Fixing a Flinch

[Bugaboo]

I’m

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?

I didn’t just buy a .308 because it was the first gun I’ve got my hands on, there was some thought behind it. Being fairly rural and not handloading, availability was a big thing for me. I also have GOS Tags available for everything from Black bear to muledeer and whitetails and even elk, as well as good draw odds on mountain goats. I’m aware of the 223 hype on rokslide, but I wanted to have one rifle for all the species, and the common consent for that was 6,5cm or up. Finally deciding between the creedmore and the 308 was the factor that I’m in Grizzly country but not able to carry handguns, so the bigger diameter bullet won. I’m pretty set on making that caliber happen for me. Tons of people can do it, so I can too

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.

I wasn’t then, but always wear over ear muffs now, which already helped a lot!

 

[Bugaboo]

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.

That’s the kind of answer I was hoping for, thanks!

Will definitely try to work on the mental side of things.

 

[Jason Snyder]

Read Turners stuff. Dry fire is good to a certain degree, but you have to have mental control of your shot process and you only develop that through live fire.

 

[ElPollo]

I’m

I didn’t just buy a .308 because it was the first gun I’ve got my hands on, there was some thought behind it. Being fairly rural and not handloading, availability was a big thing for me. I also have GOS Tags available for everything from Black bear to muledeer and whitetails and even elk, as well as good draw odds on mountain goats. I’m aware of the 223 hype on rokslide, but I wanted to have one rifle for all the species, and the common consent for that was 6,5cm or up. Finally deciding between the creedmore and the 308 was the factor that I’m in Grizzly country but not able to carry handguns, so the bigger diameter bullet won. I’m pretty set on making that caliber happen for me. Tons of people can do it, so I can too

I wasn’t then, but always wear over ear muffs now, which already helped a lot!

Yeah, I have severe tinnitus from years of being dumb. I wear in the ear electronic plugs when I’m hunting so there are no accidents. Need to do everything I can to hold on to the hearing I have left.

On the 308, no one is telling you to sell it. But if you want to get over the flinch, put it away for a while and shoot something with less recoil to retrain your brain.

 

[Thegman]

That’s the kind of answer I was hoping for, thanks!

Will definitely try to work on the mental side of things.

Hope it helps!

One other point I forgot. I always wear a shoulder pad (and double ear protection) while working on loads with 308/30-06. The less felt noise and recoil during practice the easier it is to stay 100% focused on the bullet and the point you're going to put it, and not the rifle.

As far as the 308, I think it's a great choice. I've run much lighter 308s (and 30-06s) for years. The recoil just isn't that bad...now ask me about the time years ago that I missed a grizzly at 40 yards from flinching, excitement and shitty trigger control with a 300WM. Fortunately I got my shit together and got it done with the second shot, but we've all probably gone through this.

We were all green at one point and had to work on exactly what you're working on. The main point is to recognize what's happening and work to address it, which is exactly what you're doing.

 

[WCB]

IMO dry firing is going to do nothing for you in the long run because as soon as you load a live round in the chamber your mind will switch back to preservation mode. Shooting a small caliber is probably you best bet...otherwise get in the best/most comfortable shooting position possible and put an extra pad or something between the gun and your shoulder. Also make sure you can get a good cheek weld.

Beyond that just get tougher mentally...its not going to actually hurt you.

 

[Thegman]

IMO dry firing is going to do nothing for you in the long run because as soon as you load a live round in the chamber your mind will switch back to preservation mode. Shooting a small caliber is probably you best bet...otherwise get in the best/most comfortable shooting position possible and put an extra pad or something between the gun and your shoulder. Also make sure you can get a good cheek weld.

Beyond that just get tougher mentally...its not going to actually hurt you.

I agree. Dry firing is great for trigger control and laying a foundation, but probably won't cure a flinch in and of itself. It's the starting point, but it sounds like the OP is already past that.

Dummy rounds snuck into a mag are great for assessing how you're reacting and progressing with your practice, but not curing, IMO.

A few years ago I was helping a gal with shooting. I watched her form and could see her flinch when shooting. Totally focused on recoil.

I didn’t say anything but handed her the "loaded" rifle with an empty chamber. When she pulled the trigger she had a horrible flinch, which she immediately saw, very clearly. "Did you see that?" I asked. "Yeah!" she said with wide open eyes. It was like the lightbulb switched on. After that we talked about this other stuff and started with some dry firing to start at the foundation.

