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Rainbow California October 6th/7th 2012 AAR

Started by 4Posterity, October 08, 2012, 08:30:39 PM

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4Posterity

Last weekend we had yet another sold-out Appleseed Event at L.E. Duncan's Rainbow Range and Gun Club.  A great and attentive crowd turned out for the traditional Thompson Family Instructional Team's fine work at the event.  For those of you who don't know him, Stormn Norm has his entire family plugged into the Appleseed Project.  His Wife Sheri is our stalwart Applecore Bluehat, without whom I don't think I could successfully run an event.  Son Zach, Daughter Krista and Son Robert are all IITs, and all can usually be found answering the call for assistance throughout Southern California. 

Robert has a side-thing going in the USMC, and is scheduled for deployment to the Middle East later this month. 

Krista brought her Beau, Cameron, out this weekend, and we are working on him to take the Orange Hat for his love of history and his excellent qualifying score on his very first AQT. 

We had a nice mix of folks at the event.  Some couples, some youth participants, some Dangerous Old men, some first-time Appleseeders, and some folks returning for a second/third/fourth/whatever Appleseed. 

It is hard to name just a few of the attendees without mentioning everyone, but a couple of folks stood deserve some recognition. 

Thomas, who appeared to have grown by a head or two since his last event, came out and quietly went about his business.  Showing perseverance and steady improvement, Sunday afternoon he shot his Qualifying Score and received the Rifleman's patch he worked so hard to earn.

Woody brought Sharon back out for her second Appleseed. Sharon was all smiles and obviously enjoying herself throughout the weekend.  As a bonus, she was there so see us present Woody with his Rifleman's patch Sunday afternoon. 

Jeremy made it back out for another go at his rifleman's score.  Here is another man with the true heart of a rifleman, showing perseverance and tenacity at his "I can't remember how many, maybe fifth"  event.  Having been hovering around the 180 point mark at the past few events, Jeremy made some equipment changes (can anyone say GI Sling), relaxed and jumped his score into the 220's.  Congratulations Jeremy!

Veronica and Andrew, our champion Seventh-Steppers and returning riflemen, were back with friends in tow and working to further their resume's.  Veronica shot her first Rifleman's score with a scope-equipped LTR at a prior event.  This week she showed up with Tech Sights on the LTR, and tuned her way up to a qualifying score Sunday.  Moving on to Andrew's bolt-action Savage, Veronica showed steady progress and is now knocking on the rifleman's score with that as well.  Andrew just quietly continues to post excellent scores with his bolt-rifle.  Is there a .30 Cal in his future?

Adria came along with the Veronica/Andrew/Woody/Sharon group and kept everyone smiling.  Ever see one of those students who you just know is the life of any gathering with the knack of having fun whenever/wherever?

Joe worked down the end of the line and showed steady progress, working out some equipment issues and refining his form and skills along the way.  Quiet and steady, hope to see Joe back in December. 

Gerry was back for another go, but a steady litany of equipment failures plagued him throughout the weekend.  But, I'm sure he will be back soon undoubtedly with those problems sorted out.

Bruce and Craig were out, and each accused the other of dragging him to the event.  Guess dads and sons never grow out of finger pointing.

Julie brought son Tyler out for the weekend.  Tyler has designs on joining the USMC shortly, and wanted to learn some rifle skills ahead of time.  While I'm fairly certain that boot camp would take care of that, it was great to have them out and to see a fine young man stepping up for his country.  Where would we be without young patriots like Tyler?  Do you think Dr. Warren would be proud?

Lisa and Tony were out for their first event as well.  Talk about showing improvement.  Not to tell tales, but someone went from "did you hit the target backer" to "how many MOA do we need to adjust your sights to get your group centered on the little black square". 

Andrew and Jenn were at the far end of the line making big noise with that awesome 7.62.  You were sorely missed Sunday, especially by a couple of folks who wanted a closer look at your noisemaker.  Jenn was our designated "student participant" during the history talks.  I think she could probably give most of us a run for our money when it comes to knowing the events leading up to and including April 19th 1775.  Guess I'll need to study harder before they are back out for another event.

Last but not least, Lopez and Lopez were out for their first event (Hey, they wrote their names on the name-tags, not us!), and I think they are hooked.  Sammie kept at it with things starting to come together just as time was running out on the event.  She is clearly determined to do as well with her rifle as she does busting clays with her shotgun, and I am certain both will back at Rainbow in a couple of months to show their stuff.

