear of recoil or noise or even just the thought of the rifle going off. Once you conqure that fear, it'll get easier.
sorry 'bout the spelling, the checker isn't working for som reason

Answer 10

think about something else while gently squeezing the trigger. Usually helps.

Aim, take a breath, let it out halfway, think of something else, squeeze the trigger gently.