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Morgan's Company Rimfire KD, Azusa CA 15-16 Apr 2017

Started by Rocket Man, April 18, 2017, 04:04:25 AM

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Rocket Man

We wrapped up another Rimfire KD class this weekend, the fourth year we've run these at Burro Canyon.  For those who haven't heard, the idea is simple:  .22 LR, shot out to 100 meters, is a pretty fine scale model of 7.62 NATO shot to 400 meters.  This lets us experience the Rifleman's Trajectory, wind reading and corrections, mirage, and other factors common to medium range shooting without having to walk a quarter mile every few minutes.   O0  Plus, it's just plain cool to push the envelope with our little rimfires.

Nine shooters were on hand for this one, all with at least a little previous Appleseed experience, so we got to work quickly.  The first part of the class is Understanding Your Rifle.  This means knowing what to expect from your rifle and ammo combination, finding your zero at different ranges, and getting real comfortable with your sights.  I know it's tempting to get the sights right and never touch them again, but those scopes are adjustable for a reason.   ???  We all learned about how to range a target using nothing but your sights, and we found out that Mil-Dot scopes with 1/10 Mil clicks sometimes cheat, and actually come with 1/2 MOA clicks instead.   ;D  It's always good to take data with your own setup rather than relying on printed values...

With our comeups and rifle knowledge squared away, it's on to Part 2, or Understanding the Environment.  Effects of distance, effects of wind, lighting, ammunition variation... it's a long list.  For the first pass we learned some fast rules of thumb, and tried it out on a KD AQT, then again using the Battlesight Zero concept.  I think we all agreed that where possible, it's better to make those sight adjustments, although the scores on our BSZ AQT weren't half bad.  Still, we'd already found our first KD Rifleman of the shoot.  He wouldn't be the last...

Part 3 is Understanding Practical Techniques.  With the rifle and the environment appreciated, we next turned to how those affect us -- physically and psychologically -- and how to deal with them and get rounds on target.  Calling the shot is crucially important once we start reaching our maximum effective distance.  Working with spotters is another great skill, and we practiced that.  By now we were starting to see some genuinely nice groups consistently, and 100 meters wasn't putting up much of a challenge anymore.   ^:)^

In between sets, we dug into a second helping of history.  On Saturday at this shoot we present what I call The Long Shadow of the Rifle -- how the rifle, and the determined patriots behind them, turned the tide at crucial moments in our young nation's history.  For Easter Sunday we turned to the Riflemen, focusing on three of the staunchest characters, finishing up with Daniel Morgan himself, without whom we could not have this event in the first place. 

Following our usual history, we had at least an hour of further discussion, led by the class.  We talked of our own personal heroes, and how we see their sacrifice echo around us today.  We talked of their hopes for us.  We also talked of the value of history.  Our history is a wonder, and should be cherished, warts and all -- but should we forget our history, it puts us at the mercy of those who would redefine it for their own purposes.

Besides me and my big mouth, we were led by intrepid shoot boss Dan / whangdoodle, also Orange hat Erich was there to lend a hand, though he made sure to shoot the score too.   :---  All in all I can't think of a nicer bunch of folks.  It's a ton of material to get through, and we did.

For a break on Sunday we did a field mapping exercise, combined with a practice problem in target detection and identification.  Whilst we talked of Joseph Warren and the Howe Brothers, of Timothy Murphy and Patrick Ferguson, a host of dangerous Marshmallow Peeps took the field, determined on sugar-coating our heritage...  Sure, laugh away -- those Peeps are tough!!

This turned out to be quite a challenge, as not a one of them were visible to the naked eye, not even the ones at 50 meters, and they were arrayed all the way out to 120 meters.  But we had faith in our students.  They used all the tools at their disposal, and after a minute or so the first one was spotted and identified, and it was all downhill after that.  These things presented targets of only about 5 MOA to 2 MOA, and in addition to being almost impossible to see, we had no hard rifle data at the longest ranges (better remember those Rifleman's Comeups!).  Didn't matter.  They were all treated to some accurate Appleseed attitude adjustment, and the sugary menace was defeated in order.  Nobody went home with a tummyache.   :1luvu

We were getting pretty beat by the end, as you might imagine.  But we went home with some nice results:  Three KD Rifleman scores (not counting Dan, of course).  Lorenzo put down a 217 early on Sunday.  Erich topped out with a 219, and that with a bolt action.   :))  But the best came from Kurt, his first Rifleman score anywhere, who turned in a 221 on the first AQT of the weekend.   ..:..  Outstanding work. 

