Not sure if it is just me or if this is a common issue but I have a hard time keeping my point of aim on the desired point of impact. It is hard to explain but it is not due to flinching when I pull the trigger, I have traced it down to being me wobbling the gun a little bit while trying to hold it still. This happens to me with rifles in unsupported positions and a little bit with handguns, it makes sense that it would happen with a very heavy rifle, but I have very light rifles that the same thing happens to a small but significant degree. Its almost like the rifle is too light to hold still if that makes sense.
What can I do about it? Does anybody else have this problem? I don't think its because I am "weak" or anything, I am tall and built from years of weightlifting and exercise, and its not that the rifle is being pulled down more than it is side to side or the fact that I "over correct" (for lack of a better term) when I find myself off target.
do you drink coffee or smoke?
No, I quit nicotine after high school which was years ago and I have only had coffee a few times in my life, caffeine just isnt my thing
Avoiding the technicality of how you shoot I think from external factors like
>Coffee
>Lack of sleep
>Hypertension
>Low blood sugar
>Stress
>Lack of vitamins
>Certain medication
I mean there could be a lot, I have shaky hands but generally find it's my nerves when shooting.
I have ms so my hands are very unsteady. Heavier guns are actually easier to shoot with because the inadvertent shaking doesn't move them as much. It also helps with long guns to really press it hard against your shoulder.
Specifically in rifles, you need to:
lean into the rifle
pull that sucker tight into your shoulder pocket with your right hand
control the rifle with your left hand
At longer ranges and shooting for groups, it will never be perfect unsupported. Learn to take your shots when the crosshairs align with the target without jerking the trigger
Do you have really hard physical job? You might not think you are tired, but the shakes might be a subtle give away. There are days where it is as bad as Parkinsons with me being unable to lift spoon to my mouth without terrible shakes, even though I think I am okay, so I generally don't go shooting after the range.
I am a heavy equipment mechanic, so this could be a possible cause
Might be just that. Simple test, after a shift try to handle a small coffee cup with a small plate, if you shake like a woman in 20°C room, save the money for the range for later.
Also, are you a beginner? It might be that you are squeezing it too hard and just need to really loosen your shoulders and grip.
Stop drinking
I already did
Then start drinking.
use drugs
>hands shaking
>take a CNS stimulant
>now whole body is shaking
Frick you are dumb. OP needs a CNS depressant.
Take amphetamines and drink coffee every time you shoot.
Eventually, you will train to be a top shot despite twitching like Michael J Fox, and then when you're not on drugs and a hairs breadth from complete heart failure you will be calmer than a fricking monk on morphine.
Easy peasey.
Slow down. Take a breath before each shot. Make sure your focusing on the front site, if it starts shaking don’t force it, set the gun down and pick it back up for a reset…. Then the hard part is… do this a lot.. shoot a lot, it’ll improve. Also try targets closer in… get it steady, then move the target back,
Every single time someone's said "It's not flinching" has flinched whenever the gun fails to fire for whatever reason. Shoot some Remington and record yourself, I promise you that you're flinching.
no im not, allow me to explain further
the issue is not that I am on target and flinch off when I pull the trigger
the issue is that I have trouble keeping the gun on target in general, even if I dont shoot/dont have my finger on the trigger
or in other words keeping it on target BEFORE firing
cup the gun from the bottom like in movies or do the cop stance (pic related), you're basically supporting the gun with the other arm to steady your aim better, firing with one hand is some stupid gangsta stuff
More water, less or no caffeine, eat before you go to the range, isometric exercises to build stabilizing muscles
The science says beta blockers. Even surgeons have used beta blockers to steady their hands during work
Possibly barbuturates too. In the 1997 North Hollywood Shootout the robbers took the barbiturate phenobarbital, prescribed to Mătăsăreanu as a sedative, to calm their nerves
I get really bad shakes, it's noticeable and I've gotten asked about it for as long as I can remember by a lot of people that see it. I just tend to shoot between breaths and heart beats. Usually breathing and pulse will tend to make the sight bounce up and down a bit more and I know when it's going to come back on target in milisecond and when to probably jerk the trigger even though I meant to squeeze it. Practice helps a lot especially if you need to do timed shots for some reason.