AAR: Azusa, CA 10 October 2015

[Rocket Man]

It was a hot time in the ol' canyon last weekend -- the last one-day Appleseed of the year at Burro, high above the Canyon City of Azusa.  And I mean that literally.  Despite it being almost pumpkin time, once Mr. Sun got a firing solution on us, he let us have it.  Reached about 100 F there in the shade, if there was any shade.

Despite that, we had nine hardy souls join Whangdoodle and myself on the line, a couple of family, a couple of friends, a couple of .mil folks, and a few who just wanted to see what we had to offer.  We had a nice mix of rimfire and AR-15 boomsticks on the line, so once we got through safety, it was time to let 'em rip...   

Our opening Redcoat showed promise, but also a lot of rust, as even our returning Rifleman couldn't get the 400 yard silhouette.  Yeah, I know, new scope.     We've all been there.  So we started off with a long dry practice, hands-on from the instructors, while everyone got a taste of the magic of the Loop Sling and the Six Steps of Takin' the Shot.  After that, back to live fire, and the results were pretty dramatic.   

Right about the time we all started cooking, it was time for lunch, and time for stories.  I almost wished we could have joined those brave men and women, for the snow and slush that clung to them on that grey April morn...  but they fought the hard battle, all we have is to contend with the much easier battle.  No General Gage confronts us today, only Major Distraction and Commander Couch.     Don't underestimate our foes, though.  But we can beat 'em.

Our class came together pretty nicely in the afternoon.  We had time for two AQT's, one practice and one for record, and even time for an Appleseed Pumpkin Shooting -- er, Carving -- no, I mean Shooting contest.  Students turned in some pretty nice entries, but in the end the runoff vote went to the phenomenal grouping of our family team target over the creditable .22 caliber face turned in by Rainey.  Well done, all.   

No new Riflemen this time, but with practice and another day I think we'd have had a couple.  Our returning Rifleman shot an easy 230+, so you know the stuff works.   

So that's it for this month.  We'll be back for a full weekend shoot on November 14-15, and we'll see if I can't give away some patches at that one.  Until then, keep practicing!

So... How was YOUR weekend?(TM)