Azusa, CA, 20-21 Apr 2013

[Rocket Man]

Well folks, the first "trilogy" at Burro Canyon in 2013 is on the books, coming on the heels of our shoots in February and March.  And I must say, that was quite an interesting week we had -- but I can't think of a better way to end it than outside in the warm sunlight, making new friends, responsibly exercising our civil rights and sharing stories of our heritage.  And that's just what we did.

We had seven folks on Saturday, some old friends and mostly new shooters, including a father and son team out to punch some paper together.  It's been a hot year in the desert, but the Founders smiled upon us with a nice steady breeze, so we managed just fine.   

Our opening Redcoats went largely unscathed, however, so we had our work cut out for us.  And work it was!  I won't sugar-coat it, we had some stubborn gremlins on the line.  Seems the people making rifles and cartridges for us to shoot and enjoy are cranking them out so fast that a few glitches are sneaking out the door too.  But we battled through it.  One of the responsibilities I feel as an instructor is to help shooters through these kinds of problems -- they're inevitable, we've all had them from time to time, but if you're new to the sport it can be frustrating.  And we didn't quite banish them all, either.    If anyone needs further help getting their gear sorted, please feel free to drop me a PM.  I'll be glad to help.  No fun to try to fix things on your own, believe me.

Nonetheless, we persevered, even through the thick cloud of smoke that drifted up our way from nearby Monrovia.  Some persistent work on a set of Greencoats that happened to come by rewarded us with a class well on paper, and we finished up our special Redcoat AQT without a hitch.  Our closing Redcoats still left room for improvement, but they were a darn sight less shiny than the ones that morning had been.   

Sunday the breeze was up and the quail were playing on the line, and we were reinforced by returning students Dave and Alex hot for their Rifleman patches.  We also had the help of Orange Hat Kevin who called the line without a blip, keeping us on pace.  Which is good, because a couple of gremlins popped right back up again!  Doggone critters, it's like they're protected by the EPA or something...   

Gremlins or no, that didn't stop us from fine-tuning our technique and having some fun as well.  Among our targets was Sir Chris the Target Zombie, courtesy of Zombie Industries.  (Never known a zombie to be particularly industrious -- I learn something new at every shoot.   )  Mr. Zombie left very, very little doubt that had our small training band been on the green at Lexington, history would have been profoundly different.    

But in all seriousness, we also observed the Volley for Liberty, to commemorate those worthies taken from us at Lexington and nearby along Battle Road.  Their sacrifice echoes throughout the centuries.  We must not forget.

Fun though it was, the sun and the clock started beating down on us, and it was time to pack up and head home.  Unfortunately, nobody quite made the magic 210 score this time, but we had several who were close, notably Monte who picked up over 100 points on the AQT over the course of the weekend, to finish in Sharpshooter territory.   But we'll be back.

Thanks again for sharing your weekend with us.  And remember, we'll bring the story of April 19th to you even if you don't have a rifle at all -- www.libertyseed.org.  But we'll do it all again here in the Fall, and there's the all-Known Distance Advanced Appleseed coming up in July.  Can't wait for that one. 

[Rocket Man]

Some of my pictures from the shoot.  Feel free to PM me if you want a copy in glorious 12 Mpixel definition.   



Jacob leads the group with a little safety, and a little history.  Talk about a nice day.



A look down the line, with Kevin at the helm as Line Boss



Some of our more experienced students get to help.     Here Pedro gets to demonstrate the prone position and loop sling, since he's got it down cold.



Our friendly zombie target.  You'll note there's not a mark on him that isn't either center mass or a headshot.  That's not a coincidence.   



A look over Pedro's shoulder as we shoot Stage 1 of the AQT.



And a look over Monte's shoulder.  Remember guys, open support hand.     Good looking chicken wings, though.



Getting serious now, Stage 3 of the AQT, as frequent flier Max shows us how it's done.

See you all again soon!