AAR - Kingman, AZ May 28-29, 2011

[AZRedhawk44]

Kingman is always a great range to visit.  It offers some environmental challenges to get around like wind, sun exposure and heat, but the people that come out for events there are first-rate and always make the drive up from Phoenix a worthwhile endeavor for the instructors.

Morning dawned with all attendees present before the 8:30 official kick-off time, and awake and ready for TPI.  We soaked up the safety briefing and set to the work of building marksmanship skills.  Our first RedCoat target demonstrated room for improvement across the board, and we spent the morning working on sling techniques, steady hold factors for prone and seated, the six steps to fire the shot, and mastery of our natural point of aim.  We got sighted in with Inches Minutes Clicks, then took a break for lunch and shared the story of the British Concord Raid.

The afternoon gave us a chance to work on magazine change drills, transitions, and working with a partner to find weaknesses in our shooting via carding the sights and ball and dummy drills.  One AQT closed out the day with some respectable scores despite the fatigue, and then we checked how we were doing with one final red coat.  A lot more improvement!  Fatigue took some of the improvement away...

...but on Sunday morning we really saw what everyone was capable of, after 1 day of instruction!  The RedCoats didn't stand a chance against us.

We reviewed our fundamentals and confirmed sights for about an hour or so against some squares and then started The AQT Grind.  Scores climbed with several shooters pushing into the 180+ range, then plateaued and started the typical drop-off of a Sunday afternoon, despite our lunch rest period to hear about some additional actions on April 19th, 1775.  With fatigue setting in, David managed to wrestle a Rifleman's score of 216 out of an afternoon AQT, at his 3rd Appleseed event.  Perseverance!

Our final red coat had all attendees qualifying at 100 or 200 yards and many 2-hits at 300 and 400 with near-misses of the 3rd shot.  Dramatic improvement was made all-around.  There will be more Riflemen out of this group!  We gathered to discuss the reason why Appleseeding and community involvement is so critical, and to encourage one-another to take ownership of our civic institutions and be responsible citizens.

[azmule]

This was my first trip up to the Kingman range and I too was impressed by the positive eager attitudes and perseverance displayed by the shooters present.  I really got the sense that these folks are truly motivated and not just looking for something to do on a three-day weekend.

That is a mighty impressive wind, though!   

Congratulations David!  Having watched your progress at the other shoots, it was a rewarding experience for me to witness you with that patch in hand!  HUZZAH!  I have a feeling I'll be seeing a few more of the folks that were shooting this weekend earning that patch in the near future.

I can't think of a more fitting Way to observe the Memorial Day weekend than with marksmanship and heritage.   

[El_Tiburon]

Thanks AZRedhawk44 and azmule for your time and effort this past weekend, and for helping me earn the Rifleman badge.  Thanks also to AzOpie and a few other volunteers  who offered tips and encouragement at my previous two Appleseeds.  And of course, Fred's well crafted literature was tremendous help while I ironed out many of my errors at home.   

Once that Kingman wind kicked up and was bouncing my target about an inch, I honestly thought the badge was out of reach this trip.  Nonetheless, I continued to give it my best for the learning experience.  And to my surprise, I was able to score high enough.  I'm not done here though.  I'm going to continue to improve and also spread the Appleseed word to all those who will listen.