Corona, CA, August 18-19, 2012

[Psych Doc]

A fantastic group of patriots both young and old braved the heat to join us at Raahauge's range in Corona for a weekend of marksmanship and heritage. We had a good mix of new shooters as well as some old hands. It was also great to have several groups of family members that came out together on the line, among them first-timer Ryan and his mom Terri.

After the safety briefing, it was on to our first redcoat. While the scores overall were not too bad, we had a long way to go, if we were going to match the founders' in marksmanship. As we moved through the steady hold factors and six steps to firing the shot, all the shooters were getting on target and groups started to shrink. Casey had some equipment difficulties early on, but after switching to a loaner rifle showed steady progress as did his dad, Bob. By the time we took a break for lunch, many were showing solid groups and had learned to adjust their sights and scopes to zero their rifles.

The story of the three strikes inspired a number of comments from young and old alike. Many commented that they had never heard the story of the founding of our country in detail before and that they were excited to learn more about our shared heritage. 

Following lunch, we learned how to shoot from sitting and standing positions. Then it was time to test our skills with an AQT. Shooters started to post good results right away with many scores above 125. Despite fatigue setting in from the heat, the final Saturday redcoat showed a lot of improvement. 

At the end of the day junior shooters Austin, Casey and Ryan were awarded the Luther Blanchard patch for their hard work and perseverance.

On Sunday morning we were joined by John and his sons (returning Appleseeders) Aaron and Isaiah. The morning redcoats showed that a lot had changed since Saturday with many more 200, 300 and 400 yard hits. John got up to speed quickly and shot some of the tightest groups of the weekend.

The endurance award for the weekend has to go to Crystal, who ran a few minutes late Sunday morning, because after shooting all day Saturday, in 100 degree heat, she had had to go to work until 4am! Crystal put up excellent groups before fatigue inevitably caught up with her. Given a little more rest, she would definitely be in the hunt for a patch.

We moved steadily through the morning review and group sizes continued to shrink. Father-son team Jon and Austin overcame some equipment challenges and showed a lot of improvement in their groups. A little more practice for Austin, and maybe a little easier conditions (it was 100+ degrees with the wind blowing dirt right into your face a lot of the weekend), and he will be right up there. Jon, an experienced shooter, did very well, given his stock sites.

Our first AQT showed several scores in the Marksman and Sharpshooter ranges, with prior Appleseeders Grant, Nathan, Aaron and Isaiah leading the way. Unfortunately Kris had to leave early, to avoid missing his son's football game, or he would likely have been knocking at the Rifleman door. Hope to see you again soon Kris!

Lunch brought the history of our country the sacrifices and choices of the founders into focus with stories of the dangerous old men and dangerous dames of the founding generation.

After lunch it was time for more AQT's as the afternoon progressed, many shooters were showing their mettle with scores in the Marksman and Sharpshooter ranges. The heat and blowing dust made it tough going, but all persevered. Unbeknownst to Aaron, he was the first to earn a Rifleman patch with a solid 213, though the devilish Shoot Boss concealed this from him until our closing ceremony. Then prior Rifleman, Grant, requalified with a 218.

We took some time off from the AQT grind to repel an invasion attempt by an alien watermelon bent on enslaving us all. Some volley fire showed the importance of teamwork and quickly put an end to the threat to our liberty.

Many of the shooters also took turns firing an M1 Garand on Sunday afternoon. The perforated target, with 35 hits and no misses, left the Shoot Boss amazed at the progress of the group and demonstrated to all that marksmanship skills are the same, whether one is shooting a 30-06 battle rifle or a .22 trainer. 

On the final AQT of the day, Bob (shooting a tube-fed rifle) joined Aaron and Grant in excellence with a 212. In addition to earning him a Rifleman patch, this feat also won Bob a bet he had with the coworker who had told him about Appleseed.   

Three cheers for our newest riflemen, Huzzah! Huzzah! Huzzah! 

The weary but willing shooters showed that they had learned their lessons well and put some serious hurt on their final redcoats. Way to go!

After patch ceremonies recognizing our new riflemen, we acknowledged new Red Hat Instructor Joel (SoulMan) and new Orange Hat, Instructor in Training, Grant. We ended the day with reminders about the price paid for our liberty and the need for our generation to preserve it for future Americans.

Thanks to all for coming out and sharing some heritage and marksmanship with us. Thanks for being safe, and I hope to see you all again soon!

All the best,
Robert (Psych Doc) 

[Psych Doc]

Here are the first of the pictures from the weekend. If you would like a higher resolution version, send me a PM.

[UpChuck]

The date on the pictures is not correct; I'll check it next time!

[SoulMan]

What a great crop of shooters we had at Corona this weekend!

I'm blown away at how well our junior shooters did. Ryan, Casey, Austin, Isaiah, Aaron, Nathan and Grant, you make me swell with confidence for the next generation that our nation will be in good hands. You are blessed to have parents who are invested in raising you to be wise and worthy Americans, but ultimately, you make the choice.

Congratulations to our new Riflemen, Aaron and Bob. Way to take the instruction to heart and persist. Your positive and gracious attitudes to and steadfast dedication are not only keys to success as marksmen but for saving our nation.

To our first responders Jon and Crystal, thank you for your service. I'm honored to have served you this weekend.

To all, thank you for standing for liberty. Let the story resonate in your hearts and inform your actions as pillars of the community.

I look forward to seeing you all on the trail -- hopefully with the friends you bring along.

- Joel

[R1SGx2]

Psych Doc, very nice report.

Looks like all had a great time time at the shoot.

When looking at the pictures, tells the final chapter of the shoot.

Raahauge's range in Corona

Looks like a very nice range.

Good job by all,,,,