Gaston, SC October 18-19

[TheIronMantis]

We had a great shoot at Gaston, SC.  Congrats on all instructor promotions!  Leadfarmer looks much better under a red hat and armaborealis is already doing an awesome job as a shoot boss in training and will be performing those duties from underneath a green hat from now on!

Please stay tuned for an awesome, more detailed AAR from the former SBiT armaborealis.

[armaborealis]

WOW -- here's to another great Appleseed weekend at the Mid-Carolina Rifle Club!  We had 18 shooters out and enjoyed beautiful fall weather at the fantastic facilities of the MCRC.

On Saturday, we opened up with the traditional cold-bore volley on Redcoats advancing within bayonet range and found there was some work to be done.  We were fortunate enough to be joined by Kestak from out of state in Georgia, who helped us run the line and encouraged the shooters to "quickly quickly" move through the day's events.  We were able to get through all of our fundamentals plus two AQTs!  DreamerOfDreams, LeadFarmer, and DEH shared the Three Strikes of the Match.  I'd also like to thank our Blue Hat in Training, Mikey, for carefully monitoring our Revolutionary Flags and contributing exclamations to our heritage presentations.

By the end of the day, the Red Coats looked dramatically better:  From zero hits at 300/400 yards to 1/3 consistently shacking the 300-400 yard silhouettes -- ol' Dan Morgan needed three more shingles, too, and we had one Redcoat cleaned!  WOW!   

They have men amongst them who know very well what they are about...
The first day ended with two riflemen proving that we had "men who know well what they are about" as well as recognition for Darrien and Diana who earned their Luther Blanchard patches.  We wrapped up with a discussion on Rightful Liberty & Freedom with a Call to Action.

Sunday dawned clear and crisp -- beautiful fall weather in the South.  Right after our first Red Coat, we had a special course of fire -- retiring LeadFarmer's orange hat!  The chorus of rimfires was accompanied by the heartening "THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, PING!" of TheIronMantis's CMP Garand -- HUZZAH for LeadFarmer's well-deserved Instructor upgrade!   

We enlisted our new Riflemen as well as several other shooters into assisting with a review of the fundamentals.  Mid-morning, we were regaled by TheIronMantis and LeadFarmer with some tales of Dangerous Old Men, and then squeezed in an AQT.  Over lunch, we discussed the application of principles for known distance shooting.

Sunday afternoon was jam packed.  After tackling an AQT, shooters got to try a new rapid fire event, the "Redcoat Rattle."  Working as teams we had a close competition with the "Mountaineers" edging out the "Buckyneers" and "Wild Bills" to win the first-ever 25M Redcoat Rattle match with an excellent score of 207.  Following the exciting Redcoat Rattle match, we moved into the Known Distance portion of our event.  We learned the "come ups" for our rifles from 25-100 yards and learned that the "Inches Minutes Clicks" stuff really does work.   

Sunday wrapped up with a final AQT and a traditional Redcoat.  I was honored to present a third Rifleman's patch to Mike, and congratulate Corey on requalifying again on Sunday. 

Posterity! you will never know how much it cost the present generation to preserve your freedom! I hope you will make a good use of it.
It was thrilling to recognize Turner as well as Joey and Javen (who dragged their grandfather Bill out too!) with Luther Blanchard awards.  Thank you for joining us.

"What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value."
In addition to our three riflemen, we had many shooters in the hunt getting very close to that 210.  I'd like to give a special shoutout to Vern who scored a nearly perfect standing stage shooting CMP-style unsupported with iron sights, racking up a 207 overall on the AQT.  I shot a 209 at least half a dozen times before getting over the edge myself -- a rifleman persists!   



All in all this was a great event.  Thanks to the fantastic instructor team and awesome group of shooters for making this a wonderful final Appleseed in South Carolina for DreamerofDreams and I.  We hope to see all of you back out again soon on the Appleseed Trail.  These shooters are ready to move out to Known Distance at Elberton, Ramseur, or Charlotte.  More importantly, I think they have all reflected on the Seventh Step.  This weekend was truly one shared with Great Americans.

[dreamerofdreams]

Well-done, everyone!  Congratulations to our newest Riflemen, and wonderful improvement by all!

A great big Huzzah! to Leadfarmer and Armaborealis on their promotions to Red Hat and Shoot Boss!

I am sad that I couldn't join you all on Sunday, but glad that I was able to get out to one last shoot at Mid-Carolina before moving!  It's been a pleasure and an honor working with each and every one of you, instructors and shooters alike!