So once again, THANK YOU for spending your weekend -- and part of your Easter -- with me and some of my favorite people from history.  I'll see you all at the next one.
... if ever a mistaken complaisance leads them to sacrifice their privileges, or the well-meaning assertors of them, they will deserve bondage, and soon will find themselves in chains. -- Joseph Warren (anon)

d2331

Just curious, what kind of 22's were on the line?

Rocket Man

#2
About like you'd expect -- three Ruger 10/22's, from near stock to complete upgrades; three AR-15 .22's; one Savage bolt action, and one Sig 522.

Every rifle on the line was scoped.   No, it's not a requirement.  During development I shot the class with my Tech-Sighted Marlin LTR and had no difficulties at all.

As always, performance on target was much more a factor of personal ability and rifle fitting the shooter, than it was about equipment itself.   ;)
... if ever a mistaken complaisance leads them to sacrifice their privileges, or the well-meaning assertors of them, they will deserve bondage, and soon will find themselves in chains. -- Joseph Warren (anon)

Rocket Man


I can also just show you pictures...   :cool2:


Pretty decent grouping at 100 meters, wouldn't you say?


Here's the view of those targets from the far end of the range...


Very important to use your prep time wisely when shooting KD...


Here's a view across the line.  Pretty squared away class by the time we were done w'em!


And our new Rifleman!  Congratulations, Kurt!

See you all at the next one!
 
... if ever a mistaken complaisance leads them to sacrifice their privileges, or the well-meaning assertors of them, they will deserve bondage, and soon will find themselves in chains. -- Joseph Warren (anon)

Zoanyway

Thanks for a terrific weekend, Rocket Man. Can't believe how much I learned, and how much my shooting improved from Saturday morning through Sunday afternoon (until the fatigue really started to set in, that is). Although I grumbled about them the most, I have to admit I particularly enjoyed the Battle Zero exercise and the Volley "experience" (which you forgot to mention in your writeup), and how with a standing, 100 yard, 10 rounds of "READY! ... FIRE!" more-or-less-synchronized volleys, we all "pitched in" (with lead) to help send off your ancient and disgustingly sweat-rotted Red Hat.

Thanks again - hope see everyone at another event soon!

Lorenzo

F_letch

Thank you and Dan for a great weekend. 
I learned A LOT!!  Funny how those dials on the scope really mean something and really work when you get down to it  :)
Always great to hear the history and how we got to where we are.  Yes...where are the photo's of your "bleeding" red hat

Thanks again, and I WILL be back

Chris

d2331

Thanks.  Sounds like a lot of fun.  My free time to spend at the reloading bench will be greatly reduced in the near future and since you can find 22 ammo again at reasonable prices I was thinking about the challenge of shooting a 22 at 100 yards.  Going to try irons with my old Mossberg M44 and tech sighted standard 10/22.  I may try a cheap scope on the 10/22

Rocket Man

Quote from: Zoanyway on April 19, 2017, 03:50:06 AM
Thanks for a terrific weekend, Rocket Man. Can't believe how much I learned, and how much my shooting improved from Saturday morning through Sunday afternoon (until the fatigue really started to set in, that is).

You're welcome -- and too modest!

For those reading, Lorenzo's scores were all above 200, apart from our experiment with BSZ, and one where malfs got the best of him on a fast stage -- and even then he still got 189+.   (For the record, a 20/75 meter zero is about as good as it gets with Standard Velocity, and you have to hold high at 100.)

Quote from: Zoanyway on April 19, 2017, 03:50:06 AM[...] how with a standing, 100 yard, 10 rounds of "READY! ... FIRE!" more-or-less-synchronized volleys, we all "pitched in" (with lead) to help send off your ancient and disgustingly sweat-rotted Red Hat.
Quote from: F_letch on April 19, 2017, 12:49:44 PMYes...where are the photo's of your "bleeding" red hat

Y'all mean this poor thing?


Yugh.  Pretty solid shot from standing, though.

Actually, I kinda like it like this.   :F
... if ever a mistaken complaisance leads them to sacrifice their privileges, or the well-meaning assertors of them, they will deserve bondage, and soon will find themselves in chains. -- Joseph Warren (anon)

d2331

Just thought I'd say thank you!  Without your report I wouldn't have been thinking about shooting my 22 at 100 yards.  I took out my Mossberg M44US training rifle today for the first time in YEARS and shot it at the same target at 100 yards.  With bulk ammo it wasn't the rifle or ammo's fault if it wasn't in the black.  Not bad with a 73 year old rifle.  I'd forgotten how much fun a 22 can be! (I'd been hording my 22 and just shooting reloads the last several years)  Next time I'll have to see how well I can do with my 10/22.
http://imgur.com/a/oGM3w