Is blinking flinching?
- Thread starter MartyK2500
- Start date
This is exactly my own experience as well. I also blink when others shoot. I have just started to hold the trigger back after firing, as you described, and find that it does help.
The thing is that my blink is so fast i swear to myself that i did not blink. When i review a video or ask someone else to watch me that's where i notice it. But watching someone shoot higher cals could be an idea, i'll try it if ever i meet people. Where i go at the times i go, i unlock the gate myself and shoot for 2-3 hours without meeting a single person.
Blinking and flinching are 2 different things.
As already stated, blinking is the involuntary response to recoil. More correctly, I believe it’s the sound. I know lots of guys who double-plug to help with their concentration and front sight tracking. Flinching is the “anticipation” of recoil. You're doing it before the shot breaks. A 22 is a great training aid to get you breaking shots cleanly without having to deal with recoil.
As already stated, blinking is the involuntary response to recoil. More correctly, I believe it’s the sound. I know lots of guys who double-plug to help with their concentration and front sight tracking. Flinching is the “anticipation” of recoil. You're doing it before the shot breaks. A 22 is a great training aid to get you breaking shots cleanly without having to deal with recoil.
Well, it's not like blinking while watching someone else shoot is an issue. I just tossed it in to show that proper focus on something other than the expected BANG! can result in you not reacting to the shot. And that's the point. If you blink or flinch then you are waiting for and reacting to the shot instead of focusing on solely the front sight picture and building pressure on the trigger to move it back to the rear travel limit. I know it all sounds very Zen like but the goal is to shift your attention to the sight picture and trigger pressure build. When the gun does fire it should be like it's something happening almost in the background and it should be a surprise to you rather than something you're expecting.
As the others have said I found for me that a .22 is a great handgun to use for training in these matters. The low recoil still provides a BANG! and recoil kick compared to dry firing. It's simply too easy to do well at dry firing but then still react to the BANG! once you get out to the range. Using a .22 aids in training you to maintain the good discipline on through the BANG! by sounding and recoiling with less of everything but still enough to train us. Once you develop the good practices with the .22 shift to a mag or two of center fire. As you feel the bad habits coming back then switch seamlessly over to a mag or two of .22. Go back and forth like this for a few range sessions and your blink or flinch will fade quickly and you SHOULD see an improvement in your grouping sizes.
You may also find out like many of us that you develop a love for shooting on the cheap and the whole process of shooting accurately with a .22 target gun. While my main focus is on action shooting style events I still enjoy the peace and practice of getting out my S&W 422 or the Ruger MkIII and make a few 2 to 2.5 inch size groups at 20 yards. It takes a whole other sort of concentration to do this. It makes you focus on providing a stable grip to the gun and holding an accurate sight picture and practising proper trigger pull technique. But as slow as it is this sort of practice pays off when I'm running and gunning through an IPSC or IDPA stage or CLANGing off a pass of Speed Steel.
I'm a huge fan of having at least one .22 semi auto in any shooter's hand gun collection. My standard advice to first time handgun buyers is that if a .22 semi isn't their first gun it should darn well be their second. I know for some shooters that they are not very exciting. But when you can pull off a sub 2 inch group at 20 yards the inner satisfaction you'll have makes up for a lot of missing recoil fun.
As the others have said I found for me that a .22 is a great handgun to use for training in these matters. The low recoil still provides a BANG! and recoil kick compared to dry firing. It's simply too easy to do well at dry firing but then still react to the BANG! once you get out to the range. Using a .22 aids in training you to maintain the good discipline on through the BANG! by sounding and recoiling with less of everything but still enough to train us. Once you develop the good practices with the .22 shift to a mag or two of center fire. As you feel the bad habits coming back then switch seamlessly over to a mag or two of .22. Go back and forth like this for a few range sessions and your blink or flinch will fade quickly and you SHOULD see an improvement in your grouping sizes.
You may also find out like many of us that you develop a love for shooting on the cheap and the whole process of shooting accurately with a .22 target gun. While my main focus is on action shooting style events I still enjoy the peace and practice of getting out my S&W 422 or the Ruger MkIII and make a few 2 to 2.5 inch size groups at 20 yards. It takes a whole other sort of concentration to do this. It makes you focus on providing a stable grip to the gun and holding an accurate sight picture and practising proper trigger pull technique. But as slow as it is this sort of practice pays off when I'm running and gunning through an IPSC or IDPA stage or CLANGing off a pass of Speed Steel.
I'm a huge fan of having at least one .22 semi auto in any shooter's hand gun collection. My standard advice to first time handgun buyers is that if a .22 semi isn't their first gun it should darn well be their second. I know for some shooters that they are not very exciting. But when you can pull off a sub 2 inch group at 20 yards the inner satisfaction you'll have makes up for a lot of missing recoil fun.
