From: Doug Gwyn <gwyn@smoke.brl.mil>
Subject: Re: Closing my eyes when the shot goes off
Organization: U.S. Army Ballistic Research Laboratory, APG, MD.

In article <43274@mimsy.umd.edu> jonr@ifi.uio.no (Jon Ross) writes:
#The problem I do have, is that I close my eyes when the shot goes off.

Oh, yeah!  Here's what I did to correct this tendency in myself:
Read Brian Enos's "Practical Shooting" and pay special attention
to the advice about watching the front sight rise after the shot.
Turn off the light at the shooting station at the range and tell
youself that you really, REALLY want to confirm that the muzzle
flash is "straw colored" and also want to see how visible it is.
Also tell yourself that it would be so much better to watch the
front sight lift through the muzzle flash.  Then blink a couple
of times right before you slowly squeeze the trigger; do this
right so that you truly get a "surprise break".  KEEP WATCHING
the sight against the space where the muzzle flash will appear.
If you're good at psyching yourself out, sooner or later you
will indeed be able to see the sight lift through the muzzle
flash (I won't tell you whether it's really straw colored; that's
for you to discover).  Once this has happened, shoot some more
using the same methodology until you see the flash more often
than not.  "I was cured, all right" -- A Clockwork Orange