Shot Anticipation

[LongTermGoal]

Any advice or idea to help a shooter correct this problem? A few of us are trying to help a classmate kick the habit and are at a loss.

[dmclark]

Revolver or auto?

[H. Schoolboy]

Dryfire a lot. Throw in some snap caps during live fire. That will show if there is any improvement.

[LongTermGoal]

Auto. The problem seems to be worse at shorter distances with less time. I've seen him catch himself and then go extra slow, but on a qualification course of fire that wont work too well.

Dummy rounds sometimes work to highlight the problem, but the flinch and anticipation isnt there on every shot.

[Jedi]

I'm with H. Schoolboy. Dryfire, dryfire, dryfire. The more comfortable he is with the trigger pull of his weapon, the better things will be when actual bullets are flying out of the business end.

[ATF SAC]

If you can get live range time, work with magazines where there are either expended casings or dry fire rounds loaded at random. Have someone else load the mags. In part this is a concentration issue. If you are anticipating recoil and noise you are not fully focused on alignment and trigger. Getting caught out by dud rounds in a string of fire is good way to refocus on the basics of alignment and squeeze and can help develop the better muscle memory and concentration needed to overcome what is a bad habit. Dry fire is great, but you quickly learn not to worry about bang and recoil. Mixing live and dud fire gets you right to it.

Two other tricks I learned from good instructors. Start with grip. A bad or two soft a grip leads to a lot of hand adjustment which will cause bucking, pushing and pulling particularly in a rapid fire series. Secondly, take a bullseye target and hang it backwards. With a blank sheet, all your focus had to go to alignment and squeeze. Be surprised how very well you can score without that black circle as a reference.

[Johnny_Danger]

dummy rounds!

[engr-to-fed]

I still find myself doing it sometimes, especially one handed shooting. Dry fire is by far the cheapest route. Try putting a nickel or quarter on the rear sight while dry firing. This will help with trigger pull and sight alignment.

[mec26]

i agree with danger, dummy rounds, this will show the shooter everytime he/she anticipates that round going off.

[LongTermGoal]

Thanks for the thoughts. The frustrating thing is the shooter seems to know when he is anticipating as a few times I've actually catch himself and hold off on firing a shot. Stance, grip, sight alignment all are squared away. I'd hate to have them dropped from training over it and it is unfortunate that this correctable problem could have such devestating results. The only other advice I can think of is to 'aim high' to compensate, but I don't know if that crutch is such a good idea in the longrun.

[methos_tj]

dryfire with a coin put on the top of the barrel. If he dry fires and the quarter falls-dryfire again until the coin stays put. Maybe making it some sort of a game (for lack of a better term) will help ease the stress. I know this drill worked good for me with the carbine and I still do it often to make sure i am not snatching the trigger.

worth a shot.

[Astor]

I thought I read awhile back about some sort of dry fire simulator type device. It allowed virtually unlimited trigger pulls, but it was expensive. I can't think of the right search terms to google for it. Anyone remember it? Or was I dreaming?



Astor

[FedRich]

dryfire with a coin put on the top of the barrel.

I have also used a spent casing before for the same thing.

[Rasputin]

Have him or her just point shoot and not use the sights and see what happens. And dry fire, dry fire, dry fire.