Mind you, if you blink in real life at the same rhythm you do while being filmed and both run at the same time, you'll either see yourself with your eyes open all the time (you'll not be seeing your "movie" blinks) or you'll see yourself with eyes never blinking (à la Mulcair. Freakish.)
Just kidding.................
First off, blinking is flinching.
Second, it is just as easy to flinch with a 22 pistol, as it is with the 9mm.
Third, practice will just make for a better flincher, unless the practice is done correctly.
I have won a considerable number of trophies with the 22 target pistol, shooting one handed, so I know something about what it takes to consistantly hit where you want to hit. There is not room here to write page after page, about shooting the hand gun, so I will pick just one point.
You should have a good 22 auto loading target gun. When the gun fires, even with, or particularily with the 22, you should be able to watch which way the gun moves with recoil.
You think this is easy? It is not easy to do, but is an absolute must for accurate shooting.
Your eyes, both eyes, have to be wide open as the round is fired. You should see the front sight go up. The hold should be that the sight rises straight up, as the 22 recoils. With my hold, the sight would rise about six inches at twenty yards.
If you can't see where and how much the sight shifted as the gun fired, you will never be a good shot.
Practice on this one point, until you can do it.
- A blink is the first step of flinching.
- Flinch progresses to other muscles (big muscles react slower than eyelids).
- Stop blinking, and you stop flinching.
- Memorize above post by H4831 and say it to yourself before you shoot.
Similar to my own experience - but I was the target, glad the person holding the gun wasn't a shooter.
Excellent post by H4831.
As he says it's not the only factor to practice but I fully agree that it's a big one. It says SO much about your shooting if you can watch the sight move around during the recoil and know where it went and how long it was there. If you blink at all you'll miss most of it.
As he says it's not the only factor to practice but I fully agree that it's a big one. It says SO much about your shooting if you can watch the sight move around during the recoil and know where it went and how long it was there. If you blink at all you'll miss most of it.
H4831
Your post makes perfect sense to me, if i can follow front sight until the very end, it should be an indications that i have not flinched.
Passed by my local gun shop this afternoon, i ordered a ruger mk3 .22lr
Cheap and basic pistol, but i should get the most out of it.
In the mean time i have decided that i will continue to use my 9mm extensively, but will always be mixing up snap caps to my ammo. So i could indeed follow the front post when snap cap is fired, giving me a good idea how bad my flinch is.
Your post makes perfect sense to me, if i can follow front sight until the very end, it should be an indications that i have not flinched.
Passed by my local gun shop this afternoon, i ordered a ruger mk3 .22lr
Cheap and basic pistol, but i should get the most out of it.
In the mean time i have decided that i will continue to use my 9mm extensively, but will always be mixing up snap caps to my ammo. So i could indeed follow the front post when snap cap is fired, giving me a good idea how bad my flinch is.
Marty, another good indication is when you can manage to consistently obtain sub 3 inch groups at around 20 to 25 yards. I'm fighting with old guy vision and old guy nerves but I can do it with my own MkIII at 20 yards with reasonable frequency. The rest of the time I have a flier or two when "nerve noise" moves my hand and arm at the point of firing.
Oh, and another hint. Don't bang off 20 rounds of Mosin Nagant "shoulder beater" ammo and then expect wonderous accuracy from your handguns.... I have NO idea what in hell I was thinking when I did this the other day....
No big bruise or anything like that but my whole right arm was quivering for most of the rest of the evening and the shoulder itself was a trifle tender.
Oh, and another hint. Don't bang off 20 rounds of Mosin Nagant "shoulder beater" ammo and then expect wonderous accuracy from your handguns.... I have NO idea what in hell I was thinking when I did this the other day....
No big bruise or anything like that but my whole right arm was quivering for most of the rest of the evening and the shoulder itself was a trifle tender.
You do have a good point with shooting the 7.62x54R ammo, it sure is a shoulder beater. At the range i usually almost only shoot pistols. In fact my favorite rifle in my safe is chambered in 7.62x54r, the svt-40. I keep it for the sand pits or once a month on the range. Pistol shooting is much more fun than rifles in my opinion. I did not check the flinching, but i must flinch as hell with that caliber hehe! In all honnesty my current accuracy i am at right now is 9" for svt40 @ 100yds, 6" for 92fs @ 20 yds.
If you can consistently do 6 inches at 20 yards and the group is centered around the bullseye then you're MOST of the way there. A little of it may be some small amount of flinch as signified by the eye blinking. And a little may be simply some added improvement in your grip or the manner of how smoothly you pull on the trigger.