I am sure that I've missed a few folks, and if so, just chalk it up to too much time in the sun.  Us old guys have bad memories anyway.

Thanks to a very special group of students who rewarded the instructor corp with their attentive participation, and willingness to learn.  You were the best, and having a group like you all is what keeps us coming back out to volunteer.

Mark

To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child.

Marcus Tullius Cicero


"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan "press on" has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race"

Calvin Coolidge

SoulMan

I'd like to recognize the fortitude and persistence of a new Rifleman, Eric (aka Inbox485). While remaining faithful to his personal religious commitments prevents him from participating in the AQT Grind on Day Two our shoots, he was determined to earn his patch on this, his fourth Appleseed. Realizing that he might only have one chance to shoot an AQT each Saturday, he persisted with dry fire practice during the preceding month to make this moment of opportunity count.

When I learned why Eric hadn't had the opportunity for an AQT Grind, and the amount of work he had been putting in to develop his skills, I offered to work with him on the side on Saturday to see if he was ready to make a go for his Rifleman patch. I was impressed to find that from the very first string of fire on the squares target he was shooting tight groups, under 4 MOA and merely needed to adjust his sights. All that dry fire practice had sure paid off!

For good measure, we did some mag change and NPOA drills, and worked on some fundamentals before starting an AQT.  Eric was shooting superbly with his Marlin 795 equipped with TechSights and I could tell he was in striking distance for his Rifleman Score, until he had several consecutive failures to extract, requiring use of a cleaning pick to get them out. We cleaned the bolt face and extractor and ran a bore snake through the bore, and tried again. It was almost heartbreaking to take down an AQT target that was obviously on track for a high score, but we had to maintain the integrity of the AQT.

Once again, Eric started strong, but then the mechanical problem persisted. So did Eric. He pulled out a second LTR - another Marlin 795, this one with a rimfire scope and cowitnessing fiber-optic buckhorn sights - and quickly sighted it in. Well that did the trick, because on his first complete AQT of the day he shot an impressive score of 223!

What's just as impressive is that, although Eric's schedule won't permit him to become an IIT at this time, that isn't stopping him from 7th Stepping for Appleseed. He shared with me his plans to share what he has learned at Appleseed with friends and bring a large group of them to the next shoot he attends.

Let's hear three HUZZAHs for Eric! A worthy American, if ever I met one. A man who knows very well what he is about. And now, a Rifleman, too!
The 1st and 2nd Amendments capture the spirit of the Constitution; the 9th and 10th, its soul.

Lioness

Thank you so much for everything. This event was awesome! I can hardly believe there are people like Mark, Norman, Sheri, Krista and Zach willing to volunteer their time and effort to teach us for two full days. And on Sunday we got to meet  Debbie...one of the owner's of our home range there in Rainbow - so cool! What a great group of people.

Again...thank you ~ You are so appreciated. :)


StormNSheri

As promised here is part 1 of 2 with photo's

StormNSheri

Thank you to all that attended. This was truly a great group and a great weekend. Hope to see you all again at the range.

SagoForest

What an awesome event!!!

Many thanks to Mark and the Thompson family for coming out and giving up their free time to spend with us.

I was particularly proud to see my good friend Woody hit rifleman, and my wife Veronica hitting rifleman (a couple of times) with iron sights. It just goes to show how good our instructors are. Thank you to you all.

As usual, it was a great group of folks, we all had a blast and made a few new friends along the way.

Can't wait for the next event...hope to see you all in December (perhaps I will have that .30 Cal by then).

-Andy

m1jerm

I was really thinking this would not be the shoot I made the grade on. After a full day of basics review (and I can always use it), we did an AQT. I thought, oh well, probably won't be in the groove here, I will just make the score the next time I come out.
But by the end of the AQT, I felt really good about it. Things seemed to have clicked.
Then when we got down there, I realized my neighbor had put a series of rounds onto mine on the 300 yard target. Sigh, oh well, I thought, bummer, it happens, but I will just try to make the score next time I come out. After all, I have been fighting with this for a year, no reason to get down on one AQT, I am sure I this one won't be last in any case.

