So I'm having a problem with recoil anticipation and I dont know how to break myself of it. I have been looking around online and figured I would ask ya'll for advice on the matter. Any advice would be greatly apprciated.

Limbsaver or other good recoil pad and a trigger job are essential to me. The Limbsaver will take the sharpness out and a nice 2 pound trigger will take out the time you have to anticipate the recoil. Another thing you can try is have somebody else load your gun at the range with a mix of live rounds and dummy rounds. You will definitely notice your problem when you squeeze off a dummy round. Shooting a 22 or AR15 a lot can break you of this as well since they have little or no recoil.

Dry firing could be helpful. Shooting off sandbags, I usually will dry fire a few times to make sure I'm not moving the rifle. Shooting revolvers, I'll often load the cylinder one round shy of full and then turn it before locking it back up so I don't know where the empty chamber is. It's pretty much a question of discipline to me.

The way I learned was load some dummy rounds. Mixed them in with reg ammo and paid close attention to how I reacted when pulling the trigger. After several mags that way it corrected the problem.

I will second the dry fire practice. It helped my wife out tremendously and has even made some noticeable improvements in my shooting. If I start a range session with a few dry fires it helps work the bugs out before burning any ammo.

Just concentrate on staying on target, keeping your eye open and squeezing that trigger, its great practice.

Ok so I need to dry fire more then. I've been doing that a bit with my Glock but I was doing that for my trigger pull cause I have been catching myself slapping the trigger.

Also Aggies suggestions would be a nice excuse for me to buy an AR.

What gun and caliber?

If it's something like a 223. I would look at the trigger and set up as the recoil is low

If it's something like 300 win mag I would look at the stock weight, brake, or consider going down in caliber

I went shooting Saturday with my Winchester Model 94 in 32. Win Spc and Glock 23 in .40 and had the problem with both of them shooting high and to the left. I also had my Single shot .22 and didnt have a problem with aiming at all.

I have that problem when I start shooting but what helps me get by it is I fire a few rounds off, clear my rifle, load another mag while taking my time and taking in some deep breaths then go back to shooting. When I go back I fire a round about every 5 seconds, that gets my mind into the game and helps me focus.

Try using both ear plugs and ear muffs to eliminate noise. Get away from any enclosure to reduce noise. Also make you some sand bags to shot off of and add one at the shoulder to lighten the recoil. Don't rush and once on target relax, settle back, and enjoy it. And the dummy rounds and dry firing sure work.

Shot the lightest bullet you can. Also reduced load will help.

If you are shooting off a bench- the recoil is more. Try standing up and shooting off hand, your whole body goes back with the rifle.
Try a sponge taped over the cheeck piece area. Sometimes the scope is mounted high and you have to lift your head a little to look through the scope and then you get belted with the recoil. The sponge both raises your head and softens the recoil.
"Become one with the gun" Don't hold overly tight but the gun should be snug. The gun should not be slamming you but rather pushing your whole body back.
Little women often shoot big hard recoiling guns but they hold on tight and don't let themselves get wacked.
The worse problem I ever had was a slugster barrel on my Mossberg 500 shotgun. The recoil is heavy and I had to have my head off the stock. I ended up getting a sore jaw until the sponge idea.

So it sounds like I need to get a lower caliber rifle then what I have to effectively break myself of this recoil anticipation. Cause the lowest Rifle caliber I have is a .270 and the .22 I dont flinch at all even when shooting off hand. The only pistol I have is the .40.

In the past when helping some of my buddies, I'll have them not look at gun, & I'll load their gun for them, occasionally loading an empty hull, a couple boxes later I'll usually have them putting MOA groups togather. My dad played this "game" with me when I was a kid.
Not closing your eyes, tightening grip on stock, twisting stock on pull & learning to pull straight back on trigger & being "surprised" when pin falls is just practice, practice & more practice. (muscle memory)

Huge +1! Make sure chamber is empty, and dry fire as much as you can. You can also shoot a 22 some to have an actual round to shoot (just don't dry fire a rimfire). Try to change your mind set where you don't anticipate the shot, just let it surprise you each and every time. Dry fire and a 22 LR will help cure it.

