Help with flinching the trigger

[Cali-V]

Here is a very good read it helped me out a lot.

"How to shoot a handgun accurately" By Massad Ayoob

Smoothly roll the trigger!!!!

[starsnuffer]

Go out to the range, hold the pistol with 2 fingers, your thumb and middle finger of your strong hand. These are your strongest fingers and all you actually need to hold the pistol steady while it fires. Smoothly press the trigger making sure it surprises you when it breaks. After you do this enough times with just your 2 fingers, you'll realize that it isn't so scary and you'll stop flinching so much.

The other thing is to make sure that you focus on follow-through. That means you convince yourself that you are going to fire another shot, even if you actually do not. Each time you fire, release the trigger and take up the slack, never hold the trigger back (bad habit developed by people who only shoot paper at ranges that require slow controlled shots).

-W

[wu_dot_com]

Go out to the range, hold the pistol with 12 fingers, your thumb and middle finger of your strong hand. These are your strongest fingers and all you actually need to hold the pistol steady while it fires. Smoothly press the trigger making sure it surprises you when it breaks. After you do this enough times with just your 2 fingers, you'll realize that it isn't so scary and you'll stop flinching so much.

The other thing is to make sure that you focus on follow-through. That means you 2convince yourself that you are going to fire another shot, even if you actually do not. Each time you fire, 3release the trigger and take up the slack, never hold the trigger back (bad habit developed by people who only shoot paper at ranges that require slow controlled shots).

-W

1: i would not recommend holding it with two fingers. you are practicing incorrect holding technique. granted the fact that there is no one universal "correct" master grip because our hands are geometrically build different. all the secure hold is a variation of the standard holding principle i.e. middle joint of middle and ring finger on the front strap and the web of your hand to the back of the gun. those two contact point should provide linear opposing pressure to the gun, all other surface are of the hand is there to provide stability contact. holding it w/ middle finger and thumb are what they call tea cup hold, its pinching the grip perpendicular to the recoil force. you will not have proper control to the gun.

2: convincing is irreverent in follow through. keeping the same sight picture on target before and after the shot and maintain the same muscle tension will ensure proper follow through. you can convince yourself that you will make the next shot yet you can still drop your gun and relax your muscle or worst (chicken finger). olympic shooter will do an imaginary shot after the last shot so they keep the same rhythm so they dont letting off the muscle tension. it have nothing to do with highly taboo instructions of "visualizing" or "convincing".

3 this is nothing further from the truth. releasing the trigger pressure right after the shot breaks makes you loosen up your muscle tension before the bullet leaves the barrel. the idea behind smooth trigger pull is that you pull the trigger straight back at the same speed while linearly increasing your pressure. letting your finger off right when the shot break will introduce an abrupt stop in the processes. you will never get proper follow through if your let off the trigger pressure. also its not a bad habit, nor its slow. unless you think firing 5 shots, @ 5 targets at 25M in less than 4 second including arm raise is slow. also, to attain double tap, you dont let go the trigger then pull for the take up. you let off the trigger from its most rear position until you feel the reset then you press again. bottom line is, your trigger finger is always in contact with the trigger, and its constantly applying pressure to the trigger at various degree.

[bline01]

Here is a very good read it helped me as lot.

"How to shoot a handgun accurately" By Massad Ayoob

Smoothly roll the trigger!!!!

good stuff

something that helped me was to slowly-slowly pull the trigger while maintaining sight alignment. after about 50rds, the trigger will feel like its 20lbs and help build dexterity.

[sammy]

What is your technique or mindset when it comes to trigger control? I obviously have problems with placing dummy rounds in random places in the magazine. Especially when it comes to high recoil pistol such as a 45acp. Well with all calibers except for 22.

Will a 22 conversion from the start and moving on up to a 45acp help me resolve trigger flinching?

It is a good excuse for a new gun but no a conversion will not help you as it did nothing for me. You have the right approach with the dummy rounds. Load 4 magazines randomly with 75/25 live ammo. It will be slow going but you will find you go through way less ammo and you will make every shot count. Once you can keep all the bullets on an 8" circle at 15 yards go to 50/50. Remember:

Focus on the front sight. The target and rear will be fuzzy.
Aim small, miss small. Paste on a 1" red dot and put your front sight on that. If all you are aiming for is the huge black 5" standard target at 15 yards it will make you sloppy.
When you hit a dummy round the sights should not move at all. You don't want the sights to move even a little bit.
After a while working on this the shot will feel completely different than it did before. That is because it surprises you as it should.
Go slow. When you are giving full concentration you might want to put the gun down and give a 30 second rest between magazines.

I hope this helps.

If their is anyone in the East Bay that wants help PM me. I go to USI in Concord most Sundays. Sammy

[hornswaggled]

Ditto on the random dummy rounds. I trick myself by telling myself the round is a dummy or a misfire, and make damn sure I don't get caught anticipating a hammer drop that doesn't go boom.

[TKM]

How big a boy are you? Little girls shoot .45 acp and shoot it well.

God forbid somebody hands you a real wrist breaker.

[sammy]

How big a boy are you? Little girls shoot .45 acp and shoot it well.

God forbid somebody hands you a real wrist breaker.

Wow, that is helpful. Thanks for the tip!

[chering88]

Wow, that is helpful. Thanks for the tip!

+1. useless

[Ubermcoupe]

In short:
Lots of trigger time with light loads and smaller calibers where I practice the proper fundamentals. I also use wheel guns to help slow me down and focus more on my aim versus the bang.

I also try and shoot with a cadence, maybe 1 shot every 1-2 seconds.

I like the BRASS acronym though...

[rdmax]

I practised with a .22, then switched back to a .45 and then back to a .22, over and over again. This helped me a lot in improving my groups with a .45. I noticed if I kept shooting .45 only, my groups would open up again. Going back to shooting .22 with alternating .45 brought my groups back.

[TKM]

Wow, that is helpful. Thanks for the tip!

Have a seat Nancy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyuNbr1i5VQ&feature=related

[tools2teach]

Have a seat Nancy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyuNb...eature=related

Seems like they were doing a mag dumps to me. Wish I could see their groupings. This thread was created for myself and others who have a common tendency to flinch. Doesn't matter the caliber, I just want to improve my shooting.

I must admit though, the one wrist breaker for me is a smith and wesson 500.

[Mercureality]

What is your technique or mindset when it comes to trigger control? I obviously have problems with placing dummy rounds in random places in the magazine. Especially when it comes to high recoil pistol such as a 45acp. Well with all calibers except for 22.

Will a 22 conversion from the start and moving on up to a 45acp help me resolve trigger flinching?

Dryfire practice is the traditional method of removing the flinch.

One more thing: don't hold your breath.

Breathe in, start breathing out, about halfway out squeeze the trigger, keep breathing with no pause. I'd move to the .22 after some extensive dry fire/breathing practice.

Take a pistol course too.

[BamBam-31]

Have a seat Nancy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyuNb...eature=related

Wow, great example of how NOT to shoot. No eye protection for starters. And note the FLINCHING from both girls as they pull their triggers once more even after their slides lock back on empty. Safe to say they're simply mag dumping and not really aiming or hitting anything with regularity. OP will be well served by disregarding that useless video and the posts recommending it.

As mentioned, dry fire and .22lr are your best bets to combat flinching. LOTS of both, preferably.