Help, im starting to flinch

[odie1830]

Hi, i have started to flinch and its really frustrating. I shoot a Browning A-bolt 30-06 and I was thinking of lowering my trigger down to 2lbs. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[Grakyn]

Buy some snap caps and have a friend start loading your rifle for you, randomly mixing in the snap caps. Practice that way so you can notice if you flinch when pulling the trigger with the snap cap and how much.

Any idea why you're flinching? The 30-06 shouldn't be kicking much? Are you worried about being hit by the scope? If so, make sure your scope is adequately positioned and has enough eye relief for you. My friend had that issue, he upgraded his scope to one with more eye relief and now he no longer flinches.

[BiG Boar]

Get your biggest friend to punch you in the shoulder as hard as he can. Suck it up and be a man when he does. Then know it's not going to kick harder than that. When you sit down at the bench just tell yourself in your mind that it's going to kick but it's not going to tear your shoulder off. Then just let the gun kick you. It's all mental.

[Foxtail]

Go shoot some trap... Your flinch will disappear. Its also called target panic.

[odie1830]

Im flinching from the sound !not the kick

[Mudzbogger]

Grab a 22 and start firing again and fire a ton of rounds. Its what I did and now i'm better..

[mike-juliet]

As stated, a Bolt Action .22LR is your best friend... Buy an Accurate one like a Savage Mk2 and it makes for great cheap cross training, and it will cure the flinch. For every 20rds that leaves the barrel of my .300 200 leave the barrel of my .22

[tikkawebb]

Hi, i have started to flinch and its really frustrating. I shoot a Browning A-bolt 30-06 and I was thinking of lowering my trigger down to 2lbs. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
I'm 66 and I'm starting to get over my flinching .I shoot a Tikka 30/06 180gr. My trigger is at 2lbs and what help me was a shooting pad for me shoulder and ear plugs. It all come's down to fear of the kick , That's all there is to it hold the stock in tight , also get someone to load your rife with one live round and one dead round , the thing is you don't know which round is live have someone video it for you so you can see for yourself . I have leaned to shoot with booth eye open and do I shoot a lot matter .Hope this help's .Tikka

[Steeleco]

Im flinching from the sound !not the kick

Double up on your ear plugs. I used to use foamy plugs with Peltors over the top. Or go get a quality set of noise cancelling ear muffs. As to the trigger. I have that same rifle and bought a set of Timmney springs. One at 2lb the other at 3. Makes for a much easier to shoot rifle and improve accuracy slightly. Easy to get and cheap enough to install.

[moosecamp]

Im flinching from the sound !not the kick

Get better ear protection. Double up, ear plugs and muffs should help quiet it down.

[Fisher-Dude]

I think by the time your brain has registered the sound, the kick has happened and that's what the issue is. Get a Decelerator pad on that rifle and get a gunsmith to fit the LoP for you. Buddy has an A-bolt 300wm and proper fitting with a pad made a world of difference for him.

[BiG Boar]

Yeah, the bullet is long gone before your brain can tell your body to react to the sound.

Do you flinch with a 22? Some guys do flinch because of fear of the scope bite. Most it's fear that the gun will really tear their shoulder off.

Like others have said, get someone else to load your gun, and occasionally leave it empty. Then shoot till you get past the fear.

[Singleshotneeded]

Ear plugs and ear muffs together, and put some padding under your shirt on your shoulder for a bit. A good hunting trigger should be about 2 or 2.5 lbs., and a gunsmith can polish yours and replace the springs for not a lot of money. A good trigger makes it easier to slowly increase the pressure on the trigger until it breaks and it's almost a surprise...that beats any slight flinch and puts your shot on target. Practicing with a .22 is good therapy as well...let's beat your flinch before hunting season! :-)

[835]

Come to Vic i will let you shoot my 338RUM with a brake and no ear protection... you will not flinch ever again!

Seriously tho.
Double up on ear protection,,, Get a Pachmyre Decelerator pad installed on your rifle. Get a tone of ammo and go confront the problem.
For me, i have shot all my life never had a flince ever.... I owned a 3.5" 12 ga and no problems....
i bought my .338RUM and for a while it just plain scared me. I was hand loading for it and putting re tarded amounts of powder behind huge bullets... When i touched it off the ground would explode from the concussion.... seriously.
When you touch of 99Grs of Retumbo its big.

I felt myself slipping into waiting for the concussion... All i did was focus, i would know i am getting "Scared" and block it ,, then i would switch my focus to concentrating on posture ,, target and trigger..... now i just focus on posture target and trigger...

alot of people will dissagree they will say you should be surprised when the gun goes off....
i dissagree.... i have a Re done worked on trigger thaa rocks..... i get that x lined up to the hole that was punched a minute ago and i squeeze that trigger knowing the second it will shear.

[Trapper]

Train yourself to shoot with both eyes open. This will help you. your not alone lots of guys flinch from the sound.

