practice getting used to the flash pan ignition

[Col. Batguano]

try exhaling and moving your body slightly forward just as you are breaking the shot. That will help you relax as the flash goes off. Flinching is caused by muscles tensing up. The army has gone to a continuous exhale during the firing sequence.

 

[Baxter]

Completely agree here. My new-to-me .54 Lancaster worried me some with regard to possible flinching. I am an experienced CF and RF rifle shooter; have spent hundreds of hours at the bench with these so I spent about $115 for my own portable bench to use with "privacy" on my neighbor's land using the techniques I had learned over many decades. My great concern was the "flintlock flinch" so many others speak of. However, the ignition was so fast that I could only recall the firing of the charge and ball. No recognition of the cock even moving and the flash from the pan was lost to the smoke from the muzzle. Ear and eye protection are mandatory and for those with any fear from the pan-flash and noise of the shot, these eliminate those worries. Recoil? None that I noticed. Just a hoot it was! I will recommend shooting from the bench for the first few shots, just to get accustomed; eliminates the worries about shooting off-hand with an unfamiliar firearm. baxter

 

[steved]

Another way to practice concentration and avoid seeing the flash is to practice dry firing with a wood flint. Focus on the target, trigger pull and follow through by firing over and over again. Eventually you will stop noticing the movement of the cock as you focus solely on the target. You can go one step further by putting a laser sighter in the bore so you can see the red dot on the target. Focus on the dot on the target during trigger pull. You will probably be humbled when you see how much that dot moves on just the trigger pull, which greatly increases the effect of your subsequent flinch.

 

[ol vern]

Me to,if you see the flash you have taken your eyes off the sights and that is flinch time big time

 

[Paul_R]

I have a White Lightnin' liner on my Lyman GPR and with 4f in the pan it fires like a cartridge gun. Instant main ignition, can't perceive pan flash at all.

With 3f in the pan it's still fast, almost instant, but there's a perceptible time lapse between pan and main ignition. I use 3f when I want that old timey experience... :grin:

:stir:

 

[bpd303]

One way to tell if you are not following through, concentrating on the sights and target, is to place a dime on the barrel by the front sight. It should still be there after the cock falls.

 

[Baxter]

Reminds me of USAF basic introduction to arms back in 62. DI handed each two-man team a penny (which he recouped later) and had the non-clicking team-member place on the barrel of the M1 carbine for dry-fire exercise. We never did get to actually "fire" the carbine, that was left to duty-stations, "next time they got around to it." baxter