Flinching and Its Cures Q: When I am shooting standing, I sometimes tend to pull the rifle down or flinch when I pull the trigger. How can I cure this? Please help. A: This is a great question about a very common problem. There are a couple of possible sources for a flinch.  The first step in curing a flinch is to make sure your position is correct so that you hold the rifle steady. In your case, since the rifle is pulled down, the rifle may not be resting on bone support and a solid platform. A stable standing position is built, and relies, on bone support. You want to be sure that your muscles are used to balance the position and that you use just enough muscle to “hold it together”. If your muscles fatigue, or if the rifle drops, you are using muscles to hold up the rifle.  Focus on getting your left elbow firmly down on your hipbone. You may find that shifting your shoulders to the right, putting a slight “S” curve in your back, and then twisting above the hips achieves the desired support. Practice staying in this position for an extended period of time. Try to really relax. This will help you focus on stability and find areas that fatigue. Make sure you get the rifle to fit you so that your natural point of aim is on the target. In one of my best 300 meter standing matches I had a group with a vertical spread smaller than the ten ring. My position felt like the rifle was supported on a platform. Only my body sway and the wind spread the group horizontally. To stop flinching, keep your focus on a stable position and squeezing the trigger smoothly while the hold is acceptable. This reduces the stress of trying to break the trigger at just the right time. Dry fire practice is a great way to work on this.  A poorly adjusted or dirty trigger can also cause you to flinch. Know how your trigger works, which screws turn which direction for the various adjustments. Make sure it is clean and properly lubed. I used a Kenyon trigger for many of my best years and thought it was one of my keys to success. Both an unstable hold and a bad trigger contribute to mentally anticipating the shot. If you are “surprised” by when the shot breaks, you won’t flinch. Great Shooting! Bob