Sons flinching… Help!

[bigquacks]

Have him shoot and video with your phone. You can see what he is doing and show him so he knows.

 

[Kirk]

He may yanking the trigger. I can still hear my Dad in my mind every time I pull the trigger. "slowly apply pressure to the trigger." Then he would always say it should almost surprise you when it fires.

 

[Bgoodman30]

He may yanking the trigger. I can still hear my Dad in my mind every time I pull the trigger. "slowly apply pressure to the trigger." Then he would always say it should almost surprise you when it fires.

This could be it too. He said he pulled the trigger fast Saturday..

 

[BigCityBubba]

Have him shoot and video with your phone. You can see what he is doing and show him so he knows.

This and/or just watch him shoot. When I say watch him shoot, I mean literally look at him pulling the trigger. Don't pay attention t anything else. I took a long range shooting course and they had someone there watching me pull the trigger and they would tell me whenever I made a mistake. You should see him flinch, yank the trigger, close his eyes, or whatever he is doing to throw the shot off. It should be obvious. You can go from there. Practicing with a 22 is a great idea. I have a 17hmr bolt action that I use to get in trigger time. Make sure he knows the basic breathing when shooting also.

 

[Huntaholic]

A flinch is a HORRIBLE thing to deal with! A lot of the advice given here is from folks that have never had the issue. Once you do, its absolute HEYALLL to break!
I developed a BADDDDDD flinch with, believe it or not, ARCHERY! I battled it for years and honestly, I never overcame it. I was overjoyed when TN legalized crossbows! I shoot a bow left hand and a rifle right hand. I have ZERO issues shooting anything right handed but left handed takes a step by step procedure to execute a good shot. The ONLY way I can shoot a bow is to keep my finger off the trigger and settle the pin where it needs to be, then I CLOSE MY EYES and put my finger on the trigger and re-settle on the target. ANY other way and I will punch the trigger. Folks tell me all the time to switch to shooting a bow right handed. MY answer is "theres no way Im risking my right side to to save my left! What if it transfers to BOTH sides!?"
Strangely enough, the best deer Ive ever killed with ANYTHING was a 153 and change buck and I killed him left handed with my compound!
Once you have target panic its a BEEEATTCH to overcome! take him shooting targets off the bench and YOU load the rifle behind his back. BUT dont tell him what you are doing! Give him a round or two thats live, then hand him an empty gun with him thinking its loaded. Forget about the target and watch what he does when SQUEEZING the trigger. Its all in the mind. Youve got to control those instincts. I can shoot anything from a .22 short to a 375 H&H to a 3.5 in turkey load and never flinch RIGHT HANDED, I cant shoot a slingshot left handed without going through the procedure to make it hit.

 

[nso123]

As mentioned above, dry fire until he is sick of it. Put a penny on the scope turret and challenge him to not let it fall off as he dry fires.

 

[grill-n-man2]

Another possibility is did the gun come with a 2 piece scope base or 1 pc? Most Savage rifles with the 2pc bases I've ever seen leave very little if any room to move the scope for proper eye relief. If he having to get up on the gun hard he's leaning into it pushing it forward and is probably uncomfortable. If it's comfortable the scope maybe to far forward not giving good sight picture. If it doesn't have the accu trigger then it's a good amount of effort and trigger control to get accurate. So with that said If it's a 2pc base replace it with a multi slot 1pc. Also if I remember correctly said bullet is hitting dirt. From the instances I've seen that's usually caused by getting into the gun hard ( scope to far forward ) which causes the shooter to push the gun forward during the shot. Straight up flinching usually cause a shot to go high and right or left.

 

[Flintlocksforme]

22 therapy, lots of it. At about 7 years old my dad rushed me into bigger calibers. I flinched at every thing. 22 therapy saved me as well as shooting a TC Seneca with 15-20 grains of powder to get my confidence back. 40 years later I needed 22 therapy again. I bench sighted and worked up loads for my .66 caliber flintlock smoothbore with 1 ounce round balls over charges of 80-120 grains 3F, 2F, even 1F. After about 25 shots I never got better than a 3-4 inch group. People watching me pointed out the anticipation flinch as my shoulder became sorer and sorer. I thought I had ruined myself. I got the .22 out after the bruises healed and returned to accurate form. I gave up finding a load for that gun and it is strictly a turkey gun with shot now.

 

[DC219]

The worst thing for a new shooter is too much gun, too soon. Make him bore A LOT of holes with a .22. Have him shooting at 1 inch spots, trying to hold very tight groups. I even had my kids shoot a hole in a target and shoot at the hole. After hundreds of rounds through the .22, as mentioned by someone else, I stepped mine up to an AR chambered for 6.8spc with an adjustable stock. It's loud, but has very little recoil. A 5.56 is fine too. Have him use hearing protection with any gun, even in the field while hunting. It wouldn't be a bad idea to take him squirrel hunting. Squirrels take a lot of focus and discipline to hit. I would also recommend a similar progression for handguns as well, even after he gets comfortable with his deer rifle. Good luck.

 

[Remi]

I wear these while I hunt. These have direction hearing, not just make things louder. I should have worn them since I started. When I started shooting I was told no ears pro so your ears can "get used to the noise", lol. Loud engines, air tools and a lot of shots later, well, I can't hear worth a crap.