Dry fire and practice with a smaller caliber with low recoil. You might even want to put up the bigger rifle for a while.

I've recently caught myself doing the same thing. I went a few years doing very little hunting, and zero shooting. Once I got back into it about a year ago, I'll catch myself flinching. Wether it's a 22, large caliber rifle, or handgun. I'm trying to break the habit. One thing that helps me is concentrating on a slow smooth trigger pull.

The best analogy for conditioning yourself to recoil is to think of a person learning to play catcher in baseball. The only way to stop blinking at the swing of the bat is to put in enough time behind the plate. If you truly want to overcome flinching, you've got to spend plenty of range time busting caps. Anything else is just an effort to mask your lack of conditioning.

I have a lead sled, but I only use it to remove human error when sighting in a new scope. It never leaves the closet otherwise.

ck how you are placing your finger on the trigger

Lots of good advice here. I had the same problem up until several years ago. I think the main reason was getting scoped in the forehead when I was a youngster. It was only a problem shooting centerfire rifles....shotgun, pistol and rimfires were fine. The way I got rid of it was I just shot a lot more. I went to the range about 10-12 times and just practiced shooting all my rifles. Eventually I just got more comfortable and used to it. I also did a lot of shooting with smaller calibers, mainly .223.

I know how frustrating that can be, my recoil anticipation definitely cost me a few nice bucks when I was younger.

I thought you were shooting a hunk a hunk a gun. A 270 Win or 32 in a model 94- the recoil isn't enough- it might be the sound. Are you wearing ear muffs/plugs?
I don't know if going to a 22 is the answer. Crazy as it may sound- if you have a BIGGER gun- shoot that for a while- when you go back to the 270 it will seem like a 22.
When I first started shooting a 44 mag one handed some guy at the range started in "you are supposed to use two hands, blah blah blah with a 44 magnum, they were designed to shoot one handed, blah blah blah". I'm not particularly big and strong, just an average Joe. I really think it has to do with how you hold the weapn. As I said, little 100 pound women often shoot big bore guns.
Embrace the recoil, love the recoil. It's all in your mind.
Just thinking here... Another idea, if you are shooting at a target, maybe go to a plinking range and shoot milk jugs or an object of some sort- get your mind on that rather than the recoil.

I didnt know ranges like that were even around. Do you know of one in the Fort Worth area?

Recoil pads, muzzle breaks, reduced recoil ammo, or even God forbid, going to a smaller caliber rifle will all work in lowering the amount of time needed to condition the shooter to recoil. Still, at the end of the day, it takes shot after shot, kick after kick, to bring the mind to the point where the recoil doesn't matter.

You might try using another finger to pull the trigger. That won't let you anticipate the recoil as well.

I catch myself flinching. I have to think and concentrate.

If the trigger is squeezed as it should be, the shooter should not be able to anticipate the recoil, given the trigger has a solid and "crisp" break to it. Flinching is a common reaction to jerking the trigger as the shooter does so for that very reason, to know and anticipate when the shot and recoil will happen.

I too have found that keeping the mind focused on correct trigger squeeze and maintaining aim point helps distract my attention on anticipated recoil. Again, if you squeeze the trigger rather than jerking it, you cannot anticipate the instant the gun will fire.

Also, I have found that separating my concentration on trigger squeeze and aim point is also critical. Just as jerking the trigger is done to anticipate recoil, it is also often done to time the shot to occur when the aim point is over the target point as the gun slides or bounces from shooter movement. The shooter should focus attention on both trigger squeeze and aim point but without linking them so that there is no anticipation of the shot with either one.

And obviously, repetition is as important in training the mind as it is with any other body part.