AAR Danville, IL Feb. 18-19, 2012

[TheEditor]

Fun, Educational, and did I say fun? 

High of 40, stiff wind right in our faces all day (note the flag in the picture).  12 great students plus 2 shooting instructors plus 8 instructors = high quality instruction. 

And the history was cool too. 

Anyone else with pictures or comments, chime in.

The Editor

[The Nailer]

We had an outstanding group of shooters this weekend 5 riflemen!  All the shooters worked very hard, took instruction very well and more importantly had a great attitude and had fun in the process.  It was amazing to see the improvement from Sat. morning to Sun. afternoon, just an overall great shoot.

[AK]

  ^:)^Fantastic group of shooters.  Great attitudes. It was a fun weekend for shooters and instructors. If the temperature ever hit 40 degrees the wind chill was no where close. The shooters didn't let the cold damper their enthusiasm though.  Congratulations to our 5 new Riflemen!  Great shoot!

[Mamba]

Kudos to all of the instructors for an amazing weekend.  I picked up my first rifle about twelve hours before the shoot started.  Went from being a little spooked to even pick it up, to being confident that I can handle it safely...HUGE first step for me.  Thank you all for excellent instruction, history lessons that hit home, and for all of your encouragement.  I will definitely be trying to make it to as many Appleseeds as I can and spreading the word.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.

[The Almighty Ram]

Thanks to all of the instructors for coming out in the cold! This was an absolute blast & I learned more than I ever thought I could in 2 days. Looking forward to making Rifleman at the next appleseed.

--Varun

[Patriot Gal]

Congrats to the 5 Riflemen!!!!  Huzzah! Huzzah! Huzzah!!!   

What a great looking group of present, past and future Riflemen all together!!! 

Hope to see you continue on the Appleseed Trail!
Learn today, teach tomorrow!   

Patriot Gal

[Shooter30-06]

It is a good thing there were no Regulars about the premises  of the Danville Rifle and Pistol Club because there were a whole lot of shooters who knew what they were about.  Between five new Rifleman and six Instructor re-qualifications, good scores were commonplace.  I have never seen a group of students so readily absorb and apply the instruction as this group.  It is worth noting that the conditions were extremely rigorous with a cold, biting wind.  The Shooters should be proud of their advancement.  I would also like to thank my fellow Instructors for their splendid cooperation and hard work.  You are a great group to work with.

[AK]

Here's a picture of four of the five Riflemen from this weekend.

[AK]

Another picture.

[AK]

Sorry, my computer is slow.  I can only post one each time or it times out, but here is another.

[AK]

Another.

[AK]

My last photo.

[Cooley]

 
We had a great time folks.  The instructors were fabulous, very patient and alert.
I greatly appreciate the time they took with me. Bringing a new rifle, new barrel, never shot it and a new scope
just mounted was a challenge but they helped me get it running.  Thanks to Mike and everyone for being so patient.

My son greatly appreciated the time and he learned a lot.

When I signed  him up I thought it was just for kids but then decided to participate myself.  I am so glad I did too.

We hope to assist in the future and are already promoting this event to others.  You made us believers.

Thanks much
Ken Cooley

[John Boch]

It's the people at shoots like this one that keep me coming back.

Despite the same old nagging harassment from my fellow instructors, LOL.

Great bunch of people. 

Several shooters went from couldn't hit the side of a big red barn to good shooters, and one overcame profound disability to become a RIFLEMAN.

I'd like to single out Dawn as that "MOST IMPROVED SHOOTER".  Dawn came early - like before the instructors got there and the gate was opened early - and she came with a great attitude.  She brought a 10/22 that she won at a Guns Save Life meeting a few months ago, topped by a Leupold scope that was about a half a bazillion clicks from zeroed.  (18" high and 9" or so off on windage for her Redcoat #1.)  She was understandably frustrated, but she persevered.

She overcame her disability and finally put things together Sunday shortly after lunch, shooting a steel "Redcoat" at 100 yards.  At first she was having problems, but I got down in the gravel with her and gave her an assist and some one-on-one help and she soon hit ten for ten.

The smile on her face after that was priceless to me.  It all came together for her at that moment and she wanted more.

At the next AQT she did really well.  And the AQT after that, as I recall, she shot a 219 that I scored myself before I let her see the target.  We presented her target to her along with a RIFLEMAN patch of the "Winterseed" design that I doubt any shooter in the USA deserved more.

Conditions were bordering on harsh.  A nice rain would have made it "perfect".

And yet, despite the conditions, and other obstacles, the shooting was magnificent.

Many thanks to all of the instructors present and the great students.  It was great fun!

Now, come back and do it again and we'll hook you up with an Orange hat and you can share what you've learned with others.

John

[RBKL]

What a great event in Danville.   Congrats to all the New Riflemen.  Here are a few more photos - well maybe several duplicates and a couple of new ones.


Riflemen Father and Son  Lorin and Caleb with TheEditor



Riflewoman Dawn



Rifleman Ken with TheEditor



Group shot of the first 4 riflemen




A few action shots:





























Even the instructors got some trigger time:


Before the end of the day KJ - got his patch:


A great weekend with a great group of people.  Looking forward to the next one!!

RBKL