The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Bad habits, and questions on how to prevent them from developing.

**JohnKSa** · March 7, 2011, 10:31 AM

If you're yanking the trigger then your groups will open up.

Given the wide variety, quality and usage levels of the different M-N's on the market and also the huge spread in terms of ammunition quality in that caliber it's hard to make a blanket statement about what sort of accuracy you should be achieving.

Flinching can be remarkably consistent--that is, I've seen people who can achieve reasonably good shot placement because they are flinching so consistently. Where it shows up most is in group size.

The classical method for determining if a shooter is flinching is to have a second person load the magazine, occasionally putting a dummy round into the magazine at random positions. That round won't fire and if the shooter is yanking the trigger, it will be apparent in the absence of report/recoil.

That may be overkill in this situation. Most of the time it's hard to convince a shooter that he's flinching. If you actually think you're flinching it's probably a good bet that you are.

The recipe for curing flinching is pretty simple. Do a lot of practice that doesn't cause flinching. Use a rimfire, do dryfire work, recoil padding and up your hearing protection.

If you really want to or need to shoot in a situation that you know causes you to have a tendency to flinch then be VERY disciplined about how many rounds you allow yourself to shoot in that situation. Remember, poor practice is actually hurting, not helping. If you can shoot 10 rounds without flinching but 15 rounds causes you to have to really fight a flinch then stop at 10 rounds. It may seem like a waste of a range trip to only shoot 10 rounds, but it's worse than a waste if you are practicing in such a way as to develop bad habits.

I recommend you get a decent rimfire rifle. That will allow you to do more shooting during your range visits and therefore eliminate the temptation to shoot more than you should with the M-N.

Over time, you can probably work back up to shooting more with the M-N, but for now, if you can tell it's making you flinch, you're doing more harm than good by trying to stretch out the length of your practice sessions with it.

March 7, 2011, 10:31 AM	#5
JohnKSa Staff Join Date: February 12, 2001 Location: DFW Area Posts: 24,992	If you're yanking the trigger then your groups will open up. Given the wide variety, quality and usage levels of the different M-N's on the market and also the huge spread in terms of ammunition quality in that caliber it's hard to make a blanket statement about what sort of accuracy you should be achieving. Flinching can be remarkably consistent--that is, I've seen people who can achieve reasonably good shot placement because they are flinching so consistently. Where it shows up most is in group size. The classical method for determining if a shooter is flinching is to have a second person load the magazine, occasionally putting a dummy round into the magazine at random positions. That round won't fire and if the shooter is yanking the trigger, it will be apparent in the absence of report/recoil. That may be overkill in this situation. Most of the time it's hard to convince a shooter that he's flinching. If you actually think you're flinching it's probably a good bet that you are. The recipe for curing flinching is pretty simple. Do a lot of practice that doesn't cause flinching. Use a rimfire, do dryfire work, recoil padding and up your hearing protection. If you really want to or need to shoot in a situation that you know causes you to have a tendency to flinch then be VERY disciplined about how many rounds you allow yourself to shoot in that situation. Remember, poor practice is actually hurting, not helping. If you can shoot 10 rounds without flinching but 15 rounds causes you to have to really fight a flinch then stop at 10 rounds. It may seem like a waste of a range trip to only shoot 10 rounds, but it's worse than a waste if you are practicing in such a way as to develop bad habits. I recommend you get a decent rimfire rifle. That will allow you to do more shooting during your range visits and therefore eliminate the temptation to shoot more than you should with the M-N. Over time, you can probably work back up to shooting more with the M-N, but for now, if you can tell it's making you flinch, you're doing more harm than good by trying to stretch out the length of your practice sessions with it. __________________ Do you know about the TEXAS State Rifle Association?