Castro Valley, CA December 17-18, 2011 AAR

[Nero]

The short story:  44 shooters on nearly the shortest day on the year.  Focus, attention to instruction (and safety) produce 11 Riflemen  with lots more knocking on the door.  And two American patriots stepped up to take the orange IIT hat.   

The somewhat longer version:  The days were short, but perfect AppleSeed weather.  50s, clear skies on Saturday, overcast on Sunday.  42 Americans got off the couch on the Saturday before Christmas to improve their marksmanship and learn about their heritage.  They were joined by veteran SoCal instructors Camljr and asminuteman, local IITs guru, BoxesOfLiberty, and Han Solo, and brand new orange hat Nitroxdiver, who jumped right in.  American Amazon was our blue hat, taking care of admin, scoring, and calling and clear the line to give us a break.

After our safety briefing and some words on the necessary focus and promptness to deal with a shoot on two of the shortest days of the year, we jumped right in.  Quick progress through the course of fire showed the shooters had taken those needs to heart, and improving marksmanship showed that they were also quickly absorbing what the firehose of instruction was dishing out.  By lunch we were through prone position, NPOA and cadence, had adjusted our sights, and had a gentle introduction to our 'friend', the time monkey.

Heritage was on the menu for lunch, with yours truly leading off with the story of the American colonization and the First Strike of the match.  Cam's Brown Bess and Ken's Jaeger rifle provided some stirring sound effects, and the scars accumulating on a big rock on the backstop hill showed what marksmanship could do with period weapons.  Ken (asminuteman) gave the Second Strike and we were back into it. 

We introduced the sitting, kneeling and standing positions, and the green meanies were taking a beating.  The instructors could tell some good stuff was about to happen.  In order to get in two AQTs, we did our transition training on the first one, at full speed.  Shooters rose to the challenge, and sent the time monkey slinking back into the woods.  And the Riflemen began to emerge:
   Julian E with a 211
   John B with a 217, and
   Goose posted the day high at 222
After awards to them and our sizable contingent of youth shooters, we sent everyone off into the gathering dusk with a 3d strike and benediction by yours truly.

Sunday dawned damper and cooler, with 33 shooters on the line.  Much of the morning instruction was turned over to our IITs, who did a great job, and provided a much needed rest to the red hats' voices.  Again we reviewed standing, sitting and transitions on the real deal, a full speed AQT.  Pat was frantically scoring targets while the instructors tag-teamed presentation of some Dangerous Old Men.  asminuteman gave a great Hezekiah Wyman in 1st person (you SoCal SBs should let him do that more often!)  Pat then stepped in to tell the story of courageous frontier girl Elizabeth Zane.   Thanks again to Cam and Ken for SFX, and for letting some of the shooters and IITs try out your muzzle-loaders.

We jumped right back into the AQT grind, but the Riflemen scores were coming so fast we had to take breaks along the way to pass out patches:
   Everett K  212
   Keith F 225 - the new high score, but keeping it in the hands of the Marines
   Chris O 221 - plus several more qualifying scores
   Clint M 211
   Tim McI 213
and Julian improved his qualifying score to a 215

After three times through, we needed a bit of a break, so it was time for a 'mad minute' competition shoot.  We brought out two surplus pumpkins marked with 200 yard silhouettes, and let the rimfire shooters go at them.  The right side of the line got the 'pumpkin pie' award for sheer volume of fire, but the left side gets the precision award - the silhouette was gone and there was a tunnel right through the poor gourd.  Given shooter enthusiasm for some more action, we posted up two zombie redcoat targets, and let the centerfires join the fun.  Both sides performed well, but the left took off the prize for most ventilated ex-regular.

Then back into it for two more AQTs.  With dusk quickly approaching, Cam, American Amazon and I were all frantically scoring targets, while Ken, Dennis, Rex and Albert kept the line humming (much appreciated, guys!).  The evening redcoat showed just how far we had come, with three cleared targets and 6 shooters achieving the Morgan's rifleman shot.

After quickly casing rifles and clearing the range, we proceeded to the final rifleman awards
   Brian C  215
   Drew Y  233 - grabbed the high score away from the Corps!   
   Daimian G  218 - but we think the Devil Dogs might forgive, as Daimian joined dad Goose in the corps of riflemen.  We noticed a little range dust getting into folks' eyes when the two stood up together.

As a result of a side bet, Daimian won Goose's Top Shot hat to go along with his patch.  That left Goose in need of a new hat, so he came forward to claim one of our spiffy orange ones.  Thank you for stepping up!     Also Julian took a place in our growing Bay Area IIT contingent.  Thank you also.    
And a further  to both of you for the coaching you were giving during the weekend, it made our jobs easier.

There were a lot more shooters knocking on the door.  Jeff and Brian M, you were SOOOO close!  And several more in the 190s and 200s.  Keep practicing, and you'll have it next time!

