Getting Rid of Flinter's Flinch

[bearbullets]

I have been building flintlock rifles, pistols, and fowlers for a number of years now and yet I still cannot shoot them worth a dang. I am hit or miss when it comes to holding steady for the flash. So how did you beat the flinter's flinch?

 

[BrownBear]

I went through a period of just filling the pan with no load in the bore. Aim as usual. Watch your sights all the way through while you're firing.

Not really dry firing, and there's some smoke. But it's not loud enough to disturb neighbors, so you likely can do it in your backyard. Keep doing it for a few days, and pretty quick all you're seeing is the sights and the flinch is gone.

 

[Rifleman1776]

You said you build but how much do you shoot? If you still flinch after a couple hundred shots there is a problem. Actually, most people get over it after much less than that.

 

[larry wv]

Guess I am weird cause I just told myself not to move. After while you won't notice the flash. Larry

 

[galamb]

So how did you beat the flinter's flinch?

Convert to percussion :rotf:

 

[Claude Mathis]

I have been building flintlock rifles, pistols, and fowlers for a number of years now and yet I still cannot shoot them worth a dang.

I don't see the correlation? That's like saying your a good mechanic, but a bad driver. Two unrelated skills.

Like Larry said, just keep telling yourself not to move. Practice not moving. It will either work, or it won't. :wink: Flintlocks aren't for everyone.

 

[nhmoose]

Shoot and shoot some more, pay attention to follow through it won't come easy as in 50-100 rounds but in many more.

Once you have it down is easy, don't look for the flash look past it, made all the difference to me.

 

[jrbaker90]

I been having problems with the same thing I finally got to with blanks to follow though and the last couple time I shot it which was today I didn't flinch nearly as bad I know it goin to take awhile before I'm used to it thanks

 

[nkbj]

How? By practicing with old flints.
By the time I get through laughing at myself I'm pretty steady.

 

[Semisane]

I guess I'm just lucky. The pan flash never bothered me a bit from day one with a flinter. I suspect it's because my reaction time is so slow that by the time I realize the pan has flashed it's too late to flinch. :hmm: :grin:

It would be interesting to know how the members here stack up. How many had some difficulty overcoming pan flinch? How many did not?

 

[Zonie]

Nothing more embarrassing than shooting around other people and flinching when the pan flashes but the gun doesn't fire.

Everyone watching always gets a big kick out of seeing that happen.

Comments like, "BOY! That gun don't make hardly any noise at all when she fires!" and, "Where's the smoke? I always like to see smoke when a flintlock fires!" will be heard from all corners. :grin:

Seriously, the thoughts of this happening drove me to concentrate fully on the sights and target and "hold thru" at least a full second after the pan flashes before I move a muscle.

After shooting with this "concentrate on the target and hold thru" mind frame for a few hundred shots it almost becomes second nature.

It also greatly improves the score on the target.

 

[nwtradegun]

get a friend and go to the range. have him or her give you the rifle at full cock. it will be up to them to either fill the pan or not. keep doing it till you stop flinching. that's how I solved the problem.

 

[larryp]

For me it was concentrating on the front sight and holding it still on target until recoil moved it off. By focusing on the front sight so much I was looking past the flash pan as another put it.

 

[illuveatar]

I flinched pretty bad the first time I took my flinter to the range. This was mostly because I built it all by myself and wasn't sure that it wouldn't explode in my face. After about 20 shots or so I settled down and now I don't flinch.

It could be that I got all my flinches out shooting larger modern guns. Being a smallish guy I'm much more comfortable shooting a soft kicking flinter than a 300 Win. Mag

 

[azmntman]

I have limited experience with my only flinter but (just lucky) I have not noted any more flinch issues than with percussion of centerfire? I was busting clays at 90 yds regularly last time out (from the hood of the truck). Just gotta wear glasses and KNOW your gonna be OK. 20-30 rounds in a row 'should" convince you of that.

 

[nchawkeye]

Guess I'm lucky as well...

I bought my fist flintlock from Bob Watts in 1977, was 22... :grin:

He gave me some instructions, told me where the nearest range was and I was shooting fine from the start, never looked back...

I simply don't notice the flash, never occurred to me to flinch...

When around other, non-flintlock shooter, I make dang sure that thing goes off each time!!! Simply don't want to hear comments from those who don't know...... :thumbsup:

 

[Loyalist Dave]

How? By practicing with old flints.
By the time I get through laughing at myself I'm pretty steady.

Me too, but I put a piece of hardwood into the jaws of the cock and dry fire the rifle at home to help with flinch. I found that I had a spectator flinch, instead of a flinch at the flash... which means I discovered that my eyeball for some reason wants to look to toward the lock and away from the sights when I pull the trigger...as opposed to the basic flinch from the flash. So training myself to concentrate on the sights and to gently add pressure so that the lock moving is slightly a surprise instead of anticipted by me... helped to cure that...

LD

 

[don hepler]

When I first got my flintlock, I only shot of the bench, and never flinched. I've shot handguns, a lot in my life, and that requires, a lot of concentration on the sights, and a good follow thru. Then, I go to hunt deer, and miss two does at 40 yards. Both shots were off-hand, so I must have flinched. There is just no way I would have missed two does, both standing broadside at 40 or less yards. I don't know if the flinch is cured or not, when I shoot at the range off-hand, I'm not flinching. I almost always, rest the gun, when shooting at a deer. Practice, practice, and more practice, I guess.

 

[No Powder]

When I first started shooting flinters I wore a hat with a large flexible bill that I could put between my eyes and the hammer-flash hole. I had found I was unconsciously anticipating the flash and would flinch when it happened. After shooting this way for a while I was able to just concentrate on the sight picture all through the shot. Everyone is different, but it worked for me.

 

[gunmaker43]

Your total focus is on the target & sight alignment. Concentrate ! Try firing with only a pan charge at a target----put a dime on barrel flat--Concentrate---Dry fire until the dime stays there. Tom