Marshall, MN June 12-13, 2010

[vmt193]

AAR - Marshall, MN June 12-13, 2010

I'd like to thank all the shooters for being so patient with me Saturday morning. I know that going to a shoot and getting stuck indoors for half a day had to be tough, but I was gambling on the weather radar I had seen that morning and luckily it worked out OK.

I'm sure Aftermath will be along with some photos but I'll get started here with a quick weekend review.

Review:

Saturday started out pretty wet so we stayed camped out in the clubhouse most of the morning and went over, Safety Rules, Line Commands, 6 steps, building a good position, SHFs, NPOA, and some history. By late morning the rain let up so we moved out to the range and started getting gear set up. As the rain picked up again, we decided to call an early lunch that worked out well. The rain slacked off to a light drizzle and we moved out onto the line around noon. With just short reviews on the subject matter before each string, the shooters were able to get back on track and finish off the day with 3 AQTs under their belts. At the close on Saturday we had no riflemen, but John had turned in a 209, Red had picked up where she left off in Hinckley last fall and rapped out a 205, and a lot of you were shooting to the point that we knew we'd see some good scores on Sunday if you could keep the equipment gremlins off your back and remember to put ALL your rounds onto the same sheet of paper. You all know who you are. 
And we can't forget Brian and his self-extracting extractor.
   
Sunday began with a very light drizzle that petered out into a nice cloudy & cool afternoon. Tim our 'Sunday Only' shooter came out with his conversion kit equipped retro M16 clone and proceeded to clean the first Redcoat of the day. After some review and a few exercises to make sure everyone was up to speed, we began the AQTs.

Right before the lunch break John managed to squeak in with a 210. John, Sorry about that wet Hawaiian shirt but Mary II and Kevin insisted that I let them have their fun and, well, you did earn it. 

After another super lunch provided by the shooters and the Redwood River club, everyone was back out on the line for another go at those AQTs. Tim was next to step up and fire a 221 from his retro M16 clone. He did eventually top that one with a 244 just an AQT or so later. 

Red also scored a 206 in spite of dropping a few rounds outside the lines but her ability to keep tuning in those low 200 scores makes her a patchless rifleman in my book. Red, I'm confident you'll get that patch in Hinckley in a couple weeks but what I really want to see are the pictures of you with that 'expert badge' dangling off your uniform at Ft. Jackson this fall. Good Luck! 
   
To break things up we worked out the rules to a Marshallized version of a Parker's Revenge team challenge, and after a quick strategy session by groups, the results showed that in order to prevail in this event, you needed to have at least one of the female shooters on your squad. Good job ladies. 

As the end of the day rolled around, everybody wanted just one more crack at those AQTs, so Aftermath got 'em lined up and cranked out just one more. When it was all said and done, our weekend tally of riflemen had just doubled in size. Erik and his bolt-action magnum were good for a 221. And Brett, thinking he would be walking away empty handed due to a weekend plagued by magazine malfunctions, almost threw away his AQT with holes totaling 211. I guess even some of those Navy guys can shoot! 

I hope to see all you young guys back on the line in September with some of you buddies form school. You too, Buzz!

Mary I & Mary II, you guys are so close now that you HAVE to come back.

Mary I, thanks for coming back and jumping in to help out with the team events. To go from missing the paper Saturday morning to a 188 Sunday afternoon, was (as the saying goes) "Totally Awesone" fer shur. I'll push you just a little harder next time. 

Mary II, how did that last AQT go for you with the bolt-action? I forgot to check back with you after we were all done.

Thanks again to my fellow instructors and to you all for being such a great bunch of students/shooters. Hope to see you all on again soon on the Appleseed trail.

Mike (vmt193)

[habs]

Thanks to all the instructors who came down. Everyone learned a lot.  Everyone I talked to wants to come back on Sept. 12, but many of the kids will have the big 4-H shooting sports event that weekend.  Good show, guys.

Awesome job with the history as well.  It was relevant and personal.  That instills pride in our heritage and traditions.

Hopefully next Appleseed i can keep all my rounds on MY paper.

See you all soon


John

[vmt193]

Here are some numbers you might find interesting. These are the final results showing the overall improvement of your effective range skills as shown by the Redcoat targets from Saturday morning to Sunday afternoon. The chart gives the percentage of ALL shooters that were skilled at each distance.


