Buckeye, AZ - Oct. 1-2

[azmule]

Place holder!  AAR forthcoming (pesky job gets in the way of the important stuff); in the meantime, shooters please post pics and discussion here!

[Photo: Riflemen John, Terrance, and Ben]

[azmule]

We arrived to perfect Appleseed weather on Saturday, bright and reasonably cool in the morning, overcast in the afternoon to keep it from getting too hot - well, for Arizona anyway.      After introductions and safety briefing, 11 eager shooters hit the ground running.  The first redcoat showed room for improvement, and improvement is what we saw as the the group absorbed and applied each lesson - everyone definitely brought their teachable attitudes this weekend.  During lunch the whole group gathered 'round to hear the story of the 3 strikes of the match, and learn of the choices and sacrifices made by our founding generation,  ensuring the unprecedented freedom that we still enjoy today.  Then back to the line for sight-carding drill, ball&dummy, transitions, and finally, those wonderful AQTs that we all know and love.  By the end of the day we had two new Riflemen, John C. and Terrance H.  Ben G. re-affirmed his Rifleman status (previously achieved with a bolt-action, this time with a tube-fed semi-auto that loads through the rear of the stock), with several more knocking on the door, and everyone showing improvement.

Sunday morning began as an exercise in perseverance for me, I woke to a dead battery and got to experience searching for someone up and about at 7:30 Sunday morning in Buckeye who could give me a jump.     Needless to say I pulled in a little late, I apologize again for my tardiness - fortunately AZOpie had things well in hand, and as soon as I arrived we once again hit the firing line with enthusiasm.  Lunch break on Sunday came with a side of Dangerous Old Men and Dangerous Dames, as well as a discussion of known distance shooting.  Then back to cranking out those AQTs.  Under a very hot sun, this time - Sunday lived up to its name as we had to resort to covering the safed rifles to keep them from getting too hot to touch.  No additional Riflemen by the Sunday's end, but several shooters came very close.  Keep Practicing!  A Rifleman persists!