The Dreaded Low Left Flinch

J

JasonYuke

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Well I established today for certain, LOL that all my handguns do not in fact shoot low and to the left!

I have a pre-shot flinch.

I do mangage to shoot good groups with this flinch at 25 yards, however low and to the left.

I find if I use a combat grip index left finger on the front trigger gaurd I can control this and score black, but it does not feel as good as my grip with my 2 thumbs pointed at the target and fingers rolled under.

I loaded my S&W revolvers with 2 live 4 duds and went shooting spinning the cylinder and reloading after i found the live round.

Almost every shot in a blank pulled 4 inches low 4inches left.

How do i fix this problem. The combat grip does not work on my revolvers, I shoot good groups, just not where i aim.

I am just getting into serious target shooting with handguns, and I do want to start off right.

So i need to get rid of the dam flinch!
 
I heard practicing the way you are (mixing duds with live ones) will correct it over time.

A lot of shooters (myself including) have this 'habit' to compensate for the kick back... and than when we hit a dud we tend to notice our aim going low left. (I at least)

Practice practice practice , also dry firing :p

Luke
 
Yes i tried to control the POA after the flinch and guess where the barrel was pointing.

Very hard habbit to break. I am only starting to shoot hanguns seriously, always plinked with them now and than but never took it serious, now at this point in shooting I am heading to handguns vs shooting tinny holes in paper with long guns.
I want to break this habbit!
 
i mix 4-.38s, 1 .357, followed by 1 empty, its amazing to see peoples flinch after touching off a .357[ my gun has a 2" bbl], keep practicing with empty chambers, but put them in at random, it will fix you eventually............
 
I have the exact same problem, I used to try to compensate for it by aiming high and right, but ive since relised this is not a solution. So I have been doing alot of dry firing to try to figure out what im doing, and someone that saw me shooting also sugested I put more of my finger on the triger ( I was useing just the tip) Doing dry firing I am able to see the flinch and i am noticing I am controling it a bit more each time. I wish I had a revolver to try doing your dud method...
 
Practice. That's what I did.

I went from this:

799e246f.jpg


To this:

f26d7669.jpg


In one month of practice (I'm a lefty so it's backwards for me).
 
Get your comfortable, repeatable grip.

Concentrate on the front sight.

Breathe, then go still.

Gently SQUEEZE the trigger to DRY fire. Let the break be unconcious ie let it happen.

Watch the sight. What happened?

Decide what you are going to DO to improve it. (Not what you did wrong.)

Repeat. Alot.

(Your sights will stay rock steady when you break the shot with this practice method. You are pre-compensating for the recoil by tightening muscles that don't need tightening, and need to train it out. Trust me this will work. Mix in your 'roulette' method above to test. Enjoy and relax. Only hold as tight as necessary.)
 
A buddy of mine who's just starting out was told by an old-timer at the range the other day that he was putting too much pinky pressure on the grip, that essentially, the middle and ring finger should be doing all the grip-holding, and that tightening the pinky too much could pull the muzzle low and to the left...

Just something to keep in mind.
 
Another helpful practice is to let someone else load your gun for you and occasionally load an empty or occasionally load a live one etc... just keep mixing it up!
Make sure if you are getting someone to load for you that it is someone you can rely on and that he/she only uses ammo supplied by you!
 
Cerdan said:
A buddy of mine who's just starting out was told by an old-timer at the range the other day that he was putting too much pinky pressure on the grip, that essentially, the middle and ring finger should be doing all the grip-holding, and that tightening the pinky too much could pull the muzzle low and to the left...

Just something to keep in mind.
Click to expand...

That's a great piece of advice for Olympic .22 target shooting but can lead to "limp-wrist" cycle failures on a center-fire auto-loader.

Don't ask how I know......:runaway:
 
What distance are you guys shooting at 'most of the time'? I hear '15 yards' and '25 yards', do you guys pretty well stick to those kind of ranges?

I haven't been shooting enough to even know if I have issues that need to be corrected yet - but I don't think I am flinching with my .45 as a real steady offhand shot is pretty well centered at 15 yards or so...
 
The key to pistol (other than the mental 'zone' aspect) is that the only muscle movement at the time of the shot break is the trigger finger, which is slowly, steadily SQUEEZING rearward until the hammer breaks. All other muscles stay at even grip tension.

Pulled shots are caused by un-needed muscle tensions. Flinch is just one example of this. It is anticipatory muscle tension, but you CAN beat it through mental training and physical practice.

Dry fire is touted as such a great training tool because you get to see what you are doing. A live shot is NO different than a dry shot, except it goes BANG! Recoil is not important to the (first) shot. Yes, it is important to followup shots, but you must start with single deliberate shots, before you graduate. By then, you will understand your grip, sight picture and break.

Train good habits, not bad habits!!
 
I wish it iwas that easy!
Not my finger I got a bad flinch I have to fix.

Todd is one hell of a shooter, but when you get to do that for a living and get free guns and ammo, you otta be that good.

I am sure if we all had the $ and the resources and TIME!!!! we could all shoot close to that.

All I need is a job with Para and I am set lol!

I have seen this video I do like that grip and am trying to use that grip.
 
As for the trigger, for rifles and for handguns, I tell my students " Squeeze the trigger UNTILL the gun fires, no not try to make it fire". I can usually get a brand new shooter shooting 2" groups at 15 yards with in a few minutes using this idea and "Loading" the gun for them. That way they can never really be sure if it will go bang or click! You should see the expression on the "Experienced" shooters face when he finally sees the flinch. In order to fix the problem, you must first realize you have a problem grasshopper!! Looks like you've figured it out, now to fix it.

Scott
 
Jason, as far as I recall, you only have fullbore pistols. Even as heavy and as well compensated a pistol as your S&W 460 can be a bit heavy on the recoil side, you may be anticipating this.

Do you have a .22 that you can practice with exclusively for the next few sessions to hammer home some good habits?

BTW I have a brass squib rod with your name on it. I didn't get out to Orono until after 1:30pm today so I did not see you. If you are not there on Wednesday I may pass it on to Ray to give to you.
 
Recoil happens AFTER the shot.

I have yet to shoot a really recoilly pistol. Hmmmmmm.

.45ACP or .38SPL is the biggest I've shot, and they're really no diff than others. Time to get a new HG. :D
 
i just went out today for the first time with my 9mm and was shooting low and left at 10yds, i practiced dry firing alot at home but apparently you guys are saying i must have a flinch when gun goes off?
 
Actually it's the micro-second before/during the hammer drop that you "flinch" or experience "recoil anticipation". It's a mental thing because you know the gun's going to recoil & try to hold it down. Lots of dry-fire, shoot light loads or .22, let the gun recoil as it's supposed to. Keep absolutely focused & anticipate every shot as a blank.
Easier said than done. I know 'cause I'm fighting the same thing. I'm ok during slow fire but it's a real SOB during rapid fire.

Good luck with your affliction
 
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