Hinckley, MN 7/17-18...

[russellmn]

Another great weekend!!!  But as Aftermath pointed out to me... "Aren't they all??"   

We started out Saturday AM with a small group of 5 shooters, 3 new shooters and 2 returning (AdamT and Incendio). Weather was nice 'til noon or so, then raining more or less the rest of the day.  But we gained one Rifleman Saturday!!!  AdamT shot a 218, 216, and 227 () Saturday, and picked up Sunday to continue his Rifleman scores.   

Sunday started off overcast but pleasant, quickly turning to mostly sunny and warm.  Perfect shooting weather.  We also had a couple more shooters show up partway into the morning.  Kristy and Karl, both had been to a shoot (or two) before.  Karl had what at first he thought may be a bad idea in bringing a bolt action Savage .22, though he showed later that he knew how to run it, actually getting all rounds off on the rapid fires towards the end of the day.

rifles used:
4 10/22s  (5 on sunday)
1 Savage Semi auto 22
1 Savage bolt 22
Riflemen Created...3!!!! Karl and Kristy shot a 211 and 210 respectively on the second to last AQT Sunday with Karl backing his up with a 221 on his last AQT!!!!

[sparks1]

 

And a good time was had by all. 

[incendio]

especially us old guys learning there is still hope, great teaching by all, much appreciated!

[russellmn]

Sparks, you've gotta have more to add then that???

Incendio, keep practicing at home, you'll get it soon enough!

[AFTERMATH]

Ahh.....   Once again Liberty presented itself on a fine weekend in Minnesota!
A total of eight shooters spent thier precious time engaged in combat against rain, heat and the anvil-ous QDAQT!
As Russell pointed out; Adam hammered away the QD's on Satuday. 
While everyone else hammered away at the fundamentals.  As always, I found myself amongst some of the finest Americans to be mustered.
All the IIT's worked hard so Mike and I could sit back, and sippin' on some iced tea....  (Don't worry, it wasn't 'Long Island' iced tea. Well at least mine wasn't. )
We had such a high Instructor ratio that everyone got one-on-one with multiple instructors.  Almost two-on-one!  Guess we should have charged them double!  Any way, it paid off well!  I hope the student realized how lucky they were!
Unfortunately, Three had prior obligations Sunday and we had a couple of new shooters, Karl and Kristy, come in.  So, for the first time in the weekend the shooters stood to outnumber the instructors!  Then Adam took the Orange Hat and brought balance back into our Appleseed world.  Then his brother Ian joined us on the firing line. 
Just as the the ranks of the militia in 1775 grew through-out the day so did our line.  It worked out great, especially as all of the Sunday only shooters were Appleseed expirienced!  The Instructors at there previous Appleseeds must have done something right, as all three did quite well!  In fact, Karl and Kristy, as Russell mentioned, both achieved that magic* number on the that Rifleman's forge!
[Why the heck has 210 been referenced as the 'magic number'?  As we Riflemen all know; there's nothing magic about it!  It's all skill!]
And Ian was inching his way to 200.  I've got confidence that he'll get there and over next weekend in Duluth!
Brent(incendio) was getting up there as well!  -Wisconsians:  We've got him primed for you.  But, no guarentees that he won't permanantly relocate to this side of the river.
Brent, Jake and Cody, all made great improvement throughout the weekend despite the best that design and loc-tite could throw at them.
Jake and Cody, both recieve the honor of the Patriot Patch.  It won't be long untill they get that green and black thingy...  They're great kids!

Among the staff(Who did all the work for me), were:

Dave and Russell-IIT's, fresh outta the Rolla, RBC.
Sparks1-IIT, Not long outta the Bowler, IBC.  which included Wisconsin's very own ND clinic.
Javaguy and GRYPHON-IIT's, They've been round the block a few times now.  One of 'em is lookin' at a new hat in the near future.
And well, the notorious VMT193 as SB-Well done, Sir! Hard-core as ever!

Indeed there was a seed, or more planted this weekend.
By Providence they shall grow.


AFTERMATH


p.s.  Stay tuned for some of the most excellent photography to follow.
       Having learned to employ the basic foundation, and a mastery of the 6 steps of taking a shot; there are photographers amongst
       them who know very well what they are about!  Heck, I caught one of them even shifting his NPOA!

[AFTERMATH]

Just figured: 3/8 is 37.5% Riflemen
                  1/8 is 12.5% IIT creation

[incendio]

i went home sat to do some modifying, front stud was pulling out of stock and epoxy, so i moved it closer to the trigger and put a 1/2 x 3/4 x 1.5 in piece of pine in there to secure the stud to, the synthetic stock won't hold any pressure.
then  built up stock 3/4 in for better cheek weld, and dremeled out stock so it wasnt touching the barrel.
downloaded the manual to figure out how to remove bolt so it could be cleaned, and cleaned and reassembled.

by the end of sunday i finally felt i have the 3 positions down, which having the sling shorter and tighter  was key. and vmt changed my standing to a more stable position.
for  prone bringing my trigger hand side knee up past 90degrees as far as i could, made a difference with stability.

next is to more quickly get sight alignment, picture, npoa and better trigger control. practice practice....

[incendio]

and thanks to Sparks and Vmt for letting me try their rifles.....now to get me some, lol

[vmt193]

After that little spiel encouraging you all to treat yourselves to that FEDEX M1 fix, I'm thinking about putting another one on order myself. Beware the Garanditis!

vmt

[ShootingSpeedPhoto]

We had a great time! Thanks!

(Click any picture to get to the rest of them.)

[russellmn]

Karl, AWESOME photos, AGAIN!!!   Congrats on your Badge, you definitely earned it running that bolt!!!   

[sparks1]

Can't believe my photo      ...Thought it was my Dad for a bit. OG

Shooters made it a fun and easy AS to instruct. I know Brent will persevere ...even with that heavy trigger. Try some pull ups with your trigger finger to get in shape along with position/dry firing practice. 

Thought I recognized Karl and Christy from Elk River (when I was there with Zach) sure enough prior AS experience hit the line. Can't believe some of the North Bridge water didn't make it to Christy !!  (Russelmn what's up with that?? ) Great photos as usual, Karl.

Pointed out to Cody and Jake that the drummer on their patch was significant, as back in the day young men their age were drummers with the militias. A very necessary position, and just as dangerous.

[sparks1]

Just figured: 3/8 is 37.5% Riflemen
                  1/8 is 12.5% IIT creation

Remember the public math thing.

[adamt]

Thanks for the great pictures. The Hinclkey AS was great. I am proud to have shot my first rifleman score in the Minnesota humidity and rain. All we were missing was the snow!!

Thanks to all the Green, Red and orange hats, withought your help and support it would have been a near impossible feat.

I will look foreward to seeing you all again. This time with a fancy new orange hat and a nice green Rifleman patch.

AdamT.

[javaguy]

What a weekend - the shooters were great and as usual I learned a ton from the other instructors!  Thanks Mike for doing such a spiel on that Garand.  Now I have to put two on my shopping list. 
More pics went up on my FB today.  Way to go Karl, Kristie and Adam!!  Congratulations on making Rifleman,  you all demonstrated excellent technique, patience and perseverance.  And all the others really absorbed so much I think more Riflemen are on the way.

[vmt193]

During B&D Cody shot about a 2MOA group. With a bit of dry-fire practice, he'll do it on an AQT next time.

CODY! Dry-fire, dry-fire, dry-fire.