HOLDERNESS, NH, JAN. 21-22, 2012, A.A.R

[Firewall99]

This was an unusual shoot for several bureaucratic reasons between the club and Appleseed, having nothing to do with the shooters.  The bottom line, however, is that with outstanding Appleseeders who were willing to persist, adapt, and overcome, we had a totally outstanding shoot.

The unusual part was that we ended up doing day 2 stuff on day 1, and day 1 stuff on day 2.   Not confusing at all, right?

This Shoot's Day 1

Lou showed up on Day 1 determined to shoot Rifleman again to earn his Winterseed patch in winter conditions.  Lou is a dedicated, competent Appleseeder, whom we hope will one day take an Orange Hat.

Having been to several Appleseeds, all Lou needed was a review of the safety rules before we started. 

Saturday morning was all about shooting AQTs at 25m with .22LR.  By lunch Lou was doing everything correctly again except getting his NPOA on the center two targets on the bottom row.  Unfortunately, that mental block remained with him throughout the rest of the shoot. 

At Boltgun's KD course during lunch, we broke out our centerfires and established our 25m zeros.  But before we shot a single round, we took Lou's used M1A that he had practically never shot, calibrated his sight range wheel, and set it to nine clicks up.  What a time saver! 

He then proceeded to get within about 1 MOA on the first squares target!  AND it said "2" on his range wheel.  All done!

I'm going to write down how to calibrate an M1A range wheel for everybody, because it took me a few tries to remember what Junior Birdman had taught me over three years ago.

   
• Use the rear sight elevation knob to wind the rear sight all the way down to the bottom.  Notice which way you are turning the knob to make the rear sight go down: over the top, towards the front of the rifle.
• Loosen the screw on the elevation knob.
• Turn the range calibration wheel IN THE SAME, DOWNWARD DIRECTION you just used, until the "2" lines up with the calibration line.
• Then continue turning IN THE SAME DIRECTION for about nine clicks.  (The number of clicks varies, depending on the sight manufacturer and whether it is standard or National Match.  USGI standard sights are usually about nine.)
• Holding the elevation knob with one hand, and NOT LETTING IT MOVE even one click, tighten the screw.
• Turn the elevation knob the OTHER direction for the number of clicks used in step 4. 

RESULT:  If your sight is genuine USGI, you will be within one click of zero at 25m and 200m, and the range wheel will be accurate, before you even take your first shot.  Saves ammo, too.

After we set and verified our zeros at 25m, we went over to the 200 yd. range to see how close we would come at 200 yards.  We set up the targets, lased them to set our firing line exactly at 200 yards, and all fired 10 rounds.  Lou and I were using iron sights, while nhlibertas used his scope.

A little note for those who don't want to change their 100 yd. zero to participate in this 25m/200 yd exercise.  Many of us have the "I'm all zeroed in and don't want to change it" syndrome.  The answer is twofold:

    1.  Is your vaulted "zero" going to be the same zero TODAY?  Is the ammo the same?  Is the temperature the same?  Is the altitude the same?  PROBABLY NOT.  So get used to confirming and tweaking your zero at the start of every shooting day.  Soon it will be as easy as cake, and you won't mind changing your zeroing range back and forth.

    2.  Understand the battle sight zero (BSZ) concept.  BSZ is like shooting at a standing bear though an 18" diameter pipe that is 200-300 yd. long.  With the sight set at BSZ, you'll get a head shot at the pipe's half-way mark, and a gut shot at the end.  All by aiming at the center of mass.  Either way, the bear at the end of the pipe has a bad day and probably ceases to be a threat.  (Maybe the .223/5.26 folks will need another shot--LOL!)

With dusk quickly approaching, all three of us had almost all of our 10 shots in the black.

Lou, on his first time out at 200 yd., was amazed, and this just made his day.  All his frustration from the 25m AQT was gone.  Both he and nhlibertas were seeing with their own eyes for the first time that this BSZ thing really works.

Lou came back the next day.  He's a Rifleman, after all.

This Shoot's Day 2

We had three more shooters on Sunday, two of whom we new to Appleseed.  We started with the safety rules and went through all the normal, Day 1 schedule, ending with 1 Rifleman (33% new Appleseeder conversion rate), and three people knocking on the door.  All afternoon Redcoats showed vast improvements.

We did all three strikes at lunch in about 50 minutes, but the shooters definitely heard all the messages, though.  Longer would have been nicer, but the sun was going down at 4:43 PM.

Did I mention that it was real cold both days?  Probably no need to.  It wasn't that bad, only about 2 degrees in the mornings.  It was almost tropical at 22 degrees in the mid afternoons.  No problem.

Well, almost.  One shooter did have a problem with the cold.  She had donuts for breakfast instead of a longer-lasting, high-protein fuel base, and only had one pair of socks.  Well, that ain't going to work, as the shooter found out.  But she persisted, adapted, and overcame.  She found another pair of socks and some boot warmers, and was good to go after lunch.

Just for the record, the best protein fuel base for any physical activity in the cold is several egg whites for pure, 24-karat protein along with nuts for a little fat to make the protein last longer.  Then it is OK to use sugar or carbs for quick booster shots when you need the extra energy.  This keeps the contents of your stomach to a minimum to allow for activity.  And always lots of water, soup, or hot chocolate for hydration--not coffee.

Much thanks go to buckskin for handling everything in the club house--shoot admin, lunch, and some of the benediction formalities.  She did a wonderful job!

The Appleseed side of the shoot went miraculously, thanks to a hardy bunch of shooters, AppleCore, and a shining star of an IIT.