Regarding the linching. This is a method we used when I shot competitively with the Marines in a much earlier life. I guarantee it will point out even the most minor forms of linching. I think most shooters do not believe they flinch but this test has proved a lot of them wrong.
Go to the range with a buddy. Have the buddy load your rifle but have them either put a round into it or not put one into it. When you pull the trigger you will know immediately, no one needs to tell you, it will be obvious. A lot of people are very surprised that although they knew the gun may not be loaded, they still flinch. Flinching is involuntary and can be detrimental even if it is just your eye blinking, but most at least do a hard squint.
In todays magnumania a lot of guys are shooting too big of a gun. Their reply is usually something like "well I shoot an elk every year" or "you never feel it when you are in the field." This is just a defensive response because the flinch is in anticipation of the shot not as a reaction after the shot. You are gonna flinch even if the gun didn't go off.
I deal with customers from all over the world. If I get along with a certain group particularly well I will take out on my farm to let them experience some of our American freedoms.
What I find is that many of the American hunters flinch while many of the much smaller asians do not initially. The asians, never having shot a gun, have not developed this involuntary reaction to the anticipation of the shot. They say Wow! after the shot but if they shoot without a round, there is no flinch.
Going through this practice is also a superb way of eliminating a flinch. In the military we did it on about a weekly basis to ensure that no one on the team was developing a flinch. You should be able to pull the trigger and not even blink keeping the target in focus regardless of the recoil.
