The Hardest Shooting Fundamental

If you work with Cajun Arms on the range you know that stance, grip, sight alignment, sight picture, trigger control, and breath control are the foundation to becoming a consistent marksman. The final piece is follow though. I’m sure if you have taken a few classes you’ve heard it. If not that, you’ve heard keep your head down or some other variation. Not following through affects your accuracy whether one shot is taken or multiple shots. In a defensive situation, not following though might cause you to miss the bad guy, not stop him, or miss seeing additional threats. The mechanical aspect to follow through involves knowing your gun is ready for another shot. Mechanics include trigger reset, seeing your sights re-aligned after a shot and speed reloading if necessary. If you have a malfunction, mechanical follow though includes clearing it and getting the gun back in the fight. All of the aforementioned items need to be a hard skills in your toolbox that do not require conscious thought. Good training and proper repetition is the path there. These skills should be automatic. You will need your brain power during stress to mentally follow through. (Keep your head on the sights) Mental follow though guarantees your gun is always ready to fire and prepared to fire additional shots as needed. Our students have all heard “don’t game the drill” or “stop counting shots!”. Staying on your sights ensures you are ready to shoot again. If you shoot once you should have seen 2 sight pictures. The first with your shot, the second as your sights settle out of recoil. If you shoot twice you should have three sight pictures, and so on… Remember the acronym FAST we use in class? ‘A’ stands for assess. Assess the bad guy is done doing bad things. This assessment should occur while you are still on your sights. Don’t lift your head! If you do, you most likely will shoot low! Remember, just because the bad guy is down, doesn’t mean that he is out of the fight. Track him to the ground to make sure he is out of the fight. Then we can scan for additional bad guys. Do you recall an instructor standing behind you holding their hand up with a number of fingers when you were done a drill in our class? Were you one of the students that didn’t see that, therefore not really scanning? Don’t game it! When training don’t shoot the same number of shots every string. You do not want to build a cadence or habit that could get you hurt. Train to take shots needed - it will never be pre-set. Keep your head on the sights and follow though until the threat is no longer a threat. You’ll shoot better and stay safer. Join Cajun Arms in a Defensive Carry class to gain better understanding of these important skills. See you on the range!

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