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Glen Helen, CA 12/27 & 12/28

Started by rrhartley, December 30, 2014, 10:08:47 PM

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rrhartley

It was a cold brisk windy morning at the base of the mountains just north of the 15 freeway. Taking the backers out was a challenge with the wind trying to make them fly. Once they were staked down it looked good until the wind decided to blow the cardboard away or tilt the backers and pull the stakes out of the ground. We added some more stakes and the backers were solid but the cardboard and targets did not want to cooperate. To be continued...

rrhartley

December always brings a nice group to Glen Helen (West End Gun Club). We had 14 signups and were fortunate to have an inactive, for a couple of years, Red Hat, Justin, bring a group of nine with him. Jester, IIT4 was going for his Red Hat so he was directed to manage the shoot under my supervision while two Orange Hat sisters, Holly and Rebekah worked the line. Jester did a great job and earned his Red Hat by the end of the day. I do not have the scores for the first Red Coats but I did look at the squares after the first round and saw the large groups, even some not on paper. I found out some of the rifles had new optics on them and had not been sighted in yet. About the fourth set of squares I could see the groups improving with some really small and in the black. We continued working on the group size and technique until 12:30 when we broke for lunch and history. I started the lesson with the introduction and the first strike and Jester followed it up with the second and third strike. Then I closed with a conclusion about how they gave their all so we could enjoys the liberties we have today and a call to action. We continued the teaching and moved into the different positions and transitions in preparation for the AQTs. With the wind issues and the delays we did manage to work in a single AQT and the reward was one rifleman, Richard Mace, great job. The laugh of the day was one shooter was not on paper after 4 squares so I put up a large sheet of paper so I could determine where the shots were going just to find out it was Justin's target. Yes, the Red Hat that brought nine people, but he was so busy helping his friends he hadn't taken a single shot at his target. I guess you can't be on paper if you are not shooting at your target. The final Red Coat brought smile to many.

It is now Sunday with 8 returning from the day before and to new assistants Shawn (Mr. 45) and Gordon (Tall Ships) helping with the instruction. The first Red Coat produced three at 100 yards, two at 200 yards, and one head shot. Backed to the mat for a review of yesterday's teaching. We continue with Slings, SHF Prone, and IMC at the target line. We shoot a few more squares and all are sighted in. We move on to different positions and transitions. We move on to the AQTs before lunch break. At lunch I quiz Justin about the stories he liked the best. He did not remember the names but he did remember parts of the stories. I have to confess I drew a blank when it came the Hezekiah Wyman. We had to look it up to bring it to memory. After the stories it was on with the AQT grind. Richard continued to turn out some riflemen scores. After a while the grind was taking is toll on the shooters so we posted a couple of Nigels with red dots at the eyes and the heart. The north side of the line was the clear winners. Time for two more AQTs and the final Red Coat. I final red coat was a testimony to the value of the Appleseed program. We had three at 300 yards, one at 200 yards, 2 at 100 yards, and an impressive four head shots. A great job to all and thanks for making my day.

Joyfully, Rick (rrhartley)

Jester

Saturday was a special day for me at Glen Helen. It marked two years since receiving my patch and joining the instructor program. In order to make sure I earned my red hat, Rick had me run the show, with just a few gentle reminders to make sure we stayed on time and on script.

The Saturday morning Red Coat saw 1 shooter in each of the 400 yard, 300 yard and 200 yard targets. 2 shooters were effective at 100 yards and 2 shooters just eeked out headshots.

We jumped right in with sling use and SHF prone. It was clear after the first set of squares that we had some sighting issues. Quite a few shooters had decent groups off the bat but were high and wide.

Covering the six steps brought our groups a little tighter and made those sighting issues more apparent. Next was the good stuff everyone was waiting for: IMC. We covered inches, minutes, clicks and talking targets and those with sighting issues were on their way. 2 more sets of squares would see a number of shooters in the black.

Due to heavy winds and constantly having to send instructors downrange to repost targets and backers, we had to really condense the instruction for mag drills, and SHF sitting and standing.

After enjoying lunch and the best part of the day (the history!) we got back to it and made up the time we lost in the first half. We were able to get in one AQT and the finish with the last redcoat of the day, which saw TREMENDOUS improvement from the morning Red Coat. We had now 1 shooter at 400y, 4 shooters at 300y, 2 shooters at 200y and 5 shooters at 100y. 5 shooters became elite members of Morgans riflemen when they were able to nail that 250 yard head shot.

All in all, it was another wonderful day with the Appleseed program and a wonderful group of shooters who stuck with it, persevered despite less than optimal conditions, and a perfect day to become a full instructor. Thanks to all!