[257stew]

Lots of good advise given. I was 16 and bought a Ruger M77 in 30-06 and man did that gun kick. Took a long time to shoot that one with no flinch. If I could do it all over again starting after I got that rifle I would get the same gun in .257 Roberts and shoot it ..lots. and in between shooting the .257 , keep shooting the 06. That is just me and hind sight is always 20-20. I finally got a .257 (and 22-250,260,257Weatherby among others) and all kick less and I always think " man you should have started with one of these"

Having two rifles is good for many reasons and 1 is you can get a lighter kicking rifle then your main rifle and practice lots. And since you would practice lots with it it would be a deadly back up to your main rifle if anything happens to it. I have seen rifles damaged at least 4, possibly 5 times and will see that many agian before it is all over.

Cheers 257Stew

[adriaticum]

Reduce the grains of your bullets. Go with 130 gr and/or find some low recoil Remingtons.
I don't think practicing with a .22 is going to make a big difference psychologically. .22 doesn't feel the same. You can practice motor skills with a .22 but phycology is a different beast.
I started with 30/06 180 gr and was starting to think about the recoil. Didn't develop a flinch but if I had continued 180gr perhaps I would have developed it.
Your brain needs to feel that exact rifle firing in your hands and you not thinking about it.
Also don't shoot from the bench. Do it standing up or kneeling.
The issue is not kick back, but kick up so hold your rifle in such a way that it doesn't kick back. Maybe a sling hold.

[1899]

Grab your .22 and go through a couple of hundred rounds. Confirm that the rifle has the correct length of pull for you. Confirm that your scope is set up so that you don't have to lean too far in to get a good sight picture. You could add a good Pachmayr Decelerator pad as well. Try 165gr bullets instead of 180's.

You could also consider replacing the rifle with a .270 Win.

[Spy]

Sell the 06 & buy a bow! ;-)

[bandit]

A lot of high volume trap shooters swear by using a release trigger to control flinching. You squeeze to set it then when you release it fires. You use only 2 muscles releasing the trigger compared to 35 squeezing it.

Probably not very safe for a hunting rifle. But there is a guy in Victoria who custom makes them. Only $750 excluding fitting!

[Jelvis]

Try a .270 or a .308 or put a good recoil pad on
Keep both eyes open when you shoot.
Pull trigger with a sharp crisp more than a long slow.
jelly Long Legz

[ACE]

Train yourself to shoot with both eyes open. This will help you. your not alone lots of guys flinch from the sound.

Good advice from Trapper ....
If I may add a little ..... for a rifle to fit me, I need the scope to be mounted on low or extra low mounts, and forward as much as possible. A scope with a long eye relief works well for this. That way, I have to 'lean into' my rifle, and there is never a chance of getting 'ringed' by your scope .... even when shooting at extreme angles up-hill. If you're going to learn to shoot with both eyes open, a long eye relief, and a low power will help you until you get the hang of it.
A flinch is fairly easy to overcome ....... there's lots of good advice from the folks on this thread. Good Luck!

[HarryToolips]

As Jack O' Connor said "show me a man who says he has never flinched and I'll show you a man who has never shot a gun" - I tend to believe even the snipers and supreme shooters flinch the odd time, or used too...the first step to reducing flinching is to admit that you do it, so you are already well on your way..the biggest thing I find is to be conscious of it and literally try and willpower it out on every shot..easier said than done because I still catch myself flinching shootin 180 grains from my .30-06 semi regularly..

[MOWITCH SLAYER]

Try dry firing your rifle and as you squeeze the trigger concentrate on following through with your shoot. most shooters look up as soon as they pull the trigger. you want to look at your target through your scope after the shoot. if you have access to a toy rifle sit on your couch and practice following through. or a 22 on the range well work but you well find if you are concentrating on something else you well hardly even hear that shoot, practice , practice ,practice , it well work !

[SHACK]

All I know is them abolts hurt, well at least my buddies stainless stalker from about the 90's kicked like a fricken pack of mules! I twasin 06 as well. I remember reloading some ammo for him a few years back, asked if he wanted to hit the range, siad he couldn't and asked if I could test it out.....I just remember him laughing out loud when I returned and told him he duped me!

[Shawn Smith]

I spend time practicing my trigger and breathing technique at home on the dining room table I've found it really helps when I get to the range. Once I'm at the range I don't start with shooting my .300 win mag I start with my .17 Hornet having no kick helps me get into a groove I have a lot more accurate groups with the Mule. That's what I call my .300 since it kicks like a friggin mule.

[Jagermeister]

Chances are your length of pull is too long on the rifle. Google a search on length of pull for more information. If it is too long, you will have to shorten the stock. Get a competent gunsmith to do the work.

[riflebuilder]

More people flinch from the sound than the kick. Go out and get good hearing protection and you will be ok. I never have a problem hunting but long days at the range you can develop a flinch just from your ears hurting.

[Spy]

Chances are your length of pull is too long on the rifle. Google a search on length of pull for more information. If it is too long, you will have to shorten the stock. Get a competent gunsmith to do the work.

X2 rifle probably does not fit....

[Mik]

Reduce the trigger pull :)

[Smiley]

My shoulder doesn't have much meat on it, so my '06 can make it hurt.
For the range, I use an slip on pad over my cushy OEM pad, then wear another pad on my shoulder.
I also double up hearing protection (inside ears and muffs over top) but this just seems prudent.
While hunting I NEVER feel a kick or flinch. Too much else going on in my brain ;-)