 

[vonb]

Lots of .22lr. Buy it by the case and get out there.

 

[EastHumboldt]

Did anybody else notice that the OP has fired approximately 70 rounds of centerfire? It will probably take quite a bit more. I don’t think there’s any way around that. If .308 is what you’re going to shoot, learn to love the recoil. Another approach is to fire a box of something heavier through a borrowed gun. Concentrate on managing and accepting the recoil. Then shoot your 308. it will seem rather nice.

 

[missjordan]

I struggled with this too for a lot of years but mine was more noise induced than recoil induced. Just practicing and shooting as often as you can was what helped me. Join a trap or a skeet shooting league. Focusing on a moving target is helpful. If you can buy or find someone to reload different loads for your gun with less powder to also reduce recoil that would be helpful.

If this is still hard then I’d hang out at the gun range and watch other people. Being around the noise will also accustom your body too.


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[Axlrod]

If you don't reload, try finding some ammo with lighter bullets to practice. Sellier & Bellot have a 110 gr. load. Hornady has a 125 gr. in their custom lite line. Lighter bullets = less recoil.
Or you could look into reloading or finding a friend that will load for you.

Also you can add weight to your gun. Some guns have a hollow space under the recoil pad. Take off the pad and fill it with lead fishing weights. and/or put lead wire used for fishing on your barrel and wrap it with sports tape. I have also seen guys put a 25# bag of lead shot between their gun and shoulder.

 

[RockAndSage]

If you don't reload, try finding some ammo with lighter bullets to practice. Sellier & Bellot have a 110 gr. load. Hornady has a 125 gr. in their custom lite line. Lighter bullets = less recoil.
Or you could look into reloading or finding a friend that will load for you.

Also you can add weight to your gun. Some guns have a hollow space under the recoil pad. Take off the pad and fill it with lead fishing weights. and/or put lead wire used for fishing on your barrel and wrap it with sports tape. I have also seen guys put a 25# bag of lead shot between their gun and shoulder.

^^ This. Other than @Axlrod and others have offered, if you aren't willing to invest in a good trainer gun I don't know what to tell you man. If you really want to conquer recoil, you're going to need to put a lot of time and ammo on that rifle, and other than reducing the impact of noise/muzzle blast, either adding weight to your rifle or reducing the weight of the bullets you fired is really the only way you're going to reduce your felt recoil.

Also, read the entirety of my earlier post - you have a lot of caliber-change options with your Tikka, what wouldn't require you buying a new gun.

 

[KenLee]

I’m

I didn’t just buy a .308 because it was the first gun I’ve got my hands on, there was some thought behind it. Being fairly rural and not handloading, availability was a big thing for me. I also have GOS Tags available for everything from Black bear to muledeer and whitetails and even elk, as well as good draw odds on mountain goats. I’m aware of the 223 hype on rokslide, but I wanted to have one rifle for all the species, and the common consent for that was 6,5cm or up. Finally deciding between the creedmore and the 308 was the factor that I’m in Grizzly country but not able to carry handguns, so the bigger diameter bullet won. I’m pretty set on making that caliber happen for me. Tons of people can do it, so I can too

I wasn’t then, but always wear over ear muffs now, which already helped a lot!

Good that you have the limbsaver.
Now take it off and add some weight to inside of stock. Reattach Limbsaver.
Try Hornady custom lite 308 ammo.

 

[RWT]

My suppressor made shooting enjoyable again. You may want to consider a SME. Sound mitigation device. Is it as effective as a suppressor. No, but it does offer some help. I’ve used the Witt Machine and the Deer Creek. I consider the Deer Creek the better of the two as far as performance.

Deer Creek Arms

Muzzle brakes and compensators made in Wyoming with American steel. Simple, Durable, Effective.

deercreekarms.com

I am uncertain if these are allowed in Canada.

 

[CodeMonkey]

I will just say that I am a very anxious person and many of the techniques to fix my mental health carry over to precision shooting and vice-versa. So much so that my mental health takes a nose dive if I haven't been able to shoot in a while.

My anxiety got better once I told myself nothing is going to hurt me (the scenarios I made up in my head never happen). The other side of that coin is that if I let the anxiety get a foothold, I'm going to be a mess to be around and might not enjoy any of the things I normally do (and my physical health degrades due to the stress!).

Similarly, the gun isn't going to hurt you. It's going to go off regardless of how you pull the trigger. The difference is that if you flinch it's not going to be a good or consistent shot.