On a personal note, this was my first AppleSeed as a full shoot boss on my home range, and was going to be a challenging shoot, given the short days and usual noise conditions.  Instead, you all made it a memorable shoot.  25% percent rifleman out of 44 shooters?  Unheard of!  And on schedule or ahead the whole weekend, with great improvement shown by all.  Thank you to all shooters and instructors, you were awesome.    Now all we have to do is beat it next time   

(Pix to follow in a bit; I saw lots of other cameras out there - post 'em up!)

[Nero]

For those interested in other AppleSeed related activities at Chabot Gun Club, here's the link to a list of those, plus scaled targets for download, as promised at the shoot:

http://appleseedinfo.org/smf/index.php?topic=23542.0

BTW, the light rifle class will not meet this coming Saturday, as the range is closed for Christmas Eve.

[Mr Pete]

Yikes Nero!  You have to stop teaching so well or we'll run out of patches!

Congratulations to all and have a Merry Christmas

-Peter

[cplgoose]

I had an amazing time this weekend. I want to thank all the instructors for their attention to detail, and all the participants for their open minds, and friendly attitude. I met some wonderful people and made a few friends.

[Cowboy Accountant]

I want to thank Nero, American Amazon, and all of the other red and orange hats for putting on an awesome Appleseed!  This was my 2nd Appleseed, and although the first one was fun, this past weekend exceeded all expectations!  I had been bragging about Appleseed to my buddy Dave for months, and was a little nervous when he decided to come along this time with his son Neal and dad Jerry.  Needless to say I had no reason to be nervous because they absolutely loved it!  Now I will have to see who else I can get to come out!

On top of everything else it was great to see Goose and Daimian both make Rifleman as father and son!  You could see the pride in Goose's face when Damian went up to get his patch!  Just another reason to love Appleseed!

Needless to say I think I'm hooked!  I can't wait to come back to reunite with old friends and to make new ones!  I will be practicing everything I learned and the next time the elusive Rifleman patch will be mine!  Huzzah!

[bmac]

Thanks so much to Nero and the rest of the team. What a fantastic, cold, educational weekend! See you in February.

Brian

[Eljay]

Sounds like a great Appleseed!

[Nitroxdiver]

Thanks to all shooters for making my first IIT a relatively easy one. You all were a pleasure to work with. Great job Tim! Thank you Cam and Ken for letting me fire your muzzle loaders, and keeping me company while I was standing guard on the line at lunch.

John

[Nero]

A blue windbreaker and a coffee Thermos were left over at the end of Sunday's shoot.  Right now they're at the Chabot range office lost & found.  If they are yours, and it's not convenient to get out there to retrieve them, PM me with your address and I will pick them up the next time I'm out there and mail them to you.

[Nero]

Daybreak at Chabot Gun Club


Low angle sun & first shots



Letting the targets talk


Ken (asminuteman) gives the Second Strike


Onward, to standing and then AQTs  (Nero & asminuteman)



The afternoon line



I have always enjoyed the Classics.  That's John C. Garand's finest:


And a sweet .30-30 lever gun


Saturday evening, and already we have riflemen!   
There's Julian:


And John B:


And Goose with his 222:


And an impressive turnout of young shooters!  That's what posterity is about!


Lots more photos in the main album:
https://picasaweb.google.com/114208333789247233986/CastroValley1211#

[Mr Pete]

Goose, is that you!

You certainly get around!  Shooting here...shooting there, shooting everywhere!

Congrats on a fine score.  Hope you and your leg are doing well and that you make it down this way again.

-Peter

ps.  Nice hat!

[Nero]

Starting Sunday with an instructor bull session conference


The quiet range awaits - that won't last long


So many riflemen we gave out awards during the day.   
Here's Everett


And Keith swipes high score from Goose


Chris had more qualifying targets than anyone else


Another AQT and Clint makes his score


As does Tim, firing his AR


The noisier end of the afternoon line


The aftermath of the 'mad minute' pumpkin shoot
The right side produced punkin' pie


The left side's precision bored a hole right through


(Has anyone got a photo of the zombie targets?)

We were sandbagging a few scores until the end of day, just to keep the suspense up.   

Here's Brian C.  Rifleman!   


And Drew runs off with high score of the weekend


Is that a smile or what?


Like father, like son:  Daimian and Goose.


Now Goose needs a new hat!  Looks good on you!   


And Julian joins the growing Bay Area instructor corps!   


Ten of the 11 Riflemen made this weekend


Joined by the merry band of instructors


Lots more in the full album:
https://picasaweb.google.com/114208333789247233986/CastroValley1211#

You all have a Merry Christmas and we'll see you in the New Year!

Meanwhile, I know there were more photos taken, post 'em up!

[Maverick302]

Excellent photos Nero, thank you for sharing!  I had a great time out with everyone and would like to thank all the staff at hand for a memorable great weekend.  I hope to bring others to the upcoming events to share in the comradarie. 

Congrats to all the rifleman, and Merry Christmas everyone!

Regards,

-Everett

[Rocket Man]

Yup, that's our Goose.  And he's got a Rifleman buddy with him, too!

And a shiny new hat!   

Don't know about you all, but I think I just got an early Christmas present.  Great shoot, everyone!

[Freeman]

Great job everyone. I'm glad to see how much Chabot is flourishing. I can't wait to make it up there again.