Shot timer flinching?

[LeeC]

I've only been using a shot timer for a few weeks now and am wondering if anyone else has had the problem I'm having. While listening and waiting for the timer beep to go off, I've noticed that I sometimes jump or flinch involuntarily when a loud gun goes off, like some part of my shoulder and arm gets triggered to draw the gun whether my brain says go or not. Fairly distracting behavior, and potentially embarrassing if I cared what others were thinking about me, which I usually do not. I'm not responsible for someone else thinking I'm having some kind of fit.

While not using the timer, a .50 cal wouldn't make me jump because I've blocked audio input out of my mind to minimize distraction from all the range noise. But when I'm focusing intently, listening for the beep, audio-in seems to become trigger sensitive. I'm wearing 30 DB ear plugs and electronic ear muffs. I have the beep delay set to randomize between 2 and 4 seconds. I suspect this problem will go away eventually as I become accustomed to the new way of being queued up, since I don't recall the flinching problem on the last couple of range visits, but then I've also been lucky to not be next to any cannons.

[ToddG]

You're waiting for a short, sharp, audible GO signal.

You hear a short, sharp sound and GO.

I'd place this one in the "duh" column, dude.

[fuse]

What he said. But, it is much easier to work with a shot timer without guns constantly going off in the background.

Just something you'll get used to, I reckon.

[Jay870]

Yup just par for the course when you're waiting on an audible start signal.

Have seen USPSA Grand Masters with years and years of experience and hundreds of thousands of rounds down range do the exact same thing.

[superr.stu]

My personal favorite is at a class when doing command fire. Everyone tensed up begging for that beep, someone flinches and shoots early, the whole line shoots to. Hell might take 3 tries just to get to the beep.

[gringop]

I have the beep delay set to randomize between 2 and 4 seconds.

Go with a longer delay. You are pressing the button and then tensing up to start in 4 or less seconds. Any sound in that short period is regarded as the trigger.

If you set it for 2 to 8 seconds, you will have less of the "ready, set, go" effect and more of a real "I don't know when it will go off" situation.

Gringop

[LeeC]

Thanks everyone for confirming that this is a common response and not a personal anomaly.

[DonovanM]

Completely normal. One USPSA GM once told me he was in the checkout line at a grocery store and his hand involuntarily went right for a gun on his hip as the cashier scanned something. He wasn't carrying at the time but the cashier looked rather worried. LOL

[ToddG]

One USPSA GM once told me he was in the checkout line at a grocery store and his hand involuntarily went right for a gun on his hip as the cashier scanned something.

I'm hoping that was just a poorly thought out "boast" on his part and not a true story. I've been using shot timers rather religiously for almost 20 years and I've never heard any beep-like sound anywhere but the firing range that made me "go for my gun" involuntarily.