Bunnell Dec. 17-18

[9mm4545]

After Action Report, BUNNELL, FL 17-18 DECEMBER 2011

Weekends like this one make it all worth while. On Saturday we had 20 shooters come out on a fine December day to learn marksmanship and preserve the ideals of the generation that founded America. With perfect weather and willing attentive students, the progress was remarkable to observe. Experience levels varied from "never shot a rifle" to competition shooters. With the able help of our instructors--Rambo Granny, Flawyer, Mac66, TomM1Thumb, 50calTank, and 9mm4545--the instructions and demonstrations were professional and the students seemed to quickly catch on to the art and science of becoming a Rifleman. Saturday morning flew by and by lunchtime, everyone was ready for a meal and the telling of "The First Strike of the Match" as the events of a spring evening 236 years ago were brought to life. Everyone plunged into the afternoon with a seriousness of purpose as perhaps the spirits of those long dead Patriots looked on. Standing, transitions, sitting, rifleman's cadence and more--the firehose of marksmanship continued until finally the first Rifleman of the day was revealed. Congratulations Gary J.! Well done, sir!  Our "never shot a rifle" students were proving to be amazingly quick learners and the day ended with a far improved Redcoat target from the morning.

The weather turned a bit chilly overnight and the breeze was enough to encourage the wearing of jackets until well into the morning on Sunday. 19 patriots arrived early and eager so after a quick review, it was down to basics first, a few practice drills, and then into the AQT Rifleman crucible. Just before we broke for lunch, Rick H., a Revolutionary War re-enactor, gave us a demonstration of a 50 caliber flintlock rifle, nailing a 100 yard silhouette in a cloud of black powder smoke. Rick also gave us a bit of 18th century warfare knowledge and it became clear that the colonists did not regard war as a gentleman's game--they were deadly serious as they fought to win their battle against tyranny. At lunch, again made available by volunteers with the Flagler Gun Club, we heard from the ghost of a Rifleman past as Mac66 brought Hezakiah Wyman into our lives. Hearing Mac tell this story brought chills to many of us and we began to realize how very much we owe those men and women of so long ago. Spellbinding, touching, moving, and powerful are words that come to mind as the story of this one brave man was told. Thank you Mac for sharing this with us. Our afternoon was spiced up with some friendly competitions: the "Race to the Rifle" where 3 teams of 6 riflemen each were pitted against each other. 10 rounds per shooter, one "star" target per team, 60 seconds. All three teams were told to leave their safe rifles and one magazine on the mat and stand 10 feet back from their rifle. Upon the "fire" command, the race to the rifle was begun. The team with the most hits in the star won bragging rights. Team three (you know who you are) nearly obliterated the star and claimed victory. This is even more remarkable as team three had one of the "never shot a rifle before" students in their group. LIke I said, these folks were quick learners. Before getting back to AQT's we held one more competition to try and give the vanquished teams a chance to reclaim their honor. This time a Redcoat target is involved with each silhouette assigned a point value: 100 yards=1 point, 200 yards=2 points, 300 yards=3 points, 400 yards=4 points, and finally the head shot=5 points. For any of the higher value targets to count, all of the lower value targets had to have at least three hits on them; 10 rounds for each rifle, fired from the prone position, and only 35 seconds allowed. Team one bounced back with some fine shooting and claimed glory. After showing the value of team efforts, it was time for individual achievement and more AQT's. Both single stage and rapid fire AQT's were repeatedly shot and the scores steadily improved. By the end of the day we had another 3 Riflemen join the ranks of those who came before them. Congratulations to Rick H., Jeff P., and David S.! Great job! You guys can be on my team any day. Repeating his excellent performance from Saturday, Gary qualified with a solid Rifleman score again. Shooting left handed on Saturday, he shot right handed on Sunday and proved that he was equally adept either way. This is a man who knows very well what he is about. Your work with that AR-15 was a beauty to behold.

To everyone, thanks for making this a great event. Keep up your dry fire practice and I expect to hand out many more Rifleman patches the next time I see you.

[mac66]

I had a great opportunity to visit Florida from Michigan and help out this weekend. I assure everyone that the spirit of the Rifleman is alive and well in the sunshine state.  Had a great time, met some great people and got a lot of good ideas to take back to Michigan. Two weeks ago I helped at a shoot with a couple inches of snow on the ground and this weekend I was in shorts and T-shirt doing the same thing. How cool is that?

Thanks to  Bruce, his wife Janet and the great crew of instructors and students who made me feel welcome.

Good things are happening in Florida. HUZZAH!

[9mm4545]

Mac, your help was deeply appreciated and you are welcome in Florida anytime--even in the summer. Come experience the fun of an August "Sweat-seed"--or not. It were a great shoot and you helped make it so. Thanks.
If anyone else took some photos, feel free to add them to my crappy iPhone shots.

[Speargun]

Thanks for putting on a great event!

The boys and I had a great time and can't wait for the next event. We all learned a lot and improved our skills along the way.

Since I only had the 2 10/22's that the boys used, I decided to break in my new(ish) Spikes tactical AR-15. After finally getting the Aimpoint & BUIS zeroed late on the first day, I decided to use the Aimpoint for the rest of the event. It was quite challenging on the smaller targets since the dot was 2 MOA and pretty much covered the silhouettes and it didn't help that the mount came loose  , but I managed to "get it together" and tighten up my groups.

As the second day progressed, I realized that the ammo can of bulk 5.56 was running low. I originally thought that there was 1000 rounds in it until I remembered that I had raided it a few times already. 
I set aside 40 rounds for one last AQT when the can was empty and sure enough, the well ran dry with 3 or 4 more rounds to go. I had been shooting in the upper 180's to 196 earlier in the day, but just couldn't reach that rifleman score.

With my last 40 rounds I shot my last AQT and began packing up while the boys shot the last 3 or 4 rounds. I have to admit, it was a great feeling when Rambo Granny came over to me with a big smile and handed me my target with a big 218 written at the top!   

The boys, 11 & 14, both showed improvement over the two days and ended up shooting in the 130's to 140's.
After the first day, they wanted to stay up late and watch a movie claiming that they weren't tired at all. Since we had been up since 4:45 that morning, I shot down that request  & both were out cold by 9:30pm. Sunday morning, they just couldn't understand why they were so tired. I got the report from Mom that they spent all day Monday being lazy around the house.
I got to spend the day at work and pretty much feel like this horse right now.   

I'm going to bed now, but I wanted to say THANK YOU again to the instructors & hope to see you at another shoot soon.

-Jeff




...now were did I put that bottle of Motrin......