Starts with F and rhymes with grinch
Well we have threads about how good we shoot,how far we shoot,what animals we shoot...so why not have one about how poorly we shoot at times???
For benefit of those starting out,and maybe even an old salt who suddenly finds cant hit side of barn door from inside barn,there may be wee nigget of info or tip that may help get past it.
Im the first to admit Ive battled with this many times over the years..some forum members have seen it at its worst (much to my embarassment) but I have to suck it up,accept it and move past it.
my first bout of it came when swapped a 30/30 for lightweight .270w waaaay back when I was still a teenager.
the 270 was still basically new,had less than box of amunition put through it,but its owner was pighunter and I wanted to get into deerstalking..so we swapped.
I tried to check zero on .270 and found myself chasing tail all around target till my last scope adjustment put it back where had started out..OH SHIT we have a problem. got rifle home and my experienced brother looked it over.. all good. shot a few goats with it and was doing OK but knew it wasnt ideal as it was...three biggest issues were
#1 my piss poor technique..the soft shooting 30/30 had allowed it,big rifle not so much
#2 thin rubber buttplate..no way did it absorb any recoil
#3 factory set trigger that was over 10lb..this was shocking for anything but snap shooting.

I did 3 things
changed from hard hitting and booting Norma 150grn to 130grn loads
replaced buttplate with a bisley shotgun pad
got trigger adjusted down to about 4lb
and was happy for 20 years

spent a day out at pleasant point range with @waimo and another young NZDA member Nathan K.
we had three 270s
my winchester...cant remember what Nathans was and Chris had brand new left hand Ruger (oh how he should have kept that one)

I got my rifle sighted in..fired the 10 shot every type ammo load then had shots walk off to left of page before end of scope fell out!!!!
by this stage shoulder knew it had fired 20 plus rounds from bench.
Chris had trouble with the Ruger as it still had heavy trigger
this was my first and only time Flynch hit me in this way...I tried to fire his rifle..and couldnt get trigger to fire..unloaded it and it went click fine..put round in and I couldnt physically put pressure on trigger to make it go bang...
tried it 4-5 times..no dice...my brain KNEW I was going to get booted again so didnt let me do it
funny looking back on it...piss poor ear protection wouldnt have helped either 3 rifle were pre suppressor days.

since that time I havent really had it bad...yip odd occurance where I shoot like shit for a bit till pull socks up...
the easy miss can be put down to it.
remington put out a hypersonic load for shotgun..it BOOTS LIKE BUGGERY no other way to put those horrible green candle sticks of pain...found myself shortshucking the pump action if used them...they hurt.... put them away till had soft shooting semi to use them in.... the flinch was causing short shuck..that and timing difference with heavier recoil.

my .45/70 is great to shoot with mild loads....flinch inducing with hot loads..so I pulled all my loaded rounds and made them milder...I had got caught up in the speil they HAD TO BE FAST to kill well...yeah right,a .45calibre hole though stuff kills just fine without velocity.

my way to cope/get past an attack,is to get really steady on target and slowly squeaze off while holding gun firmly....I dont shoot a lot of paper.....and using wee rifle in 22lr 222 or 223 really gets me back on track..my brain get reprogrammed to know its not going to hurt again.
you just need to know its going to push and be loud,accept it and work through it,and never say the "F" word out loud..thus the title LOL

HOPEFULLY this ramble helps someone.

I’m suffering a similar problem with my SMLE #5…it boots like a real mongrel, and the factory rubber recoil pad is rock hard (to be expected as it’s 73 years old). I found a replica recoil pad in the UK, and I’m assured it’s nice and soft, but I’m of two minds about buying it. Also, I don’t want to alter the factory “look” by fitting an aftermarket shotgun style pad.

so take off the one you have..put it in drawer in plastic bag (labeled incase your good wife goes to chuck it out) and fit a slip on limbsaver or pachmacher and be happy you know it wont boot and can still put it back to origonal..the overall length should be very similar.

I was testing some "Ruger Only" loads in a .45 Colt, Ruger Vaquero. Hot load with 300 grain bullets. After a bit my shooting fell apart. I went to a Cowboy match a week or so later and just gave up during the first stage when one round hit the ground half way to the target.

I did a bunch of dry firing before going to a .22 and eventually worked my way out of it.

Elvis wrote:

so take off the one you have..put it in drawer in plastic bag (labeled incase your good wife goes to chuck it out) and fit a slip on limbsaver or pachmacher and be happy you know it wont boot and can still put it back to origonal..the overall length should be very similar.

I have a slip on pad, but it’s an unknown brand that was given to me some years ago, but you may very well be right mate…a slip on Limbsaver is on the horizon…it’s just a matter of deciding which way to go with fitting as the original is a two piece unit.

just take whole shebang off mate...the slip on will cover it all and should still have plenty of meat to grab onto.

now if you THINK you or someone else is suffering with this,but is in denial ...there is a sure fire way to find out.....I call it slipping a Micky
get someone else to load rifle for you and hand it to you with bolt up...so you close bolt aim and fire....after 3-4-5 rounds they slip in an empty case without you knowing.....the click... yank off target is mortifying but really emphasizes why/how your missing
just like drinking....admitting you have a problem is first step in right direction and first part of journey towards cure.

Elvis wrote:

now if you THINK you or someone else is suffering with this,but is in denial ...there is a sure fire way to find out.....I call it slipping a Micky get someone else to load rifle for you and hand it to you with bolt up...so you close bolt aim and fire....after 3-4-5 rounds they slip in an empty case without you knowing.....the click... yank off target is mortifying but really emphasizes why/how your missing just like drinking....admitting you have a problem is first step in right direction and first part of journey towards cure.

That is exactly what I used to do when shooting pistol mate. Load a dummy cartridge in the pistol for the shooter, or get a mate to load my pistol for me…more than once so I don’t anticipate a dummy round.

I’m very aware of the recoil of my SMLE, but I still follow the rules of trigger control…gently continue putting pressure on the trigger until the rifle fires, coming almost as a surprise…then whinging about the recoil and a sore shoulder.