Since it's a 92 you've got you have a double action that you can work with for your grip and trigger finger practice. Balance an empty casing or a penny on the back of the barrel up near the front sight. Then ease it out in front and hold it like you are aiming and firing. Work at pulling the DA trigger smoothly and with proper follow through until you can drop the hammer at least a half dozen times before the casing or coin falls off the rounded barrel. If you can achieve that level of smoothness and do so in that sort of directly rearward sort of manner that the casing or coin stays balanced on the gun then you should see an improvement in your group size right away.
Since it's a 92 you've got you have a double action that you can work with for your grip and trigger finger practice. Balance an empty casing or a penny on the back of the barrel up near the front sight. Then ease it out in front and hold it like you are aiming and firing. Work at pulling the DA trigger smoothly and with proper follow through until you can drop the hammer at least a half dozen times before the casing or coin falls off the rounded barrel. If you can achieve that level of smoothness and do so in that sort of directly rearward sort of manner that the casing or coin stays balanced on the gun then you should see an improvement in your group size right away.
Oh, and another hint. Don't bang off 20 rounds of Mosin Nagant "shoulder beater" ammo and then expect wonderous accuracy from your handguns.... I have NO idea what in hell I was thinking when I did this the other day....
Actually very good advice - the worst shooting I've done with a pistol in years was because I'd just finished 20 rounds of buck and 20 rounds of slug through a 12.5 870. Your hands and arms just don't work properly after dealing with all of that energy
if you stand in front of the target while they shoot, you may be able to completely cure both flinching issues and breath control issues permanently...something to consider, anyway
Hey , tought i would give you guys helping me a range report from todays practice. I shot 350 rounds, not counting points but centers. I aimed 6" at 20yds and 4" at 14yds, always confirmed by range finder. I used mainly 2 "techniques" wich we're largely discussed in this thread.
First off snap caps. I had the pleasent surprise to find that i would not blink when a snap cap was hit. My sight was slightly thrown off though. Since i have 5 mags and 5 snap caps, these will definatly be integrated in my weekly practice.
Secondly, focus on front sight. I just can't beleive i did not try this earlier. It may be a coincidence, but since i use a training diary, i noticed that todays practice gave me about 10% better centers than usual. It was an instant getting better. I would only shoot when my front sight was very clear/focused, rear sights and target we're blurry. Even if my ears we're double plugged, i now knew i was blinking. Even if it was quite fast and not filmed, i could not follow thru front post. This could only be noticed by focusing on front post.
Ruger mk3 is comIng in monday, if it get's registered for next friday i'll give you helping folks an update.
First off snap caps. I had the pleasent surprise to find that i would not blink when a snap cap was hit. My sight was slightly thrown off though. Since i have 5 mags and 5 snap caps, these will definatly be integrated in my weekly practice.
Secondly, focus on front sight. I just can't beleive i did not try this earlier. It may be a coincidence, but since i use a training diary, i noticed that todays practice gave me about 10% better centers than usual. It was an instant getting better. I would only shoot when my front sight was very clear/focused, rear sights and target we're blurry. Even if my ears we're double plugged, i now knew i was blinking. Even if it was quite fast and not filmed, i could not follow thru front post. This could only be noticed by focusing on front post.
Ruger mk3 is comIng in monday, if it get's registered for next friday i'll give you helping folks an update.
Hey , tought i would give you guys helping me a range report from todays practice. I shot 350 rounds, not counting points but centers. I aimed 6" at 20yds and 4" at 14yds, always confirmed by range finder. I used mainly 2 "techniques" wich we're largely discussed in this thread.
First off snap caps. I had the pleasent surprise to find that i would not blink when a snap cap was hit. My sight was slightly thrown off though. Since i have 5 mags and 5 snap caps, these will definatly be integrated in my weekly practice.
Secondly, focus on front sight. I just can't beleive i did not try this earlier. It may be a coincidence, but since i use a training diary, i noticed that todays practice gave me about 10% better centers than usual. It was an instant getting better. I would only shoot when my front sight was very clear/focused, rear sights and target we're blurry. Even if my ears we're double plugged, i now knew i was blinking. Even if it was quite fast and not filmed, i could not follow thru front post. This could only be noticed by focusing on front post.
Ruger mk3 is comIng in monday, if it get's registered for next friday i'll give you helping folks an update.
First off snap caps. I had the pleasent surprise to find that i would not blink when a snap cap was hit. My sight was slightly thrown off though. Since i have 5 mags and 5 snap caps, these will definatly be integrated in my weekly practice.
Secondly, focus on front sight. I just can't beleive i did not try this earlier. It may be a coincidence, but since i use a training diary, i noticed that todays practice gave me about 10% better centers than usual. It was an instant getting better. I would only shoot when my front sight was very clear/focused, rear sights and target we're blurry. Even if my ears we're double plugged, i now knew i was blinking. Even if it was quite fast and not filmed, i could not follow thru front post. This could only be noticed by focusing on front post.
Ruger mk3 is comIng in monday, if it get's registered for next friday i'll give you helping folks an update.
