[The Viking]

What is the best way to break a flinch? Lately I have noticed when I shoot the smaller pistols ( Glock 23 and 19, smaller lightweight 1911) I develop a flinch. Heavier and bigger pistols ( steel 1911's and Glock 34 and 35) do not seem to bother me and I experience no flinch.
I have been saying to myself front sight squeeze to counteract this. Anyone got a better method?

 

[loki34]

A lot of dry firing always helps me when bad habits creep into my shooting. Getting and maintaining a good sight picture while dry firing is a great way to practice at home without having to actually shoot any ammo.

 

[gunnut606]

If you do not flinch with full size guns and only flinch with smaller guns, try this :

Shoot 20 shots of full house load of 44 magnum, after that those little guns don't kick at all.

In fact that's what I used to do before those IPSC matches, I would go over to the rifle range and shot 20 rounds of those, and after that those .45 feels like mouse fart.
.

 

[CJ]

Balance a penny on the barrel while dry firing....

 

[boatdoc]

What is the best way to break a flinch? Lately I have noticed when I shoot the smaller pistols ( Glock 23 and 19, smaller lightweight 1911) I develop a flinch. Heavier and bigger pistols ( steel 1911's and Glock 34 and 35) do not seem to bother me and I experience no flinch.
I have been saying to myself front sight squeeze to counteract this. Anyone got a better method?

dry firing helps BUT you must concentrate on the front sight, use a very slow trigger push(like pushing a button) and possible use isometrics to pull back on the suppor t hand and drive the gun forward with the shooting hand until you get the desired results--good luck

by the way I use a laser cartridge to dry fire --it gives me quite a bit of feedback an d is very helpful

 

[Boge]

http://www.wikihow.com/Be-a-Man

 

[tchostler]

i concentrate on the target, double taps help focus. no flinching when you do this. bullseye target shooting can be a different matter.

 

[Red-5]

If I find myself flinching, I put the pistol down for a minute or two, and go back to shooting. Generally does the trick for me.

 

[walks with gun]

Double up on the hearing protection and sometimes a little friendly competition seems to help.

 

[Ed_Gordon]

"Double up on the hearing protection"

I agree with this very much. I think very good hearing protection aids in concentration and all but eliminates the minds protective reflex to shooting.

 

[YVK]

I'd start with somebody good watch you and see if it is a flinch in a first place. I've never found blast and recoil of a 19 be that much worse of a 34 and especially a 35 to expect flinching with the former but not the latter.

Otherwise, the usual stuff, double ears and shoot outdoors, lots of .22 shooting, shoot at the berm and watch the sights lift, then go up to a large target and watch sights lift.

Another, purely personal rec, is to get rid of 23. It is a b.... to shoot. Despite seeing many proclamations on the interwebz how well people shoot it, I've never seen anyone do it well in person. I've seen however very strong shooter being honest about their distaste for this gun. Unless you're shooting cream puff reloads, the smallest gun I'd use would be Gen4 22, if not 35.

 

[FredS]

My son is married to a German lass. Her father belongs to a shooting club.

He said they have one or two beers prior to shooting to relax.

When he visited I took him shooting several times. Each time he drank one or two beers prior to shooting. He did quite well and was getting 3 to 4 inch groupings pretty steady at 25 yards offhand.

 

[NonHyphenAmerican]

Make up some "Dummy Rounds". Simply use fired brass and insert a bullet and crimp in place.

Then have a buddy load 1-4 Dummy Rounds per magazine.

This will allow you to learn not to flinch. At least it helped me.

It also helped me with "Clearing a Stoppage" drills.

 

[combat auto]

OP, two items I can offer. One, do not over caffeinate on range days...

Most important, when you shoot, make sure your shooting hand is relaxed. This may mean making sure your entire forearm in your shooting hand is relaxed...There are various views on how to grip a gun, some of the "proes" say as hard as you can, some quote the 70/30 rule, some say almost all the holding force comes from the support hand and the trigger hand is very relaxed. We are all different, so you will need to try it out and find what works for you....For me "the hard as you can option" doesn't work at all (outside a really close-up string). I was in the 70/30 camp and doing fine, but I've been working on this recently and realized for me it is about 90% support hand/10% trigger hand for optimal results. With the trigger side forearm and hand relaxed, you are very, very, much more likely (not) to flinch (or move the gun), and have a perfect trigger pull. (Please understand, if you shoot enough rounds, like many hundreds, fatigue will set in, and it is very hard to not flinch. Best to stop before this happens).

Give it a try, at first you will need to concentrate on this, later it will be "muscle-memory".
C.A.
All the other suggestions above are good too from the other Guys, everything adds-up in your training.

 

[Raylan Givens]

http://www.wikihow.com/Be-a-Man

Lol

 

[guy sajer]

http://www.wikihow.com/Be-a-Man

You ever have anything helpful to add to the discussion ...
The guy's asking a legit question .

 

[cgff]

Dry fire, mind set, everyone has posted great info, OP The G 23 can be a tough one to master, maybe have someone observe
and advise on your technique (instructor) or video your shooting technique just forearms to pistol watch for any tensing in hands fingers etc (the color in your fingers nail beds will change with your grip, If you can take a dynamic shooting class this may help also, It did for me.
I can add an experience from last night, Definitely lay off the caffeine, lol Had part of a Redbull yesterday afternoon went to the range with my GF yesterday evening our date night
After 15 rounds with my commander, and 20 with the P30 it was time to go to dinner. I was unable to keep a consistent group with the P 30 at ten yards just wasting Boolits

 

[brshoemaker]

Everything everyone else said plus...

Good sleep, low stress, exercise, and pay attention to diet (including drink.)

As a bullseye shooter, I know that if my sleep schedule is not regular and/or I can't get my mind clear when shooting I have more irregularities in my shooting (including flinching.) I also suspect (but haven't proven) that some foods cause me to be a little less stable in my aim. Oxygen is important for the muscles to work (including holding a firearm firm and study.) Regular exercise improves the efficiency of oxygen delivery to and oxygen processing in the muscle cells.

 

[drail]

Dry fire practice while carefully watching the front sight will solve your problem. Focus only on the front sight - not the target. Your eye can only focus at one focal length (distance) at a time. Put all your focus on the front sight and let the target and rear sight be fuzzy. If you drop the hammer and the front sight moves any at all - then you're pulling the gun off target. Even pressure with both hands on the grip. You must learn to ignore the noise and blast and recoil and just watch that front sight. Dry firing allows you to do that.

 

[USMM guy]

I cured my wife of flinching with a very simple technique.

I stand behind her at a range and hand her a pistol. Sometimes it has a round loaded in the chamber and sometimes not. She does not know if it is loaded or not until it does or does not go off. It works like a charm.