New rifle...... Flinching

Blast from a big brake messes with me, for sure.

Lots of guys on love their brakes, which is fine, but I don't know many who can look through a report and not blink.

Lots of dry fire practice is the only remedy I know....
Cool. Thanks
 
Brakes can be LOUD! So LOUD they can make you finch in anticipation of the BOOM. Some brakes send the pressure and sound more back to the shooter than others. With some brakes you can feel the concussion and it can be annoying and cause a flinch. I would double up on ear protection. Use plugs in the ears and good muffs on top of that. Try not to shoot from under a roof at a range. NEVER fire a braked rifle without hearing protection in. Shooters have gone deaf from one shot from a braked rifle without hearing protection...
Thanks I never thought about the noise, considering I had muffs on. I'll try the double protection. Thanks... Good info!!
 
For some it's not only the felt recoil that can cause flinch, the muzzle blast can affect some people. Try using some wrap around glasses and wear ear plugs and muffs. Definitely dry fire and get comfortable behind the rifle. And for now shoot something that doesn't cause you to flinch.
You guys are good. Thanks this is stuff I never thought about trying. I appreciate it.
 
For some it's not only the felt recoil that can cause flinch, the muzzle blast can affect some people. Try using some wrap around glasses and wear ear plugs and muffs. Definitely dry fire and get comfortable behind the rifle. And for now shoot something that doesn't cause you to flinch.
I was thinking the same thing. Maybe even a motorcycle helmet with a face shield.🤣
 
Dry fire and get another smaller caliber rifle to practice with I run a 223 AI out to 1000 almost every time I got shoot long range it's cheap fun practice .

Might try a different brake as well. People say brakes are too loud but I dont get that. I shoot quite a bit but never ever without hearing protection so I dont worry about how loud brakes are. I hunt with ear plugs on my neck and put them in before I shoot out of 13 years hunting with a brake I've got ear plugs in everytime.

I'm a wimp when it comes to recoil and run a brake on anything bigger than a 243. I like to watch impact as much as possible.
Thanks I'll try it
 
A friend of mine and myself would load each others guns. We would have dummy and live rounds. If you flinched when you shot a dummy round it was pretty obvious.

We also watched each other shoot their gun. We got to the point that even when varmint hunting dummies were fair game. You never knew when you pulled the trigger when you would get a click.

I remember one time he shot at a jackrabbit, and click, he got this strange smile and said " oh well, I would have missed any way " because I saw the muzzle twitch when it went click.
Wow that's awesome. Good trick. Sounds like that would be a lotta fun and help me shooting! Thanks
 
A friend of mine and myself would load each others guns. We would have dummy and live rounds. If you flinched when you shot a dummy round it was pretty obvious.

We also watched each other shoot their gun. We got to the point that even when varmint hunting dummies were fair game. You never knew when you pulled the trigger when you would get a click.

I remember one time he shot at a jackrabbit, and click, he got this strange smile and said " oh well, I would have missed any way " because I saw the muzzle twitch when it went click.
This ia a good idea. I used to record myself shooting with my cellphone on a tripod. I could slow the vid down and see exactly how my follow through was. Could see if I was flinching, blinking, holding the rifle differently between shots, etc.
 
This ia a good idea. I used to record myself shooting with my cellphone on a tripod. I could slow the vid down and see exactly how my follow through was. Could see if I was flinching, blinking, holding the rifle differently between shots, etc.
Ok. thanks
 
When practicing at the range double up on ear protection. Especially when doing load development, time behind the rifle and getting used to the blast off the brake will help as well. Its not natural for anything to not jump from that sort of concussion and noise so don't beat yourself up about it. I went through the same thing when I got a new 30 Nosler last year with a terminator brake. It took some getting used to and doubling up on ear pro was probably the easiest fix.
 
Man, since I got my suppressor I've noticed I shoot much better. Most of my rifles always had brakes on them and I always wore ear pro. But now if I have to shoot a rifle without the suppressor I've found DOUBLE ear pro is AWESOME. Plugs and a great set of muffs is a game changer.

I've been working on loading for a friends rifle which is super lightweight and has a radial brake, doesn't do a ton for recoil but it's LOUD. I shot a couple groups with only single ear pro, then grabbed a set of plugs and doubled up. I was much more comfortable Behind the rifle doubled up. Try it might help
 
The blast off of the muzzle brake can really mess with some people. The way I got my brother in law used to it was to put a really aggressive brake on a 308 I had. After about 300 rnds he didn't notice the concussive blast.
 
So I have been shooting practically my whole life. I consider myself a pretty fair shot. Last year I decided I wanna shoot farther. I'm hunting elk and I had been shooting 500 yards. Now I wanna shoot out to 1000 yards. Sounds simple right...??? Well I've got a huge education. Lol. So last year I started shooting with a good buddy who has been shooting long range for a while and he gets me hitting at 1000 pretty consistent. I was shooting a 300 RUM with 180 grain barnes bullets. After doing some research I see I'm shooting 775 ft lbs at 1000. I wanna be at least 1000 ft lbs. So I buy some 190 grain barnes LR bullets that's supposed to get me over the 1000 ft lbs. Problem is I haven't got a muzzle brake, so 180 grains have little recoil but 190's kick like a mule! I decided to buy a new rifle with a brake. I ordered a Weatherby 338-378. Sweet rifle! Now the problem is I am flinching BAD! The gun doesn't kick that bad, I think it's the brake messing with me. I never owned a gun with a brake before and it's different. With the price and availability of ammo I'm not sure what to do to quit wasting it. I can't even see what powder charge shoots best cause I can't shoot a group. Definitely not the gun it's just I'm a head case behind it. I'm not afraid of it, I'm just not sure why I'm doing it. Anyone have any ideas or pointers to help me out? Anything is much appreciated.
I bought a Fierce rifle and there ports are slanted forward away from the shooter a side eject for the blast keeps it in your proximity . Might be an idea. Another suggested a different brake.
 
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