Getting Rid of Flinter's Flinch

I might fire a few shoots per gun to see how it hits after my proofing shot that is done remotely.

Claude, I get paid to make em. Not to take down game or targets with em. But now I am finding myself wanting to actually do something with flintlocks. I have taken percussion guns into the field but thats a whole other ball game.

bearbullets said:

Claude, I get paid to make em. Not to take down game or targets with em.

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I understood that. I wonder if learning how to use something would effect how someone makes them? Not just firearms, but anything from violins to tennis racquets?

Reminds me of a discussion I had a few years back with the professor from UNC that wrote a book on Daniel Morgan...He gave a good talk and then we had refreshments, he signed and sold a few more books...After most of the crowd left him and I had a conversation about flintlocks...

After I told him I made them, shot them and hunted with them he stopped and asked if they were as accurate as the stories that had been passed down...I told them that they were...

It always seemed strange to me that the fellow that wrote a book about a rifleman like Daniel Morgan, had never actually fired a flintlock rifle... :idunno:

Back in 1978, after shooting a percussion rifle during my college years, I built my first flintlock.

I flinched the first shot out of that so badly, I have no idea where it came down...hope I didn't kill anyone.

I cured my flinch in one day by going to the range and shooting the rifle off of a bench rest for 50 shots.

By using the rest, I could just concentrate on the target. Before the end of the day I just stopped seeing the flash in the pan...never had a problem since.

With me it wasn't flinching from the flash per se so much as not having the steady follow through for the fractionally slower ignition time. I'd pull the trigger and then start to relax instead of holding steady for the shot to go off.

I concentrate so hard on the sights and the target / game animal I don't notice the flash. Try it see if that works for you. :thumbsup:

I agree with larryp, the trick to good follow through is watching the front sight. Not just seeing it but watching it through the shot. Follow it. Does it go straight up or to the right or down? Follow it back to the target before taking your head off the stock. If you can tell what the front sight is doing during the shot you can solve your flinch.

So I am disqualified I guess.

Shoot with a friend ... have them load the gun ... or not ... or prime it ... or not. IMHO that is the BEST WAY to shoot flintlocks or ANY firearm!

My buddies and I even do this with our 'modern' c'fire deer rifles before opening day. It is arguably the best way to cure a flinch ... to TEACH YOURSELF how to hold all the way through the shot!

That sounds like a nice plan. Along with focusing on that front sight throughout. Surprising how easy it is to flinch with most weapons let alone flinters.

Started shooting a flintlock with blank loads when I was 13/14. About 1963/4. Been so long ago I can't recall if I ever had a flinch or not. :haha:
But as others mention I concentrate on the front sight - nothing else. Don't even notice the pan going off till the shot is made. Rick. :hatsoff:

bearbullets said:

So how did you beat the flinter's flinch?

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The best way I have encountered is to take your rifle out shortly after dusk, when the light is just starting to fail, and (with no charge in the barrel) just prime the pan and practice firing at a fence post or tree several times a night. The brightness of the flash will be much brighter in the failing light, so much so that when firing in the full light of day you will hardly notice the flash unless you are deliberately looking for it.

Hope this helps.
Toomuch
............
Shoot Flint

I've been shooting flintlocks for about 40 years. I don't have a flinch and most times I see the muzzle flash that obliterates my view of the target. I still don't shoot worth a darn. I'm around the target and when I do hit the bull it's accidental. My problem is NOT flinch it's VISION, and I don't think there is a cure for old eyes. LOL