Shooting problem

[jontheturboguy]

The question is: Start from the basics (.22 shooting) or is there a fix?

I'm currently anticipating recoil and can't get myself to stop.

 

[indyjoe]

The best way I have found is using dummy rounds. If you have a revolver, this is the easiest. Just have someone mix fired brass and live rounds. Then shot each round. If the gun moves when you drop the hammer on a dummy round, you can see it. With a semi-auto, the dummy round can be a fired piece of brass with just a bullet seated.

Get back to practicing on keeping the front site on the target and squeezing the trigger until it breaks. You shouldn't know or care when it breaks. If nothing fires, your front sight should still be on the target.

 

[obijohn]

dry fire can be helpful. while you dry fire, concentrate on perfect sight picture, sight alignment, trigger control, follow through, etc. when you get to the range, slow fire with a surprise break. ymmv, but this has worked for me in past.

 

[Lars]

Ball and dummy drills make a world of difference.

Load between 1 and 3 dummy rounds in each magazine while practicing marksmanship.

 

[Soundslikejosh]

You can also do the ball and dummy drill with a friend, where they load the gun while you have your eyes closed, you open them, they hand you the gun, and shoot.

I must say though, I have always thought that ball and dummy drills are diagnostic, but not necessarily solutions. I guess if the gun doesn't go off, you get more and more used to "shooting" without flinching, but if you habit it bad, it seems like you would just flinch through the ball and dummy drill. Never been a big problem for me, so I never did the b&d enough to know for sure.

 

[Fenway]

I have heard dry firing doesn't work for everyone because you know the gun is unloaded. But for me it works fine and I do that a lot. When I go to shoot the noise doesn't bother me because I use plugs and muffs and I have dry fired so many times my trigger press is pretty smooth and I don't flinch much (I don't think)

 

[Crystalship1]

Ball and dummy drills make a world of difference.

Load between 1 and 3 dummy rounds in each magazine while practicing marksmanship.

(+100) Agreed!!

 

[Coach]

Shoot groups live fire and focus on not flinching or jerking. Let the bang surprise you. Dry fire can be great as well.

 

[Episcopus]

Dot drills work well. Put a few dot stickers on your target, draw and fire into one of them, then reholster. Repeat. Up it to controlled pairs, or even tripletts as you get more comfortable. Doing this while doing a ball and dummy drill has helped me a lot. Went from the bottom of my weekly IDPA group of 15 or so to the top 4 or 5 after the first time I did this.

 

[BloodEclipse]

The question is: Start from the basics (.22 shooting) or is there a fix?

I'm currently anticipating recoil and can't get myself to stop.

Shoot a few rounds of .45 then switch back to the .22

 

[jontheturboguy]

Shoot a few rounds of .45 then switch back to the .22

You know.....I don't have this problem with my 1911 in 45acp?

Although ALL of my Tupperware 40's I have this problem.....

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

When I've found myself flinching in anticipation of the recoil from my Kahr CW-40... I either A) really concentrate on NOT flinching and letting the recoil "suprise me", or B) putting that pistol down and going with something "less powerful".

I don't remember flinching when shooting that .40 P99, though.

-J-

 

[jontheturboguy]

Its more of a shovel / push action... pushing towards the target.

 

[40calPUNISHER]

sounds like youre squeezing (fast trigger pull)the trigger. you want to pull the trigger back slowly, let it suprise you. if you do it slow and let it suprise you, the only time you jerk should be when the gun runs out of ammo..

 

[BloodEclipse]

Can I ask what type of .22 are you shooting?
Does it have a strong trigger pull?
The pushing doesn't sound like a finger placement problem(shoulders maybe). If it is a semiauto is your finger flipping off the trigger between shots?
Shoot the first shot and hold trigger back, then slowly release the trigger keeping pressure on it till it resets. You will feel this and possible hear it. You said Basics so I hope this isn't too basic.
I don't subscribe to the school of Shooting more ammo makes you a better shot. As others have said dry firing is good and the key is to always do the same thing once you find what works. I also recommend Ball and Dummy as one of the best ways to make sure you have corrected the problem. Good luck and have fun shooting.
I bought a Walther P22 and its a fun gun. The recoil is almost nonexistent.

 

[jontheturboguy]

.22 Walther P22 it is....

 

[Lars]

pushing straight into the target shouldn't be a problem at all.
Flinching on the other hand is completely different.

Consider borrowing/buying shooting missology from tactical response. It really opened my eyes. I shoot a lot better now because of it.

 

[obijohn]

there is a bit of a difference between flinching and anticipating recoil. a flinch is reactive and the other proactive. dry fire and ball and dummy drills will help both, but the anticipation can be harder to fix. the handgun is going to recoil. don't fight it. you really can't fight it effectively. try watching the front sight and just letting the gun cycle. try not to actively push the gun back down, just let your firm grip get your sights back on target. easier to show than explain. ymmv.

i developed the same problem by trying to fight the gun back down on target to go faster during an ipsc match. it was proven to me that i couldn't fight it and it was faster to let the gun cycle.