AAR: Godley, TX - September 3-4 2016

[Ghostring]

Godley, TX  Sep 3-4 2016

Our first shoot at our sparkling brand new Ft. Worth area range! 
Saturday morning dawned bright and early, and we greeted 9 folks eager to partake of the heritage that makes this country so great.

Weather was seasonably hot, but not unbearable.  Fortunately, direct impingement of the sun was blocked by a covered firing line during the
afternoon, cover which we used to our advantage during the history presentations.  Our break at lunch gave us time to cover the First strike (TimBeatty), and the Second (NJRefugee).   Later in the afternoon we heard the Third Strike (Ghostring) and DOM was presented in fine fashion by Gunner01.

Five of the shooters had attended an Appleseed previously, all were quick to learn!  We were seeing acceptable groups by the third square on Saturday, and after handling the usual equipment adjustments (scopes and cheek risers, mostly), all shooters were well on the way.

By the end of the day Sunday, we had two Riflemen! (Bill and Jeremy), and had two Appleseeders step up to take the Orange Hat! (Jeremy and Rick)

All of the shooters showed marked improvement, and several of them are knocking on the door.
Special shout out to Iris, who had never shot a rifle before (no shots hit the first Redcoat), and whose dime-sized groups were very impressive by Sunday!

All in all, an excellent Appleseed, and a great start for this promising range!

Extra special thanks to jla1911a1 for preparing the range in his own backyard...
...and also to NJRefugee for laying down "suppressing fire" on bugs (literally: a weed burner!) on the firing line Friday night!

Please post up your comments...

[Texas T]

Well done. Jeremy and Rick, thanks for stepping up. I have found that, the more I teach the more I learn. Hopefully, you will experience the same.   

[Weezer]

Thanks, also, to Josh for introducing all of us to Del Norte.    Duuuude, you have not lived until you've experienced the Rio Grande burrito (with brisket, sans pico).   

Rick and Jeremy - welcome to the smartest, best-looking Appleseed cadre in the nation.      
We're glad to have you on board!

[BillJac]

I'm beginning to think this Weezer person is Dan's imaginary friend (or more).  I hear about her all the time.  But I've never actually laid eyes on her.

Anyway, a good time was had by all.  I was useless friday PM due to trying to get my dogs out of my locked vehicle.  Sorry guys.

Here is a link to my SHARED photo album.  If you have pics, I'd appreciate you adding them to the album...

https://goo.gl/photos/AUbTT3cWeuLfx5uJ9

[jla1911a1]

Wha? Bill you havent met the Weeeeezer yet? What rock have you been under?

I thoroughyl enjoyed y'alls company at one of my favorite 'holes in the wall'.. I dont often get to share these things with others due to my work schedule. Theres absolutely nothing that compares to a stellar burrito in an old garage at a table sitting over an old auto lift.

[Weezer]

BillJac - just call me Kilroy.   

[djcheetah]

Thank y'all for all the great instruction and the honor to wear an orange hat! Looking forward to giving back.

Rick

[scuzzy]

Nice - two new orange hats. Y'all are rockin'

[DanT]

As one of the door knockers (209 on the last AQT of the day on Sunday) I am both very grateful to all involved and determined to finally make the grade at the next event in October.

Used a nicely tricked out loaner for that last AQT and am looking to (cheaply) emulate the modifications on my Marlin 795.  So far I've floated the barrel, enlarged the mag well a trifle and tweaked the scope (old eyes, sorry!) to greater clarity.  Having finally "got it" where using the sling in a loop is concerned I expect that to help also.  Next bit of research will be seeing if Wolff Springs has a fix for the trigger.

Thanks again to one and all -- see you in October (with two more friends!).

[NJrefugee]

DanT -- It was a pleasure having you on the line.  Really looking forward to seeing you earn that patch!

There was a thread a while back that you might find interesting:
http://appleseedinfo.org/smf/index.php?topic=38980.0

On my rifle, I replaced the trigger and trigger guard with parts from DIP Inc. The DIP trigger isn't any lighter since it uses the stock springs and internals, but it is a little wider so you get more leverage which makes it feel a little lighter. It also has pre and over travel screws, which I adjusted to take out almost all of the movement.  Here is the link.
https://www.diproductsinc.com/Detail.aspx?PROD=156299&CAT=3603

One can use this kit to drop the trigger weight:  http://www.mcarbo.com/store/p/26-Marlin-795-Trigger-Spring-Kit-/-Marlin-70-Marlin-995-Trigger-Spring-Kit.aspx

Finally, I believe Ghostring has this on his Marlin 7000T:  http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=419321&highlight=KickASS+Trigger&page=11

[DanT]

Thanks NJrefugee!

I modified the trigger in accordance with this (http://www.thefirearmsforum.com/threads/ramline-lockarm-conversion-for-marlin-795-70-etc.77832/) -- disassembled the trigger guard, removed/drilled/tapped the trigger and went to the local Fastenal store for a 3/32 set screw... a special order item as it turns out.  Also as it turns out while reassembling that little bit of stuff the trigger return spring learned to fly.  I have yet to find the landing zone so will order two or three of the kits from Mccarbo just to ensure having adequate supplies on hand.  It also helps having two of the same rifle -- one to mess with & the other to leave alone.

Gonna check out the other links you gave now.

[Sir Not Appearing In This Film]

All in all, an excellent Appleseed, and a great start for this promising range!

Extra special thanks to jla1911a1 for preparing the range in his own backyard...

Dude.

Dude.

Thank you jla1911a1 for doing that. Private land ranges SO ROCK. 

Our first shoot at our sparkling brand new Ft. Worth area range! 

Even cooler that it actually sparkles!

[CaptainMorgan]

Late to the game, but what an awesome event!  I'm glad to be a part of this. 

[NJrefugee]

We are thrilled to have you in an Orange Hat!  Just need to get one for that parrot of yours and teach him to say, "Check your NPOA!"

[DanT]

I modified the trigger in accordance with this (http://www.thefirearmsforum.com/threads/ramline-lockarm-conversion-for-marlin-795-70-etc.77832/) -- disassembled the trigger guard, removed/drilled/tapped the trigger and went to the local Fastenal store for a 3/32 set screw... a special order item as it turns out. 

As some may have noticed -- the link above called for a 6/32" set screw (about half-way down the page), which for some unknown reason morphed into a 3/32" dimension in my little pea brain. 
Went through the tap & dies inherited from my Father-in-Law & by golly there was one marked "3  32  Use Drill No 40"... so I did.  Well... machinists already know that to be a size 3 tap having 32 threads per inch -- not at all what I thought it was.  The good thing is that having found that out re-tapping to #6 32 tpi was no sweat.  The trigger mod is now complete and dry-fire correct; will try live fire tomorrow.

Interesting note:
The company name on the tap is Wells Bros & Co.  They were bought out by Greenfield in 1912 and the name discontinued.  Makes me wonder where my FiL came by it.  Another tidbit:  Fastenal, having virtually every threaded thingy in the world, has no provision whatsoever for a size 3 anything -- tap, die, nut, bolt or whatever.  Guess that is no longer a standard.  Got lucky this time, that tap will go into a separate container reserved for antiques.