Help with trigger finger during recoil

[Cuz]

Greetings,

I've been lurking for a while, but this is my first post. I've read the book once, and am going thru it again a little slower but I seem to be stuck. I can't get the sights to track properly. I've over-analyzed and read a lot and know that I have lots to practice, but I'm stuck on something.

What do I do with my trigger finger between the time the shot breaks, and the slide finishes racking? Currently I'm finding myself pressing the trigger and holding it in tight until the gun finishes recoiling and then I let it out slowly to reset the trigger. This isn't working. I know I've got more reading to do here and more practice both dry and live but somehow I got hung up on this one area and can't get past it. Any advice? I'm finding myself sitting on the trigger til the gun settles then releasing it just til it resets and then pulling it again. This process just doesn't seem right, but if I release it completely during recoil I feel like I'm losing control of the gun. I don't seem to be able to do anything consistently with my finger as it relates to the trigger while the sights are tracking up and down. Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks,

LC.

[shred]

Greetings,

I've been lurking for a while, but this is my first post.  I've read the book once, and am going thru it again a little slower but I seem to be stuck.  I can't get the sights to track properly.  I've over-analyzed and read a lot and know that I have lots to practice, but I'm stuck on something.

What do I do with my trigger finger between the time the shot breaks, and the slide finishes racking?  Currently I'm finding myself pressing the trigger and holding it in tight until the gun finishes recoiling and then I let it out slowly to reset the trigger.  This isn't working.

This should be working unless you're squeezing the bejeezus out of it. It's what most people that want top accuracy for some shots do (called "pinning the trigger"). Consistent sight tracking is almost all about grip and stance, the trigger finger doesn't do a lot during recoil-- a yank will show up as the sights lifting from the wrong spot.

[Cuz]

I don't know about yanking, but lately all my shots have been missing to the right (I'm a lefty). I think it's a flinch problem. It'd be easier if guns were quieter! I'm dumping lots of rounds trying to cure it without luck. Double plugging causes headaches since I can't stand having a plug in my ear under the muffs. The problem I'm having with sight tracking is two-fold. First, no matter how hard I try, I can't stay with the sight after the gun discharges. I don't THINK I'm blinking, but I must be cause I always lose the sight. When I pick it up again it's tracking back down past the starting point so I end up having to lift it back to it's original position. I'm a mess! I need to make practice sessions more efficient rather than just shooting ammo downrange. I feel like I've taken a few steps backwards in the last six months. I hope it turns around soon. Thanks for your input.

LC

[shred]

Shooting indoors? Under a roof? As a lefty, shots low and right are usually flinching/jerking/yanking. Been there, done that. Blinking usually comes along for the ride too. Got a .22 or some better muffs or some light loads? Also try shooting slow-fire off sandbags.

[Flexmoney]

I often pin the trigger to the rear. No biggie.

But, it sounds like...if you are "losing cotrol when yuo don't pin"...that likely means you haven't yet made your trigger finget independent of your strong hand's grip.

And, if yuo are pulling shot off to the strong-side...that is another sign that you are "milking" the strong-hand grip some.

Try to ease your strong-hand grip by 10%...and increase your weak-hand grip by that amount.

Also, in dry-fire practice, try the balance the dime on the front sight" trick.

(And, get softer plugs...and better muffs. )

[Flexmoney]

And, welcome to the forums!

Keep us posted on your progress.

[iweiny]

Fascinating, no offense but I am glad I am not alone...

I have found that in PPC at 25 yrds the only thing I can do to get rid of my flinch is to "pin the trigger" as you call it.

One thing I noticed though is that I used to "pin" when I was dryfiring. So I think this trained me to do that. Now when I dry fire I practice letting off the trigger while still holding on target...

But I don't know if this has really helped... ;-)

Ira

[Pierruiggi]

I can't stand using ear plugs either, so I put cotton in my ears and then, of course, the muffs.

It's not as effective as ear plugs and muffs, but they won't cause you a headache.

[Cuz]

Thanks for the input. I picked up some of the foam type plugs to put under the muffs. They're softer than the plastic kind. I alternate between a .22 and .45 when I shoot to try and try and feel if I'm flinching more with one than the other. My .45 loads are fairly light (200 gr LSWC over 3.9 gr Bullseye) So I don't want to go any lighter. And Flexmoney is right, my trigger finger is not independant of my grip. Not sure how to seperate them.

Am I hurting myself by bringing two guns to the range at a time? I only get to shoot about once a week so I want to get in practice with the .22 and .45 since I enter local matches with both every month.

Thanks again with the suggestions. My only complaint about this forum is everytime I try to look up a topic to get help I find so many interesting tangents that I get spun off in every direction reading so much that before I realize it a couple of hours have passed and I'm deep into reading threads that are very interesting but totally unrelated to what I came to look for. Maybe once I've read all the posts in all the discussion areas then I'll be able to focus