Riley, IN April 24-25, 2010

[techres]

AAR: Riley, IN April 2010

Saturday

We got off to a good start in the morning.  Dave and his crew go the line up fast and we began the introductions and safety briefing without any bad weather.  The morning was threatening rain, and it actually had rained the night before, but at this time was just threatening.



We got our redcoats up and shot the first round of the day:



Among us was a wide variety of shooters of all sorts of ages and experience:



As always INGO was there:



And then it was on to our morning of instruction:



Followed by history:



Soon enough it was time to do ball & dummy where students became teachers in trade:





And then the afternoon was filled with the training race to get to do AQT's including learning standing an sitting positions:







Soon the skies opened up and it was time to get on the raingear and continue on:







Finally it was time for the AQT and final redcoat:



Then it was time to shut down for the day.  But before doing so we wanted to honor our youth shooters who had to endure a hard day of training against physical challenges that were far harder on them than the adults present.  These youth did their parent proud:



Then we boxed up the rifles and gear and sought warm & dry shelter.  No campfire, several of us did sleep nicely in the clubhouse.


Sunday

Sunday began as a beautiful day and stayed so throughout the safety briefing.  Then the real weather arrived and the day was solid rain & wind.



Tarps blew and got wet.  Mats became sponges that only shared their wet payloads with the entire front sides of shooters.  Slosh was the word of the day.  My lunch even became a boat on a canvas lake:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pyz0fjmFWpI

But our hearty shooters stuck through it all and we worked on squares and AQT's:





By lunch we had two, VERY WET, Riflemen:





Both worked through some really tough weather to get their scores and deserve every bit of credit they earned.  Then we broke for lunch.

After lunch it was time to do some 100 & 200 yard KD work with steel.  As per tradition, we hammered on the steel and shot it to the ground.





Good thing ATM is in great shape and able to go down and put up that which our shooters blew off the chain!

Then it was time to get back to the mud, rain,  and AQT's:



And with AQT's and history, our soaking wet day ended.

Let me say this about our attendees this weekend.  Each and every one did a great job.  I especially want to mention those who had some real challenges physically and thank them for working so hard and patiently to complete their instruction.

My personal thanks and appreciation goes to each and every one of you.

Techres

[TBE]

  I had a great weekend.

Riley is a really nice range.  If I lived much closer I would join. 

It looks like they have lots of options as to the types of shooting you can do and when I was leaving I talked to some guys coming out of there with bags full of huge yellow morels.  I just bet there are fish that pond too. 

I had a productive weekend.
 
  I got to identify two separate intermittent issues with my shooting.
1:  bucking
2:  not pulling the trigger straight back, but diagonally.

  I picked up a personal high score on the aqt and a rifleman patch. 
 
  I am much in favor of adding KD to the program whenever possible and to whatever distances possible.  I got a real kick out of hitting steel at 100 and 200 yards. (Techres, I am sorry about the 100 yard target.  I really am why we can't have nice things.)

  I spent the weekend In the company of good Americans, learning the heritage of my ancestors and shooting at little black squares and little red coats. 

  How awesome was the "three shots in one hole" on the 400 m AQT target by the young shooter with the AR Carbine?   

  The two buddies that attended with me both expressed to me that they also enjoyed the program and learned a lot.   

Thanks to all the instructors and fellow shooters.  Thanks especially for maintaining a good attitude about the rain. 

Great shoot. 

[ATM]

We had a great bunch of shooters this weekend. I really enjoyed meeting and sharing with the students and instructors.
If nothing else, the rain gave us all a common challenge to overcome.
It is much easier to maintain determination through any adversity as a group.
They met the challenge, learning and performing with true Rifleman spirit!

Congratulations to those who achieved Rifleman score in the inclement weather and to those who will persevere, practice by the numbers and return.

It was an honor to join you all for another refreshing taste of our American heritage.