I have just gotten back in to shooting after a 2 year lapse, and in the process, have developed the most horrible flinch.

It's most prominent with pistol shooting. For instance, I even flinch when dry firing a 1911


What's the best remedy?

Start with a .22 shooting at bullseye targets. Take your time until you can shoot tight groups with confidence at 10yds, then walk the distance out to 25. Once you are happy with .22, work up in power - its easier iof you reload and can make some very light practice loads. Lots of dry fire may help too. Jumping right in with the .45 is not going to get you anywhere.

Here's an article I wrote about an exercise you can perform. It's best to do it with a revolver but it can be done with a pistol too.

The phenomenon of "anticipating the recoil" or "flinching" as you fire, is due to reflex, nothing more. Reflexes can be taught and learned; just ask any karate guy. Way back in the day, when your ancestors and mine were settling disputes with rocks & sharpened sticks, we had some common enemies: the bear, the panther, the lion, the tiger... All of them did the same thing: they would ROAR and they would JUMP AT YOU. Your natural and unlearned response was to PUSH AWAY the attacker.

Nowadays, you have this dangerous tool in front of you, and you pull the trigger, and it ROARS, and it JUMPS AT YOU. Your response is to push it away! Here is a drill you can do to cure this. It helped me in one 1/2 hour range session.

If you have access to a large-bore revolver, one that will provide some fairly serious recoil, then do this: Load 5 loaded rounds, and 1 empty. Spin the cylinder & close it without looking at it. Line it up with the target & squeeze off 6 shots. When you hit the empty round, you will see your sights dip!

THIS part is important!

Another thing you will experience when you hit the empty cylinder is the 'tingling' in your arms that makes you push the gun away from you. It is a sort of "muscle memory." This is masked by the recoil, and you don't feel it when the gun fires. But it is this sensation you should be trying to avoid.

Now try loading the revolver with all empty brass. Align the revolver with the target and squeeze off a few “dry fire" shots. You will see your sights move & feel your arm tingle. Do this a few more times with the intent of keeping the sights on the target. Also, try to "follow through" with the shot: As you are dry-firing, pretend that the pistol is firing and recoiling. It looks and feels pretty silly, clicking and letting your muzzle raise and lower, but you are actually doing a little "muscle training" in the process. You are also training yourself to re-acquire the original sight picture.

When you've kept the sights aligned for about 20 "dry shots," go to the next step.

Now remove one empty casing from the cylinder. Replace the casing with a live round. Spin the cylinder & close it w/o looking at it, so you don't know when the live round comes around. Align, squeeze & shoot as above. When the live round comes around, you likely will be hitting right in the black, probably 8 or 9 or even 10 ring.

StealthyBlagga and FrankSymptoms offer some good advice. In addition I'd like to add that I use the "Ball and Dummy" drill to cure my students of anticipation (AKA flinching).

Here's what I do: I take the student's gun and intruct him/her to look away from me. Then I load a couple of the student's magazines with a combination of live ammunition and dummy rounds. I load the gun and give it back.

Then I watch the student fire and when the dummy round comes up the anticipation is evident to both me and the student. I keep repeating this drill until the student can clearly identify the anticipation.

Trigger control is also something that can contribute to anticipation. That's why I will often press the student's trigger for them while they are gripping the gun. When I do this, more often than not when I start taking up the slack and begin to press the trigger the student's hands and wrists will start resisting me - and that is before I completely engage the trigger and fire the gun.

This process almost always works for me in getting my students to stop anticipating. It is also good to use the Ball and Dummy drill when you are engaged in live-fire drills. It is a great technique to get you to "Tap/Rack," and after a few sessions of the Ball and Dummy you will be "Tap/Racking" in your sleep.

Ball and dummy is a great training aid.

Hope this helps.

Be Safe.
 

Quoted: It is also good to use the Ball and Dummy drill when you are engaged in live-fire drills. It is a great technique to get you to "Tap/Rack," and after a few sessions of the Ball and Dummy you will be "Tap/Racking" in your sleep. Ball and dummy is a great training aid.

I did some security work not long ago.  Throughout the year, we did a lot of training on the range (shoot, move, malfunctions, low light, various weapons, weak hand, and every scenario they could dream up).  One of the lead instructors loved using dummy ammo.  We would load each other's mags with live and dummy rounds (every mag had dummies in different locations), mix them up in a box then each draw X amount for the course.  I must admit, that was some pretty damn good training.

Some of the courses were tough enough.  Toss in a few dummy rounds and WOW!  

Dummy rounds.

Quoted: Quoted: It is also good to use the Ball and Dummy drill when you are engaged in live-fire drills. It is a great technique to get you to "Tap/Rack," and after a few sessions of the Ball and Dummy you will be "Tap/Racking" in your sleep. Ball and dummy is a great training aid.   I did some security work not long ago.  Throughout the year, we did a lot of training on the range (shoot, move, malfunctions, low light, various weapons, weak hand, and every scenario they could dream up).  One of the lead instructors loved using dummy ammo.  We would load each other's mags with live and dummy rounds (every mag had dummies in different locations), mix them up in a box then each draw X amount for the course.  I must admit, that was some pretty damn good training. Some of the courses were tough enough.  Toss in a few dummy rounds and WOW!

Yep.

It is really a great way to train.

Dummy Rounds are great.

The ones with metal cases last longer.  i use the all-plastic ones because they're cheaper and I don't care if they disappear at the range.

Dummy rounds
dry fire practice

22 pistols are great.

When I catch myself flinching on my M1a, my next range trip I take out the 375 H&H and fire a few rounds then the 308 doesn't kick by perspective and I don't flinch anymore for a good while....YOUR RESULTS MAY VARY

I use several types of dummies in my courses.  

I have the orange, all plastic Saf-T-Trainers, the other type that are brass and orange plastic, regular snap caps, reloaded rounds without primers, and I also have some factory dummies that resemble live rounds made by the Olin corporation (the primer pocket is there but there is no flash hole).  

My two favorites are the Saf-T-Trainers and the part brass, part plastic ones. They are really easy to see on the outdoor range here in the Southwest.