getting over the flinch

[rawhide]

ok I have one flinter. I know the rifle is a strate shooter. but for some reason I flinch bad when shooting it. I guess because of the pan flash inches from my face. how do ya get over flinching.

 

[David W.]

Some people just anticipate the recoil and flinch. Try just priming the pan and snapping a few dozen or so, then shoot a few dozen very low powder charges so the recoil will be very light. Once you get used to it, you may find your problem is solved.

 

[ApprenticeBuilder]

You could start out with a cut down clothes pin in the cock and practice with that before moving up to a primed pan, allows for "indoor practice".

Also if you have cap guns, put them away for a year and only shoot the flint, you will train yourself to shoot it.

 

[Claude Mathis]

Some people just anticipate the recoil and flinch. Try just priming the pan and snapping a few dozen or so, then shoot a few dozen very low powder charges so the recoil will be very light. Once you get used to it, you may find your problem is solved.

Good advice. Like any fear, you have tell yourself you aren't going to be harmed and just get used to it.

 

[loco219]

Make sure your front sight is VERY bright, whether its brass, fiber optic, etc. The trick to getting over the flinch is concentrating intensely on the target.Plant that front bead and concentrate on placing it on target. You should be looking at the target, not the barrel. You will get over it, just takes practice. If you want to laugh have a friend load or not load for you and hand you the rifle to shoot. When you have the flinch you will jerk and jump even when the gun is not loaded.

 

[Rusty Spur 82]

A good safety practice of using ear protectors and safety shooting glasses go a long way in helping a flincher too.Wearing those two items alone takes the worry out of being close.
Rusty Spur

 

[ol vern]

First go back to the basics,breath control,sight picture,trigger
control. concentrate on every shot you make.

IF you are aware of the flash you have taken your eyes off the sights. For me if the target disappers in a cloud of gun smoke
I have mad a good shot.

 

[Tom Compton]

If you have set triggers, a lot is gained by dry firing just tripping the trigger.

Train yourself to concentrate on the front sight staying on target. 20 times a night, 5 times before starting a shooting session and 1-2 times before each shot.

 

[larry wv]

I had a nipple blow out of a cap gun while hunting. Had to feel my way down to a creek and wash my eyes out to find my way home :shake: Black powder and eye balls don't get along. Took several months to be able to see good enough to shoot again. It took a bit of concentration to get used to shooting a flinter again after that. I feel more at ease shooting a flinter than a capper since the nipple isn't going to get me with the flint ignition. A puff of smoke beats the heck out of 3f and burned eyeballs Larry Wv

 

[BullRunBear]

I'm lucky in that I never had the flintlock flinch but that might be because I have worn thick glasses since 5th grade. (Or maybe I'm just the insensitive sort.) :grin:

Try a lot of primer only practise and make sure you have good eye protection. Once you know the flash can't hurt through the shooting glasses, I bet the flinch will disappear.

Good luck. Flintlocks are addictive.

Jeff

 

[Old Salt]

The best solution for me is to be relaxed. When my upper body is relaxed and my lower body is stable I shoot pretty well.

If I'm the least bit tense or without solid footing it's a manure shoot. :grin:

Practise with the set trigger in the basement is a big help. Just leave the cock down so the trigger bar only acts on the sear. You don't want the trigger to be pounding the sear if the nose of the sear is engaged in the half cock notch.

 

[54ball]

The first thing is make sure you are using correct form when shooting your rifle. You may be placing your cheek too far up on the stock, crowding the lock.

Once you are comfortable with the hold of the rifle practice holding the sights on a mark. Pretend you shoot. Get used to the hold and holding the sights on the mark after you pretend to shoot. You can this in your living room.

As mentioned above place a piece of wood in the jaws and practice on the mark but now pull the trigger. Your sights should not move off the mark when the trigger is pulled.

Hold on target at least 3 seconds after squeezing the trigger. This is follow through which is very important for flintlocks or all rifles for that matter.

After getting comfortable with that go to a safe place and try it with a flint and prime only.

After your steady with that, it's time to throw some balls down range.

I learned the following from shooting guns with heavy recoil. Despite the BS you may hear about "heavy pushes" some guns just hurt to shoot after a while. Rifles like 30-06 bolt actions, 45-70s and the worse, single barrel 12 gauges can be very painful to shoot. Even the straight stocked TC Hawken or Renegade can be painful. When shooting a big rifle like that I lock into the shooting position fix my sights on the target and my mind says " This gun may blow my arm off but that ball is going to hit the target". The fact is that if the gun did indeed blow my shoulder off the bullet would have been on target. Get in the zone. Don't let it beat you.

 

[rabjr]

Concentrate on your target. Pick a spot and zone in on it. From the very begining I wasn't bothered by the flash and actually thought it would be cool to see. But everything happens so fast I never get to see the pan flash as must as I would like. :haha: I realized it must be the concentrating on the target, the reason I don't see the flash like I want to.

 

[ebiggs1]

I see this mentioned so seldom and by only a few, wise, members. But you need to use safety glasses every time you shoot guns, any gun and especially flintlocks. Not your sit down reading glasses real safety glasses.
I never had the “flinch” so I can’t help you eliminate that but I might save your eyesight!
If you do already use them, good for you.

 

[Trench]

Okay, I had this problem for quite a while. The wooden "flint" in the jaws is what cured me. I found out how horrible the flinch was the first time I started dry firing with the wooden flint. I still hand a target across my living room and dry fire with a wooden flint to practice my marksmanship fundamentals. Give it a try and stick too it. My flinch didn't go away over night, so keep at it.

 

[ApprenticeBuilder]

When I first shot my new flinter it was precise off the bench at about tie breaker distance (13yds), on the mark cutting holes.

When I stood up and fired at the same distance off-hand it was a miserable thing, 6" low and 6" right of point of aim, the problem was a lack of follow thru and less of a problem with flintching.

Just something else to consider, a flint rifle has a slower lock time than a cap rifle and if you also have a longer barrel than you were previously shooting this will be a factor, it requires holding onto target longer.

 

[rawhide]

thanks guys I'll try the clothes pin thing it mite help. I do wear eye glasses. I think it's just seening a flash in front of my eye makes me tense up. I know with the cap guns I'm a great shot. just with this rock banner I flinch bad. so time to practice. wandering if a flash gaurd may help.

 

[David W.]

thanks guys I'll try the clothes pin thing it mite help. I do wear eye glasses. I think it's just seening a flash in front of my eye makes me tense up. I know with the cap guns I'm a great shot. just with this rock banner I flinch bad. so time to practice. wandering if a flash gaurd may help.

If it is the flash that bothers you, using a clothes pin will not work, I'm afraid. I believe you need to start directly with filling the pan and snapping off a few dozen until it becomes natural and doesn't bother you anymore. It also helps if you are incorrectly jerking the trigger instead of SQUEEZING it. The dry-fire (clothes pin) method didn't work for me. I had to get over the flash/smoke thing first. Then I loaded light charges and built it up to heavier loads. You need to do that anyway to find what amount of powder your rifle likes, both for target, and your hunting charge.

I takes a while sometimes, but that is part of the learning curve to shooting a flinter! :grin:

P.S. A flash guard only helps for the person next to you so they don't get blasted by the fast moving hot gasses comming out of the TH.

 

[saber]

shoot from a bench rest,concentrate on your sight picture target and sights and shoot for the higher score and soon you will not even notice the flash

 

[ApprenticeBuilder]

No dis-respect,
sounds like how the 'ol man taught me to swim, get out to the deep area of the lake and pitch em' in you'll get used to it or drown.
:redface: