#Fridayfundamentals

An excellent article was recently published on the Shooting Illustrated website about follow‑through.  https://www.shootingillustrated.com/content/head-down-follow-through/?utm_source=newsletter  It’s well written and worth reading.

Two practical demonstrations appear in LAPD Incident NRF 032-23 https://youtu.be/zydZUuqQahI?si=-6a3KLf00_rvn7x2  The amount of video in the LAPD’s YouTube Critical Incident Community Briefing allows us to observe the marksmanship aspects in depth.

Two officers were actually involved in the shooting. The officers were armed with two different weapon systems. The first to engage had a 40mm Less-Lethal (Blue Dildo) Launcher. The second officer used his Glock service pistol.

It’s unclear if the first 40mm foam round hit the perpetrator but it is clear that the second round fired went low and hit the hostage the assailant was holding down.

One possibility for the low hit is lack of follow through. A 40mm round has a muzzle velocity of 235-260 feet per second, far lower than a firearm. The Launcher has a barrel length of 14 inches. And the munition is visible in flight. This combination makes the Launcher more susceptible than a firearm to being pulled low off the target if the shooter doesn’t use good follow through.”

Corresponding with the author of the Follow-through article, he opined:

“the officer with the 40mm [may have] made the critical error of lifting his head to look for the impact/result before he even fired.”

This is a better elaboration of the “munition visible in flight” aspect than I had originally made in my Patreon posts about the incident. The author also felt the officer may have failed to account for the difference of point of impact from using the Red Dot Sight at close range. If the first shot also went low that would likely be true. If the first shot hit and the second shot missed it wouldn’t necessarily be true. Unfortunately that’s hard to tell from the video available.

The single shot aspect of the Launcher could also have been a factor. Desire to get a single shot weapon reloaded does not enhance our execution of follow-through.

The second officer demonstrated good follow-through while shooting his Glock. When his first shot missed, he was able to assess and fire a second shot without hesitation because he was still on target.

Whether shooting a long gun or a pistol, follow-through is extremely important. Pistol shooters often immediately drop their guns below the line of sight to see where the bullet impacted. This is a bad habit to be scrupulously avoided.

If you would like to read more extensive analysis of this and other incidents, or if you would like to become a real shooter with aim, please follow my Patreon page. https://www.patreon.com/TacticalProfessor