Help me fix my problem.

[battlehatch]

I just started the range portion of my schoolin' and yesterday we did a "dummy and ball" drill. I have been shooting for a few years now with a lot of trigger time but I never got to practice a drill like this. I learned a couple things, the proper technique for "tap-rack-bang", guess I had been doing it wrong for ever, and also, durring the "ball and dummy" I was flinching. Now my shot placement was decent, but when I got to a dummy, I would flinch. When I practice with snap caps, my trigger pull is smooth and the pistol stays put, but when I mix in some dummies, I flinch in anticipation. Anyone got any remedies for this other than practicing? I can't use dummy rounds at my local indoor range, if they fall past the line, I can't go grab them.

[5968]

You have already located your problem, which is flinching in anticipation. One thing you might want to try when you get the time is go back to the basics. Slow down and make every shot perfect from the initial sight picture to the follow through. I have found by slowing down, it makes it easier to master the basics. When the basics are mastered, you can increase the speed at which you shoot accurately.

[p7m8jg]

I've always done the same. Its sometimes hard to concentrate, but lately I've been able to "slow down" and tell myself over and over that this one shot will do it once and for all (whatever that is). I keep telling myself that over and over and it usually works for me.

But I have to pay attention.
And concentrate.

[HighValleyRanch]

dummy rounds

I can't use dummy rounds at my local indoor range, if they fall past the line, I can't go grab them.

They won't allow you to use them, or are you afraid they will eject foward?
They won't because when you hit the dummy round, you are going to dry fire....and flinch,,,,, but the dummy round will still be in your gun.
So you can easily eject into your hand.

What I do to practice this by myself is to load two or three magazines with two to three round. One of the magazines has the dummy round on the last.
One of the mags has three, the other one 2 and the other one one live and one dummy. Then I put the three mags into my range bag on the table,mix them up in the bag and then pull them out without looking and load.
This way, I never know when that dummy is going to come up.
THEN I FOCUS ON EACH SHOT AS IF I WAS DRY FIRING and let the recoil happen on its own.

If you are anticipating the recoil, try this other exercise:
Do the dummy round exercise but instead of shooting at a target, just shoot at a berm. No aiming, just watch your reactions. If you still flinch, then your flinch is to noise and recoil. If you do not flinch, you are trying to hit the target too hard. I'ver tried to tell this exercise to many shooters, but they look at me like I am crazy. "I'm just wasting ammo shooting into a berm" is their response. But if you could find out the cause of your flinch, isn't that worth a few less holes in paper. What's more waste, lots of holes in the white, or a few in the dirt!
There's a saying:
You and the gun are partners. Just go along for the ride and let the gun do its work.
DRY FIRE 80 PERCENT AND LIVE FIRE 20 PERCENT. Live fire is to only confirm that you are correctly dry firing! Dry fire does not create bad habits. Live fire does.

[AngelDecoys]

Trigger control.

1. Keep telling yourself 'surprise' over and over - before the break.

+1 with HighValleyShooter's advice. Shot, to be accurate must be a surprise. Every time!

2. Keep your eyes open while squeezing. Again - surprise break.
3. Try having someone else stand beside/behind you and reaching up pull the trigger for you while you concentrate on front sight, and alignment.

If none of that works
3. Drop down to a minor caliber until you break yourself of the habit.

[Gnote]

This is what I've done that helped me. Apply pressure, release. Apply more pressure, release. Keep doing until the gun surprises you with a bang. Repeat.

[Wulf]

Do lots and lots of dry practice.

Read Brian Enos's book Beyond Fundamentals. He really trains you on taking the watching of the front sight to an extreme level. When you're in the zone and tracking the FS at the level he teaches you to, you are so far mentally away from the recoil that you just move beyond flinching.

[battlehatch]

Thanks for the advice fellas. I practiced dry firing and concentrating on the FS for hours. This weekend I shot at school, we were timed and scored. I scored shot much better, groups were tighter but can still improve. We did the ball and dummy drill again and my flinch is starting to go away completely.

[Black Majik]

You can also practice Bruce Gray's "Bump Drill." Take up the slack in the trigger and apply a little pressure. Release and apply a little more pressure than before. Release and do again until it fires. Objective is to increase the pressure on the trigger each time until the hammer drops.

[Mute]

In addition to the great advice already given, try to call your shots by your front sight (aka follow through). Try not to look at your target to see where you shot, but think about that front sight on every shot and see if you can tell right as the shot fired, whether you had a good sight picture or did it wander off. And don't try to muscle your gun or your sight alignment. Try to let your arms bring the gun back into alignment unconsciously after the shot.

[rbgaynor]

I can't use dummy rounds at my local indoor range, if they fall past the line, I can't go grab them.

They shouldn't have a problem with you using the brass rake to retrieve them. While I prefer the A-Zoom style aluminum snap-caps, the orange plastic caps can be had much cheaper in bulk from Brownells, you would probably solve your problem long before you run out.