Follow through

[riflejunkie]

The instant that you pull the trigger and it breaks your mind will automatically send the message to your body that your work is done.  Don't believe it.  Don't lose your position just because.  Your pellet spends 3-4 times longer in the barrel than a centerfire and your followthrough has to be better than a centerfire shooter.   As a rule, people who shoot smallbore and air guns shoot better than people who shoot heavy recoiling high power guns.

[shadow]

And a must when hunting since those target's are alive, be the shooter and the pray.:) Ed

[ronbeaux]

I liken it to bowling and holding the pose until the ball strikes the pins. The shot ain't over until there is a hole in the target.

[daved]

Yup, this is the one that will get you time and again.  I can trace nearly all my erratic shots to poor follow through, just getting in too much of a hurry.  Later.

Dave

[rkr]

Actually makes me wonder why the 10M springers did not have short barrels and higher velocity. The actual barrel part was shortened for FWB pneumatic rifles. My FWB300 with merlin spring seems a lot snappier and can take a bit shorter follow through. Of course the old spring was OLD and the piston bumper shot so it may explain why it feels better now.

[Viper]

Is blinking allowed?

[riflejunkie]

If you are blinking you aren't doing any dryfire.  That will cure you of that.  That reminds me of another drill I'll make a separate post about.
Seriously, find a rifle you can safely dryfire and use it for that.  To shoot well you need to be able to remain undisturbed throughout the firing process and until after the rifle has recovered from recoil.  You PCP guys have it pretty easy on this, but you still need it.

[Gene_SC]

I remember way back when I was in the service and we were at the shooting range getting instructions on safety, and all that goes along with shooting. We had one guy in the platoon that would jerk the trigger. He just could not grasp the idea of squeezing the trigger. So one day the instructor was watching him and got *_*_*_*_*_*ed off and went over to him and loaded his finger in the breech and fired the rifle. From that time on he squeezed the trigger..:) Sometimes it takes a hard lesson to get the point across..:)

[kirby999]

Gene_SC - 3/2/2009  4:35 PM  I remember way back when I was in the service and we were at the shooting range getting instructions on safety, and all that goes along with shooting. We had one guy in the platoon that would jerk the trigger. He just could not grasp the idea of squeezing the trigger. So one day the instructor was watching him and got *_*_*_*_*_*ed off and went over to him and loaded his finger in the breech and fired the rifle. From that time on he squeezed the trigger..:) Sometimes it takes a hard lesson to get the point across..:)

OUCH !!!!! I guess some folks are a little hard headed . I learned follow through while shooting archery. When your projectile is moving at a smoking 185fps , you better hold on target and follow through . I've heard a lot of guys say "I dropped my arm " meaning they lowered their bow arm before the arrow hit the target , trying to see where they hit ; result ...... a low shot , sometimes by as much as a foot or more. . kirby

[bodiej]

Recently I've had better luck with both eyes open.  I read it in a rag a while back about sniping.  I'll close the non-dom eye and sight in.  I'll watch the crosshairs rise and fall with my breath and try to put the cross on target at the highpoint of that rise, when my breath has exhaled.  For the last couple, I'll open the other eye.  You can feel the muscles in your face relax.  the first stage gets taken up on the last rise/exhale.  Then it's a gentle humming pull till it breaks.  Definately better results.  Especially if you're gonna be shooting for a while.  It seems to reduce the flinch, so it's easier to follow through.  just my 2 cents

[riflejunkie]

Wearing or using an occluder so as to allow you to keep both eyes open reduces eye fatigue.  The general consensus in iron sights  is that a lighter occluder is preferable to a dark one, but I see black predominately used by scope shooters so personal preference is obviously at play.  In a 160 shot prone match eye fatigue is a real issue.