Any advice: Blinking when the pistol fires...

[BigFatGuy]

Training classes were a good way to get started, but on the really niggling little details of shooting I've gotten more good advice from this forum's users then anywhere else... (and it's usually a post somebody makes as an afterthought just before the thread vanishes to the 2nd page...)

So, here's one more stupid newbie question: Any advice on not blinking every time the pistol fires? with .22/9mm it's not an issue, .40 is a little bit worse, but with anything bigger I have the damnedest time keeping my eyes open just as the pistol fires. I guess feeling the shock wave through my glasses is the trigger...

Any exercises, tricks, advice?

(and, for the record, thanks to the advice I've found here I'm putting all 10 rounds in a 4" circle at 25'... now I just need to get "my" 4" circle on top of the 4" circle printed on the target and I'll be golden. ;-)

Thanks, all.

[colddeadhands]

practice by dry firing.

[NorCal Einstein]

practice by dry firing.

But he's having a reaction to the sound. I don't believe this is a reaction to the motion of pulling the trigger to the rear.

[himurax13]

practice by dry firing.

and if that doesn't work, I could stand next to you while shooting and rap you in the hand with a ruler whenever you blink while firing. I am sure, that will sove the problem quickly .

[DVSmith]

Why is blinking a problem?

As long as you maintain your sight alignment and sight picture while squeezing the trigger, if you blink after the round is fired it should be a non-issue.

[BigFatGuy]

practice by dry firing.

It doesn't happen when dry-firing.

The louder or the more muzzle flash the round has, the worse I do it.

[BigFatGuy]

and if that doesn't work, I could stand next to you while shooting and rap you in the hand with a ruler whenever you blink while firing. I am sure, that will sove the problem quickly .

Now, that might work. ;-)

Come to think of it, my wife was Catholic... I wonder if they taught her ruler-fu.

[Therunningidiot]

Get someone to load your mags for you, and have them mix in snap caps, snake shot, and your standard ammo. Not only will it help with flinching/blinking, it'll help you recover from malfunctions at the same time.

[wu_dot_com]

Why is blinking a problem?

As long as you maintain your sight alignment and sight picture while squeezing the trigger, if you blink after the round is fired it should be a non-issue.

its a big problem because he is not maintaining proper follow through.

[Tripper]

If it's the sound or flash, try diff ear protection like electronic, maybe tinted slightly glasses

[wu_dot_com]

here is a suggestion. double on the ear protection.

do not anticipate the shotbreak point. if you know where that point is, your mind will prepare yourself to blink. the trigger should be a roll off rather than break like glass.

third, shoot with both eye open. if you have one eye close, its easier for you to close the open eye. if both eyes were open, than you will sequent rather than close both eye.

[dagger10k]

Practice. You have to practice shooting the larger rounds, the ones that make you blink, until you don't blink anymore.

There are several tricks to this one, but the one I like best is the simplest. This is a Brian Enos tip. Look at the front sight, but put all of your attention into your face. Feel what your face is doing. When you can really feel everything going on in your face (blinking, etc), it will be easier to stop.

That, and just getting used to it. If shooting a .45 makes you blink, you need to shoot the .45 until you don't blink anymore. It will probably take some time.

[BigFatGuy]

you mean I have to spend... MORE time at the range?

This is so... disappointing. ;-)

no, really... disappointing... ;-)

;-)

[Ninja45]

I agree with the doubling up of the hearing protection. I once read that it is not the recoil that causes a shooter to flinch, it is the muzzle blast. The louder the blast, the more the tendency to flinch or in your case, "blink".

[DVSmith]

its a big problem because he is not maintaining proper follow through.

That is different than blinking. Blinking is a pretty natural reaction when a firearm discharges.

So my thought was that blinking shouldn't prevent him from watching sight alignment and coming back on sight picture after the shot was fired.

Am I taking the blinking description too literally here? Maybe he meant to say he is flinching?