Fixing a Flinch

[Bugaboo]

Backstory: I’m an adult onset hunter that was first exposed to guns at 25 when I moved to Canada, and was handed a .22 for shooting gophers, and I loved it. Fast forward a few months and I got to try out an old 30-06. I’ve never seen or heard this gun being shot, so naive me just held this old gun with a metal buttpad over a fencepost the same way I held my little .22 cooey, not thinking anything bad would happen.



Boom went the gun, I got kicked in my shoulder and my left ear was ringing like crazy.

I was surprised and shaken at the same time, as I just wasn’t expecting the noise and recoil and had enough of that rifle for the day.



Fast forward a couple years, I got really into hunting and got all my licenses and it was time to get my first own rifle. After doing lots of research I settled on a t3x lite in .308



Turns out that the one single shot with the 3006 was enough to give me a healthy flinch, and I have a hard time getting rid of it. So I went on the Internet to look for cures, learned about dry firing and shot sequences.



With dry firing, there is no noticeable flinch, and most of the time when shooting prone, I can get bullet holes touching each other at 100 yards. But every now and then I get a couple of shots in a row where I pull the shot off 4” to the right.



When I try to fix it after, trying not to concentrate on the trigger but more on my sight picture/aim, I concentrate/anticipate so hard that my Vision gets blurry and I can’t even see the target good anymore.



Is that a “common” thing? How do you guys handle this?



Being that this is rokslide, I probably will get told to get a 223 for practice, unfortunately that is out of the question due to cost. I have a .22 that is very similar to my 308, so I practice a lot with that, but it doesn’t seem to help my flinch.



Any tips would be greatly appreciated!



Sorry for the rambling post, as a non native speaker I find it hard to make it shorter but still include all the info I deem as important.

 

[Hunter270Win]

What is the weight of your Tikka in .308?

 

[199p]

Dry fire and shooing a .22
run muffs over plugs when shooting at the range will go a long way to stoping it.

Make sure on a tikka you upgrade the recoil pad as well the factory is punishing for no reason

 

[Rob5589]

Some people are recoil sensitive. The Tikka lite in .308 isn't exactly beginner friendly in that department, either. Installing a Limbsaver recoil pad will help; find some reduced loads; doubling up on ears can help. The most helpful thing you can do is find a mentor to help you learn to properly mount the rifle and manage recoil.

 

[LostFarmer10009]

I agree with the suggestions thus far. While more difficult, the reduced loads are a great option. I often load Trail Boss loads for my centerfire rifles so I can practice with loads that recoil slightly more than a .22.

 

[Wrench]

Joel turner's entire business model is around "controlled shot process". Much of his work is in the archery discipline but does apply to firearms and Joel has a history as a firearms instructor at the Washington state academy. He's worth listening to.

 

[Wyo_hntr]

Dry firing isn't going to fix your flinch. It will probably increase anticipation.

Less recoil and muzzle blast. A suppressed 223 would be ideal.

 

[Bugaboo]

What is the weight of your Tikka in .308?

Comes in around 7.5 lbs

Dry fire and shooing a .22
run muffs over plugs when shooting at the range will go a long way to stoping it.

Make sure on a tikka you upgrade the recoil pad as well the factory is punishing for no reason

The gun has a limbsaver pad and the pistol grip

Joel turner's entire business model is around "controlled shot process". Much of his work is in the archery discipline but does apply to firearms and Joel has a history as a firearms instructor at the Washington state academy. He's worth listening to.

definitely will check it out, thanks!

Dry firing isn't going to fix your flinch. It will probably increase anticipation.

Less recoil and muzzle blast. A suppressed 223 would be ideal.

Ideal, but unfortunately not in the budget right now!

 

[TaperPin]

I’m guessing you aren’t a handloader, or I’d suggest making up 10 dummy rounds to mix in with your practice ammo. Short of that you can have a friend load, or not load, the rifle so you won’t know if it will go off or not.

The best way is to have a smaller rifle that still has a little pop - the 243 is ideal - 223 doesn’t recoil enough to help as much, sort of like how a 22 lr doesn’t translate to centerfire recoil levels. A used 243 will be cheaper in the end than buying enough 308 ammo to get over a flinch.

If I were in your place, I’d dry fire 10x for every live round, and visualize the recoil and what a flinch free follow through as much as possible while dry firing, or it won’t accomplish much other than letting the firing pin fall.

 

[wind gypsy]

What you're experiencing is more common than most guys will admit.

Best thing would be to trade your 308 for a 243 IMO.

