Corona, CA, November 16-17, 2013, AAR

[Psych Doc]

The excellent fall weather is here in Southern California! This weekend saw 22 modern patriots enjoying it on the firing line. It was great to have a number of new and novice shooters participate as well as a few old hands and junior shooters, Brayden, Kellie and Samantha.

After the Saturday safety briefing, it was on to our first redcoat. The results made it clear that we had a long way to go, if we were going to match the founders' marksmanship. As we moved through the steady hold factors and six steps to firing the shot, groups started to shrink noticeably. Unfortunately, the notorious Appleseed gear gremlins were out in force, mainly in the form of teething issues with new rifles and dodgy scopes. But, we persisited and, by the time we took a break for lunch, everyone was on paper and many were showing solid groups.

The story of the three strikes of the match that began the Revolutionary War was told at lunch. Reminding us of the origins of our nation, the heritage we share and the challenges we face as Americans.

Following lunch, we learned how to shoot from sitting and standing positions. Then it was time to test our skills with an AQT. A number of shooters had good results with many scores in the Marksman and Sharpshooter ranges. Our final Redcoat target proved that the lessons of the day were well learned. Our most improved shooter was Jan, who began the day never having fired a rifle, and ended it by coming within a hair's breadth of clearing her final redcoat target, neatly qualifying at 300yds. Huzzah, Huzzah, Huzzah! 

At the end of the day, we held a patch ceremony acknowledging junior shooter Brayden who earned the Luthar Blanchard Award by demonstrating his persistence and maturity. Kellie and Samantha also earned this award, but had to leave early due to another commitment. Fortunately we were able to send their patches home with dad Jim.

On Sunday morning hearty shooters Brian and Brayden returned for another drink from the firehose of instruction. And we were able to talk Brayden's dad Craig into getting down in the dirt with us as well. We were also joined by "outlaw" father and son team, Chris and Luke, who were returning seeders hunting their patches.  We moved steadily through the morning review and then on to AQT's.

Lunch brought the history of our country and the sacrifices and choices of the founders into focus with stories of the dangerous old men, daunting dames and courageous kids of the founding generation. Then more AQT's.

We took a break from the AQT grind to remember Captain Parker's Revenge with a little friendly wood-cutting competition on some jumbo red coat targets. Those redcoats proved tougher than we imagined. But we persevered and after about 15 minutes of rapid fire persuasion  , the "Logan Militia" comprised of Luke and Chris, felled their redcoat, winning by a nose. Our most enthusiastic participant was Brayden, who finished off his team's target hand-to-hand after he was cleared to go down range. 

As the shadows grew long, we ended Sunday with reminders about the price paid for our liberty, the role of marksmanship in our heritage, and the need for our generation to preserve freedom for future Americans.

I saw major improvement this weekend. Everyone who shot with us achieved very respectable groups before fatigue and/or equipment issues set in. For those hunting patches, practice (including dry-practice) and persistence are the keys.

As always, I know I missed a bunch of good stuff in this write up, so please post up additions or corrections. Thanks to all for coming out and sharing some heritage and marksmanship with us. I Hope to see you all again soon!

All the best,
Robert (Psych Doc)


PS: Pictures coming soon

[Athena 1775]

What a great weekend!  We had a little of everything... new shooters, seasoned shooters, kids, grown-ups, a big group (on Saturday) and a smaller group (on Sunday), clouds, sun, and - on Sunday - Redcoat cookies!  We were also well-stocked with teachable attitudes... the proof was down-range as accuracy improved after each string of fire.

Enough gushing...    Brace yourself - this is a looooong post.

Psych Doc welcomes the Saturday shooters


Elfstone telling the "First Strike of the Match"


The Line practices Transitions


Showing the Redcoats how much they've learned...


Dan and Shellie


Jan and Tom


Bob, Jan, Tom, Brayden and Bill


Jordan, Andy, Simone, Brian, Jason, Shawn, and Michael


Finishing up the Redcoats as the sun sets behind the berm...


Psych Doc awards Brayden a Luther Blanchard patch


Sunday Morning at my house = packing up the freshly-baked Redcoat cookies!
(The small plate is our thank-you gift to the Raahauges staff)


Psych Doc demos during a quick sling review Sunday morning


A beautiful day to work on the prone position 


Gunman Doc got some time on the line...


Returning Appleseeder Chris and his new scope
Only one of them survived the weekend intact... I broke my scope at my first Appleseed too   


Chris's son Luke, chasing that Rifleman patch


The second father-and-son combo: Chris and Brayden


On Sunday, Brayden graduated to shooting without a rest


Gunman Doc watches as Brayden shoots off-hand.  That kid is TOUGH.


Craig, shooting Stage 1 of the AQT


Craig, Luke, and Chris


Brayden, Craig, and Luke settle into their Seated positions


Brayden, Craig and Gunman Doc walking back to the Line
(Can you see those smiles??  I think they are a LITTLE excited to shoot out the wood supports on those big Red Coats...)


The Logan Militia working on the Red Coat in the right-hand side of the photo


I believe that the official name of this Militia (working on the left-hand target) was "Just Kill 'Em"


The Logan Militia, and the fruits of their labor


Brayden, Craig, and Brian (not pictured) were SO CLOSE to cutting their Red Coat down!


SEE??


Brayden finished off the Red Coat in hand-to-hand combat


Thanks, everyone!

Jen (Athena 1775)

[saltdog55]

Thanks a lot guys for the great instruction. I had a really good time and wish I could have made it back out Sunday but I plan on coming to another shoot in the future better prepared. You guys had such a great attitude and patience with us all.

Jason

[Athena 1775]

Thanks, Jason!  We definitely hope to see you at a future shoot.

[ShellBell]

To all of you wonderful instructors: Thanks for a fun and very informative day! I felt like my shooting improved so much from this 1 day! I would like to come back to Appleseed again and learn more about our Heritage and work on my newly acquired shooting skills! Thank you to all of you! You are a great group!
~Shelli

[Psych Doc]

Thanks for coming out Shelli. Hope to see you again soon!