Going a layer deeper: there are two types of motivation (and it takes motivation/determination to execute a good shot and overcome a flinch) I've found... either you are running away from something negative or working towards something positive. In the first case, Joel Turner talks about how "something will go wrong if I don't make this shot" (SWAT scenario). For me, I had a bad shot on an antelope a while ago, and I vowed to make sure that never happens again. That said, usually this first type of motivation requires a great deal of energy and determination and I've found (for me) that it is not necessarily sustainable.

The second type of motivation is more positive and reminding yourself that if you work through your shot, you will kill your buck of a lifetime. For me it helps to remind myself why I'm at the range and picture the monster deer/elk/whatever superimposed on the target.

Good luck with your journey. It will get better, but it takes work.

 

[PredatorSlayer]

308 Win 125 gr SST® Custom Lite® - Hornady Manufacturing, Inc

...

www.hornady.com

 

[Thegman]

For me it helps to remind myself why I'm at the range and picture the monster deer/elk/whatever superimposed on the target.

I think that's why it's common to hear "I didn't even notice any recoil" from someone that just shot a game animal. That scenario provides enough motivation for people to target focus rather than rifle focus.

As long as the rifle isn't physically painful to shoot, it's 99% a mental perspective, and 308s are not generally physically painful to shoot. Learning to 'love the recoil' (or at a minimum be indifferent to it) is a good suggestion.

 

[ElPollo]

Did anybody else notice that the OP has fired approximately 70 rounds of centerfire? It will probably take quite a bit more. I don’t think there’s any way around that. If .308 is what you’re going to shoot, learn to love the recoil. Another approach is to fire a box of something heavier through a borrowed gun. Concentrate on managing and accepting the recoil. Then shoot your 308. it will seem rather nice.

Respectfully, I don’t think that is going to work. You don’t start out a new shooter by putting them behind a lightweight 300 mag and expect them to succeed. You start with something where you can focus on fundamentals without it eating your lunch.

 

[Bugaboo]

Did anybody else notice that the OP has fired approximately 70 rounds of centerfire? It will probably take quite a bit more. I don’t think there’s any way around that. If .308 is what you’re going to shoot, learn to love the recoil. Another approach is to fire a box of something heavier through a borrowed gun. Concentrate on managing and accepting the recoil. Then shoot your 308. it will seem rather nice.

I know that it will take lots of more rounds to become a proficient shooter, and I'm working on getting as many rounds through the rifle as I can afford, but my goal, and the reason for this post is that I would like to do it in a way that reduces the shot anticipation rather than just shooting without thinking now and then having to work on a bad habit in a couple years, if that makes sense?

^^ This. Other than @Axlrod and others have offered, if you aren't willing to invest in a good trainer gun I don't know what to tell you man. If you really want to conquer recoil, you're going to need to put a lot of time and ammo on that rifle, and other than reducing the impact of noise/muzzle blast, either adding weight to your rifle or reducing the weight of the bullets you fired is really the only way you're going to reduce your felt recoil.

Also, read the entirety of my earlier post - you have a lot of caliber-change options with your Tikka, what wouldn't require you buying a new gun.

I'm having a hard time bringing my point across in English, sorry!

It's not that I think that the recoil of my current setup is way too much to handle, it doesn't hurt me at all. I am just trying to find the best way to get used to shooting a recoiling gun in general without engraining a bad habit even more.

And I did read your whole answer and really appreciate that you took the time and even gave me some links. I understand the rebarreling, but for before stated reasons I don't really want to go down in caliber to something that would limit me in what animals I can take where I am, which would leave me to rebarrel to a 6.5 CM, and I don't know if the difference would be big enough to go through the hassle?

I understand that it seems like I asked a question here and refuse to take any answers, but that really isn't the case

 

[Bugaboo]

If you don't reload, try finding some ammo with lighter bullets to practice. Sellier & Bellot have a 110 gr. load. Hornady has a 125 gr. in their custom lite line. Lighter bullets = less recoil.
Or you could look into reloading or finding a friend that will load for you.

Also you can add weight to your gun. Some guns have a hollow space under the recoil pad. Take off the pad and fill it with lead fishing weights. and/or put lead wire used for fishing on your barrel and wrap it with sports tape. I have also seen guys put a 25# bag of lead shot between their gun and shoulder.

I think I actually had a Box of the Hornady Customs already, and plan on using them again thanks!