Then Norm convinces me to have it scored and I think sure, why not.
We do a final redcoat and I can't really hold up past the 300 yard on that one either, so I think, "I will just make the full run the next time I am out." See a pattern here?

So we do some cleanup and 4posterity calls me over after everyone leaves and says, "Well, you scored it, you think you can come tomorrow and get your patch?". Sure enough, I got my patch the following day... the next time I was out. 

Thanks to Mark, Norman, Sheri, Zach, and Kat, you guys always do a great job! And I will be out again.

Charlie and Sammie, keep at it, as they say, a rifleman perseveres.

Woodman

A great time!  Thanks to the Thompson Family and Mark for making our second 'seed even more fun than the first.  Big thanks to Norm for helping out with Sharon's gun and giving it the Mr. Clean workover.  Second seed in a row with ammo issues...hmm.

It was great to have friends there as well to enjoy the fun with us; we never tire of watching Andy and Veronica turning recoats into Swiss. Ok - it's honestly annoying as hell, but in a fun way.  One of the things we like the best about Appleseed is the people we meet.  Hoping all our friends will be there in December! 

A testament to the instruction:  My 10/22 was bought 2 weeks before our first 'seed in Aug.  It is the first rifle I have ever owned, always been a handgun guy.  Second Appleseed, didn't shoot it on Saturday and make the score on the AQT on Sunday.  Everything I know about shooting a rifle I learned from Mark, Norm and the rest of the volunteers.  Huge thanks and we'll see you in December.

Note to self: don't act like an ass when they are taking your rifleman pic.....ooops; too late.

ErinsDad

Thanks Debbie, Mark, Norm, Sheri, Trista, and Zach for coming out, giving up your entire weekend, and putting on a great Appleseed shoot for all of us!

Loads of learning for all of us this weekend - great coaching, history, man and machine tune ups, all awesome.

I found my character assignment "Reverend" from Trista's history presentation extremely ironic, after being kicked out of Catholic high school! Maybe I should change my forum name  ;D

I'm signed up along with a coworker (first time shooter) to the Dec 2 event at Rainbow. Looking forward to it. 3rd time's a charm, right?

Joe

InBox485

Thanks to everybody that came out. Especially thanks to SoulMan for coming out to work me through the AQT. Next mile stones are a) get a group out, and b) do an AQT with the M1A (and remember to hug it this time).

InBox485

Quote from: ErinsDad on October 09, 2012, 11:22:44 PM

I'm signed up along with a coworker (first time shooter) to the Dec 2 event at Rainbow. Looking forward to it. 3rd time's a charm, right?

Joe

My experience is that it isn't the third time. It is usually either the first time or the thousandth. Not sure if you have a dry practice target, but here is the one I use:

http://appleseedinfo.org/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=28354.0;attach=83058

Legacy

It appears another awesome Rainbow Appleseed has been accomplished!

Many thanks to Mark & Norm & the whole Thompson clan for keeping everything running smoothly the whole weekend. I regret missing Saturday, that is the day you really get to know everyone and see the progress. I'm glad I at least was able to be there on Sunday to witness a couple successes!

Good job to everyone. We always look forward to Appleseed events at Rainbow Range.

Until next time,
Debby
Remember their sacrifice. Celebrate our liberty. Cherish your freedom.

StormN

To all the attendees Thank You so much for making this event awesome! It was a pleasure to see our returning shooters as well as welcome the many new shooters to the event. It is groups like you that gives me hope and provides the reward of being an instructor. Thank You for the kind words in regards to my family, they all make me proud. I hope to see you at the next Rainbow shoot, remember to dry practice at home and work on getting your bodies used to the sitting position. And Thank You Debby for your support.  O0 Norm
A strong body makes the mind strong. As to the species of exercises, I advise the gun. While this gives moderate exercise to the body, it gives boldness, enterprise and independence to the mind. Games played with the ball, and others of that nature, are too violent for the body and stamp no character on the mind. Let your gun therefore be your constant companion of your walks.
Thomas Jefferson

donnam

Mark, Norm and Sheri,

A warm thank you for helping my son Thomas reach his long awaited Rifleman status! From the very beginning everyone was friendly and helpful. Thomas would like to volunteer for the December shoot at Rainbow if you can find something for him to do! And of course I am happy to help as well.

Thanks again,
Donna