I have recounted this before, but it's been awhile and might have been over on Shotgunworld. Years ago I developed a very bad flinch when shooting sporting clays. I was convinced it was not recoil related, which I later proved. I was shooting 1 oz. reloads at the time, moderate velocity, in a heavy 32" barreled O/U. My flinch was not a jerking of the trigger, rather an inability to get my trigger finger to move when my brain said "Shoot!". It was like a short circuit between the brain and the trigger finger. I would recover in a second, and often break the bird almost as it hit the ground. I got quite a reputation around this part of the state for my ability to "call 'em back". It got so bad that I was flinching 7-8 times out of a 100 bird round, missing maybe 3-4 birds a round because of it. I became convinced that the trigger on the gun I was shooting had led to my flinch, as it had way too much travel before a clean break. I even had a gunsmith try to help it, but to no avail.
About that time I bought the MX 8 that I now shoot. Wonderful trigger in that thing, but the flinch persisted. In frustration I switched to 1 1/8 oz. factory loads, just to change up something. That was the combination that "cured" the flinch. It went almost 100% away immediately. So, a good trigger and heavier recoiling loads fixed a flinch that I was convinced would never go away. Now, it occurs maybe once every 200-300 targets.
SRH
