Follow through has a place in various different sports. From swinging a golf club or a baseball bat, to throwing the proper right hook, and yes of course shooting handguns, rifles, and shotguns.

So how does follow through come into play when firing a gun?

Let’s set the scene, you have established a proper grip, your feet are shoulder width apart and your weight is placed over the balls of your feet. Your sights are aligned, equal height, and equal light on both sides. Your focus is on the front sight. You take a breath in through your nose and slowly exhale. As you reach the bottom of your breath your index finger is putting a consistent amount of pressure rearward on the trigger, steadily pressing the trigger to the rear and BANG! the shot goes off and nails the bulls eye.

Now what?

Once that first shot breaks, keep your composure. Keep the trigger held to the rear. Check your stance, confirm your grip. Resist the urge to look at the target, keep your focus on the front sight. Now slowly let the trigger out until you hear and or feel the trigger reset. It will be a tactile CLICK that you feel as you slowly release the trigger. Depending on the gun this tactile CLICK will be accompanied by an audible CLICK as well.

If you fail to hold the trigger to the rear after the shot breaks and let out only to the reset, or you completely remove your finger from the trigger after firing. Your follow-up shots will be slower, and you will have tendency to jerk or slap the trigger increasing the likely hood of missing your target.

In short follow through in shooting is essentially reaffirming the 6 other fundamentals between shots.

I hope these instructions on fundamentals have given you some insight on how to become better behind a gun. These are the essential building blocks that every shooter needs in order to build the skill of marksmanship.

For those of you who are reading these as a prerequisite for my VA Concealed Carry class I would like you to send an email or a text message to me listing the four rules as proof that you have in fact read the required prerequisite for the class.

Hold the trigger to the rear.
Staysupicious