Distance   Saturday AM      Sunday PM

100 yd      36%         92%

200 yd      27%         75%

300yd      9%         42%

400yd      9%         25%

[vmt193]

Thanks to all the instructors who came down. Everyone learned a lot.  Everyone I talked to wants to come back on Sept. 12, but many of the kids will have the big 4-H shooting sports event that weekend.  Good show, guys.

Awesome job with the history as well.  It was relevant and personal.  That instills pride in our heritage and traditions.

Hopefully next Appleseed i can keep all my rounds on MY paper.

See you all soon


John

You weren't the Lone Range there, John. Just the most noticeable.

mike

[sparks1]

 My kudos to ALL for perservering in our Minnesota weather. 

  Congratulations to the Riflemen and to all participants. Sounds like a teachable attitude was the most common thing brought to this Appleseed. When I look at vmt's statistics I can see ya'll excelled.

  Job well done, well done indeed.

[Sven]

Despite the soggy start to the weekend there was a lot of progress made over the two days and some very interesting rifleman scores turned in, along with a first time participant cleaning his first Redcoat target, but then Tim is a man who knows very much what he is about.  The facility at the range is great and it helped us to take that soggy Saturday morning and turn it into some effective training time.  Two of the four Riflemen produced Sunday shot their scores with Bolt Action rifles, very impressive.  John's Czech Lion with its notch type sights did indeed roar!  Eric also shot his rifleman score with a bolt action 22 magnum that did its own share of roaring!  Four of the shooters at this Appleseed used bolt action rifles no shirking here.  My sister Mary came up from Sioux Falls and stuck it out to go from absolutely no knowledge of rifle shooting to a score of 188, very good!  Kirsten continues to make progress and I fully expect she'll take home the patch at her next Appleseed.  All the shooters made significant progress and a good time was had.  I always appreciate an opportunity to work one of these events as I invariably learn a lot.  Thanks to my fellow instructors and the students, I am already looking forward to the September shoot.

[AFTERMATH]

What?
Here I thought I'd already written my report....
Well, let's see what I can recall...
Pics may help...

Yes, it was raining pretty good.  So, we started inside with lots of dry-fire practice.  Note, the targets on the table, remnants of our mock target line earlier.  Why are they all just sitting there? 

Well....  They're listening to this guy, Sven tell First Strike at lunch.  There's only one way to follow up his story....

To the line!  Don't fuss the fact it's still raining a bit.  Actually, don't even bother to stay dry, just get wet.

Well, the rain had subsided towards the end of the day.

(Unfortunately, I usually forget I have a camera at some of the best times...)

Sunday started, as Mike said, with drizzle.
I believe we got in one AQT before lunch...  Durring which Habs squeaked out that magic number.

Kmk was waiting for that all week.
Then Tim kicked down the door and proceded to clear the building with authority.

No doubting, he knows what he's about!

And yes, some Navy guys can shoot!

Congrats Brett!

At the end, we had time for one more AQT...

Erik made it just in time.  I guess shooting crows Saturday night pays off!

Team exercise #1

Team exercise #2

The strategy that proved effective, in both instances, was to have at least 1 female on your team!
Huzza!

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs653.snc3/32264_1441484350404_1031938157_1329092_2584040_n.jpg

Red, Mary I, and Mary II-Proving that women can make a highly effective 3-(Wo)man team!

Well, as always the case, all good things must come to an end....  To my great regret.


4 Riflemen, improvement across the board, one helluva way to spend a rainy day....Or two.
MN's first shoot at Marshall-a raging success!  Persist, persevere, conquer!

Remember, while we have a lot to gain; we have even more to lose...

[catching a view of the Minnesota River Valley, on my journey home to prepare for the next Appleseed]


Aftermath

(p.s. by all rights, Red should definitely have her patch by now.  By all other definitions she is a Riflewoman)

[vmt193]

Red has shot more Riflewoman qualifying scores on all 4 stages than a lot of people I know. She just never gets them all on the same AQT.

vmt

[Johnnyappleseed]

Hi Mike ,
We met at Wynona sept08 --- .
Great to see you SB -- TY for the pics and sharing info
JA

[vmt193]

JA, I remember well.  That was a great inaugural shoot for MN with a boat load of top notch instructors from all over. We're on our way to being able to staff them all like that with all home grown 'seeders'. 

Hi Mike ,
We met at Wynona sept08 --- .
Great to see you SB -- TY for the pics and sharing info
JA

[AFTERMATH]

It was surely an 'All-Star' Line-up!

My how far we've come....