Double up on hearing protection at the range - plugs and muffs.

Drills with dummy rounds and live rounds mixed in a mag seems like a good process.

 

[Unclecroc]

I broke a flinch and my only cure was to step back in cartridge. I went back to a 22 hornet and worked up to now I can shoot my 25-06 with no anxiety or anticipation.
I guarantee you’ll be more productive with a smaller cartridge that you’ve practiced with and enjoy using.
Also electronic muffs helped me a lot because noise also fed my anxiety.
Just my .02 cents.

 

[Weldor]

What you're experiencing is more common than most guys will admit.

Best thing would be to trade your 308 for a 243 IMO.

Double up on hearing protection at the range - plugs and muffs.

Drills with dummy rounds and live rounds mixed in a mag seems like a good process.

Agree 100% a friends nephew bought a ruger american (he's a lefty all he could find at the time) 308. Developed a finch right off the bat. We all tried to help him , but it kept coming back unti he admitted after a few rounds his shoulder hurt. I put him behind my suppressed 308 and he was much better. We all suggested he sell the 308 and get a 243 or 6mm. He enjoyed shooting my 6mm CM and 300 Ham'r suppressed, recoil messed him up pretty good.

 

[Pickettpuncher]

My lighter recoiling rifles it doesn’t bother me. Last time I got out my 30-06 I realized how much punishment I was going thru.

 

[LongWayAround]

Joel turner's entire business model is around "controlled shot process". Much of his work is in the archery discipline but does apply to firearms and Joel has a history as a firearms instructor at the Washington state academy. He's worth listening to.

I opened this thread to post this.

Try to watch your impacts through the scope. You can't flinch and watch it hit at the same time.

Relax and learn to shoot with both eyes open. Your vision issue is probably created by straining your eyes.


Out of curiosity, what is your native tongue? I wouldn't have known there was anything other than English from your post.

 

[Garandimal]

Understand, in your soul, that the rifle is destroying the target, and not you.

And that it is acting on your behalf.

Then,

​

GR

 

[Bugaboo]

I’m guessing you aren’t a handloader, or I’d suggest making up 10 dummy rounds to mix in with your practice ammo. Short of that you can have a friend load, or not load, the rifle so you won’t know if it will go off or not.

The best way is to have a smaller rifle that still has a little pop - the 243 is ideal - 223 doesn’t recoil enough to help as much, sort of like how a 22 lr doesn’t translate to centerfire recoil levels. A used 243 will be cheaper in the end than buying enough 308 ammo to get over a flinch.

If I were in your place, I’d dry fire 10x for every live round, and visualize the recoil and what a flinch free follow through as much as possible while dry firing, or it won’t accomplish much other than letting the firing pin fall.

Up here in BC, ammo for smaller calibers is unfortunately not really cheaper at all! I pay about 45-50CAD for the cheapest .308 rounds and about 40-45 for a .222 Rem! And just coming into my third hunting season this year I really can’t justify to my wife to buy another gun either.

Agree 100% a friends nephew bought a ruger american (he's a lefty all he could find at the time) 308. Developed a finch right off the bat. We all tried to help him , but it kept coming back unti he admitted after a few rounds his shoulder hurt. I put him behind my suppressed 308 and he was much better. We all suggested he sell the 308 and get a 243 or 6mm. He enjoyed shooting my 6mm CM and 300 Ham'r suppressed, recoil messed him up pretty good.

Would love to have a suppressor for all the reasons, but they’re illegal here..

I opened this thread to post this.

Try to watch your impacts through the scope. You can't flinch and watch it hit at the same time.

Relax and learn to shoot with both eyes open. Your vision issue is probably created by straining your eyes.


Out of curiosity, what is your native tongue? I wouldn't have known there was anything other than English from your post.

shooting with both eyes open already, I’m fairly sure the vision thing is from tensing up my whole body to brace for the Impact. I think a big part of it is just “getting used” to the gun, I’m only about 70 rounds in to shooting centerfires at all. My 308 doesn’t hurt my shoulder at all and I try to get shooting as much as I can afford, I’d just like to do it without driving the flinching thing even further in!

My native language is German, and I’m sure if you’d hear me talk you would know in about 5 seconds

Understand, in your soul, that the rifle is destroying the target, and not you.

And that it is acting on your behalf.

Then,

​

GR

will watch when I get home, thanks!

 

[TaperPin]

thanks!

These will probably be slightly different in feel to regular ammo, so you might have to wear a glove while loading the rifle so you can’t tell which is which, but some version of this would be well worth it given your situation.