Pro Ears

 

[wildside]

Load him some empty brass without telling him and see if he flinches

I have used this method for both rifle and shotguns. I have "cured" many clients through the years by starting off this way, both young and old....

 

[iowavf]

If already mentioned, sorry for repeat. I got into a habit for a while of using too much of my finger on the trigger if that makes sense? It would cause me to jerk the trigger due to lack of feel. Got away from that and try to use the end of my finger which allowed for a more slow, controlled pull. Just sighted in my 450 last weekend and my 44 mag which I had replaced the scope and had to remind myself.

 

[Gravey]

Did you shoot it and see if it's off to know whether it's him or the gun? As others mentioned put a 22 in his hands to practice with. When my son was 8 he killed his first and only turkey. I had him shooting 2 3/4" light loads just so he'd be comfortable with the gun. When we hunted I put 3" turkey loads in that I had shot to confirm POI and he never knew the difference. He's 20 now and doesn't hunt anymore since he found girls but not sure he knows I did that.

 

[DaveTN]

This could be it too. He said he pulled the trigger fast Saturday..

Too much emphasis is put on the trigger anymore, implying that it needs to be replaced. That's sometimes true, but I think it's rare. I've owned a lot of guns and only had one bad trigger that I had to replace. And believe it or not it was a few years ago on an S&W Performance Center gun.

In my 20's I shot on a Police Pistol Team. It was around 1982, and I was trying to use a Colt Python. They were supposed to be the best thing since sliced bread. That was back when Colt still wanted to sell to citizens. I was shooting and carrying K & L frames S&W's and had been for years.

After shooting my third 6" Python in a match I got frustrated because my shots were all over the place. I got my Duty 686 out of the trunk and got great results, far better than the Python. After the match I told our Captain, a Colt shooter, something was wrong with my Python. He drilled the center out of a target. It was me, not the gun. He said I wasn't used to the long trigger pull of the Colt. I was the problem and not the gun. Instead of trying to overcome it, I sold the Python and never looked back, I had no reason to. I wish I could have just put it in the safe and left it, but I didn't have the money back then.

Trigger control is tough. Hand most anyone on here a revolver with one empty cylinder and 99% of them will jerk the gun after the trigger falls on the empty cylinder. It doesn't mean it would be a miss.

If he's shooting without ear protection that could be a big factor. I did it when I was young, and I would never allow my kids to do it now because my hearing was damaged from it. I didn't know better then, I do now…we all do.

Those are just some of my opinions. They may only be worth what you paid for them.

 

[CharlieTN]

Load him some empty brass without telling him and see if he flinches

This. Best way to quickly tell if he's developed a flinch. It's also a great way to help him break from having a flinch. You work the action for him so he doesn't know when it's a blank or a live round.

 

[Bambi Buster]

The worst thing for a new shooter is too much gun, too soon. .......

That's true, and it applies as much or more to size, dimensions and weight as it does to caliber/recoil.

 

[mr.big]

10 is still pretty young in the grand scheme of things ,,

 

[Bgoodman30]

Too much emphasis is put on the trigger anymore, implying that it needs to be replaced. That's sometimes true, but I think it's rare. I've owned a lot of guns and only had one bad trigger that I had to replace. And believe it or not it was a few years ago on an S&W Performance Center gun.

In my 20's I shot on a Police Pistol Team. It was around 1982, and I was trying to use a Colt Python. They were supposed to be the best thing since sliced bread. That was back when Colt still wanted to sell to citizens. I was shooting and carrying K & L frames S&W's and had been for years.

After shooting my third 6" Python in a match I got frustrated because my shots were all over the place. I got my Duty 686 out of the trunk and got great results, far better than the Python. After the match I told our Captain, a Colt shooter, something was wrong with my Python. He drilled the center out of a target. It was me, not the gun. He said I wasn't used to the long trigger pull of the Colt. I was the problem and not the gun. Instead of trying to overcome it, I sold the Python and never looked back, I had no reason to. I wish I could have just put it in the safe and left it, but I didn't have the money back then.

Trigger control is tough. Hand most anyone on here a revolver with one empty cylinder and 99% of them will jerk the gun after the trigger falls on the empty cylinder. It doesn't mean it would be a miss.

If he's shooting without ear protection that could be a big factor. I did it when I was young, and I would never allow my kids to do it now because my hearing was damaged from it. I didn't know better then, I do now…we all do.

Those are just some of my opinions. They may only be worth what you paid for them.

He definitely wears ear protection but I asked him earlier and he said he was scared of the noise and the kick...

 

[Bgoodman30]

10 is still pretty young in the grand scheme of things ,,

I know it seems like folks are starting kids younger and younger.. He shot his first deer at 7.. Never fired a rifle before.. Now I am having some regrets that I started him too young.. His brother is 7 and I haven't even taken him deer hunting but he's just a less mature kid.. I would do anything to live somewhere we could shoot out back like I had when I grew up.. Our land is 1 hr plus.

 

[Bgoodman30]

This. Best way to quickly tell if he's developed a flinch. It's also a great way to help him break from having a flinch. You work the action for him so he doesn't know when it's a blank or a live round.

Yeah I plan to do this in between some 22 plinking.. I was going to setup my phone on a tripod so I could video his reaction.