 

[RockAndSage]

Maybe sell the .308 to finance something more aligned with your needs and goals?

There are a couple of other cartridges you might consider, between .223 and .243, that would be great on deer (with the right bullet selection) in BC where you are. 6.5 Grendel and 6mm ARC both have less recoil than a .243, and Ruger makes an extremely accurate and very cheap rifle in both of those chamberings.

Another possibility is that you could change the barrel on your Tikka to one using a lower-recoiling cartridge. Here's a thread about it.

There are a bunch of cartridges that have the exact same case head as your .308, which means you don't need to change the bolt face of your rifle, either. Just the barrel. A couple of those are .243, .22 Creedmoor, and 6mm Creedmoor. The process is a little more involved to change the cartridge to one using a different bolt face, but still something you can do yourself, you just need to buy a different bolt and make a couple of modifications.

You can find a lot of options for new barrels for your tikka - there are a lot of used ones for sale on here, for sale often as "take-off barrels". But because Tikka is made with so much precision, you can also buy brand-new "pre-fit" barrels from several suppliers, that do not need a gunsmith to fit them properly.

Everyone's advice above is very good. If you were a friend or family, I'd urge you to find a way to change to a much lower-recoiling cartridge, preferably .223, or 6mm ARC. Even if that ammo is just as expensive for you to buy as .308, it's not as expensive as missing a deer and coming home empty-handed, right?

 

[ElPollo]

Backstory: I’m an adult onset hunter that was first exposed to guns at 25 when I moved to Canada, and was handed a .22 for shooting gophers, and I loved it. Fast forward a few months and I got to try out an old 30-06. I’ve never seen or heard this gun being shot, so naive me just held this old gun with a metal buttpad over a fencepost the same way I held my little .22 cooey, not thinking anything bad would happen.



Boom went the gun, I got kicked in my shoulder and my left ear was ringing like crazy.

I was surprised and shaken at the same time, as I just wasn’t expecting the noise and recoil and had enough of that rifle for the day.



Fast forward a couple years, I got really into hunting and got all my licenses and it was time to get my first own rifle. After doing lots of research I settled on a t3x lite in .308



Turns out that the one single shot with the 3006 was enough to give me a healthy flinch, and I have a hard time getting rid of it. So I went on the Internet to look for cures, learned about dry firing and shot sequences.



With dry firing, there is no noticeable flinch, and most of the time when shooting prone, I can get bullet holes touching each other at 100 yards. But every now and then I get a couple of shots in a row where I pull the shot off 4” to the right.



When I try to fix it after, trying not to concentrate on the trigger but more on my sight picture/aim, I concentrate/anticipate so hard that my Vision gets blurry and I can’t even see the target good anymore.



Is that a “common” thing? How do you guys handle this?



Being that this is rokslide, I probably will get told to get a 223 for practice, unfortunately that is out of the question due to cost. I have a .22 that is very similar to my 308, so I practice a lot with that, but it doesn’t seem to help my flinch.



Any tips would be greatly appreciated!



Sorry for the rambling post, as a non native speaker I find it hard to make it shorter but still include all the info I deem as important.

It sounds like you weren’t wearing ear protection on that first shot. One shot can do significant damage to your hearing and create flinches. I also see you said you’re in Canada so no suppressor. Too bad everyone can’t be as open minded about suppressors as the British and continental Europeans. But get yourself some good electronic hearing protection with a noise reduction rating of at least 26-28 dB or more. Wear it every time. And like others have said, go get something that kicks less than that 30/06 and shoot it a lot.

Dry fire will not help you get rid of a flinch. Shooting will as long as you reduce the effect of the muzzleblast and recoil. Eventually you’ll be able to shoot that 30/06. But for now put it away and practice with something that won’t hurt you as much.

 

[Thegman]

There's lot of good suggestions here, and I probably can't add too much, but we have all gone through the same process.

My suggestions to what you've described:

If your vision is getting blurry (happens to me at times), you're trying to focus too hard, if that makes sense. Come off the trigger and take a few deep breaths to get back in the correct mindset (this is all a mental process IMO).

Shift your focus and concentration on the point you're are GOING TO put bullet (thus not the rifle and recoil).

Finally, and not saying this in a bad way, remind yourself "don't be a pussy, this rifle is my best friend, it's not going to hurt me, it's only going to hurt what I shoot at" and concentrate on hitting the tiniest point you can imagine.

I think your experience with the 30-06 has set your mind's focus on the rifle. You have to shift from that to the target 100%, and it sounds like you're almost there with generally good shooting. This is a mental game more than anything else.