AAR - Sierra Vista AZ - Sept. 19-20

[socalserf]

(I'm taking the Liberty of cross posting this from the MentalMilitia Forum-Socalserf.  http://thementalmilitia.com/forums/index.php?topic=23875.0  )


Got back earlier this evening from my first Appleseed. I've got bruises, sore muscles and mental exhaustion, but it was certainly worth it.  (I hope I say that tomorrow when I'll hurt even worse, lol)

Although I'm still a cook, I learned a lot and shot better as the weekend progressed, even when I thought I was too tired to even hit the damned paper, let alone score. That's because the emphasis is on the 6 steps of getting the shot right, although the physical process of finding one's natural point of aim is right up there second. I found that I could fudge a bit on the NPOA, as long as my focus and concentration were there. Hence the mental exhaustion. However, I shot better when both were there.

The main thing I learned is that I need to do a lot more practice in the prone position. I shot pretty well offhand, but this is how I practice at my local indoor range. I did pretty decently sitting (knees up), which my range will let me do but I don't do enough. And really kinda sucked at prone, which is a no-no at the indoor range. And that's supposed to be the most stable platform.

I found it hard to get a good sight picture in prone. At first, the ear muffs were getting in the way, so I switched to just plugs--which didn't work so well with the guys shooting .308s a couple of places down. It may be that I am lying too far down and that my right elbow needs to come in more, but none of the instructors said anything about it even after they watched me. Dunno, just have to practice it more, I guess.

Two things I would recommend to any newbies planning on going:

1. Get a teeny tiny lil bitty front sight. Those 4th stage targets disappeared behind my Williams firesight. And maybe that was part of my problem. I later tried another guy's rifle with a match front sight. Although I didn't zero it in for me, it was so much better. I need to get one.

2. Zero your rifle beforehand if you can. I thought mine was, but the screw on the rear peepsight had come loose and it took me half a day to get it where it needed to be. Part of that was because it's counter intuitive--shooting high, raise the sight.

Ok, 3 things. Make sure you are firing the brand your rifle likes. Saturday, I was shooting .22 Remingtons. Sunday, I decided to go with the Federals which had been fine for me in the past. Not this time. The Federals kept malfing on me. I switched back to the Rems with no further problems.

Ok, 4 things...practice the positions at home. There is plenty of time to get all your rounds off, but it helps if you can get into position quickly and easily.

Out of the 30 people there this weekend, I'd say at least 10 were women and kids, and some of those kids were pretty damned good. Huzzah!

I had brought my SKS and Kel-Tec SU-16 but never uncased them. On Sunday, when we did some fun stuff, my shoulder was a bit sore even from the 10/22--probably because I had difficulty getting it socked in right in the prone position. Another woman there had an M1 carbine I would have loved to try but never had the chance.

I guess that is my only criticism. Things were moving along so fast that even switching out rifles was problematic. Hell, even taking a whiz meant missing a stage.

But I learned a [lot], had a good time, met some good folks.

When they have another that coincides with my work schedule, I'll be there. Guess I'm a glutton for punishment.

Wannbe Rifleman,
Coyote

[MOGromit]

2nd event in Sierra Vista, weather cooperated much better this time around and we had some repeat customers from previous Appleseeds.  Some from Tonopah in April '08, some from Payson in April '09 and others from this location in April '09 as well.

29 shooters were on the line when Saturday started off after getting the standard welcome, intro, safety and such material.  I was joined by Bill (lysander6) and Tito C., an attendee at this location the first time around who was helping with safety on the line while his wife and daughter were actually shooting.  With only 3 folks we were hard pressed to get down and dirty on the line with the shooters, so having Tito there was a great help and we couldn't have done it without him.

Lunch had Lysander giving the 1st strike while I followed up with the 2nd.  Got the shooters back on the line and with the first AQT had one shooter hit the 204 mark using a bolt action .22.  Sadly this was his high score for the day and he was a Saturday only. 

Sunday we had 21 return, no Sunday-onlys, so we got right back into the swing.  No riflemen were made, but many folks saw great improvements in their AQT scores.  Some doubling, one who tripled the score and most had 20-50 more points added between the lowest and the highest achieved.

By the end of Sunday we were down to only 10 shooters on the line as folks began leaving early to head back home.  Finished up the event with the benediction, the 7th step, the assignment that I've started giving all Appleseeders (to tell me the next time we meet on the trail who they brought that was new, actually I tell them to tell whoever is the SB at their next event who they brought).  Clean up and tear down proceeded quickly and a good time was had by all.

No orange hats handed out during the weekend proper, but we had 5 folks at their 1st or 2nd event express interest and put down their contact information, so I'll be working with the other instructors and state coordinator to get them on the trail.

AZG

[CortJestir]

Any possiblity that this post could be moved here?
AAR - Sierra Vista AZ - Sept. 19-20

Done...thanks for the heads up.

CJ

[AZbinary]

Thank You Appleseed!

My wife and I really enjoyed our first Appleseed (she was the one with the M-1 carbine).  We enjoyed the shooting, and really enjoyed Mr. Grommit's tales of the three strikes of the match.  Kudos to a wonderful program, we'll see you on the trail, with friends and family!

[SamD]

Binary,
I'll tell you AzGromit is a good man.

I was privileged to IIT with him twice last year.  He teaches well and has had a big influence on New Mexico Appleseed.

We all look forward to seeing you and your family on the trail, Spread the word, Appleseed is in Sierra Vista to stay, next Douglas!

[bfrey92]

AzGromit,  Thank you again for the great instruction!!!   I had a great time and have lots of things to work on   Look forward the next shoot with you, a rifleman always persists !!!!
Brad

[AZSongdog]

Hey serf,

I think you owe me royalties or something for cross posting my entry from TMM. lol

Actually, it saves me from repeating myself here.

For this audience, I'll add:

Gromit, Lysander6 and Tito did a great job. Thanks guys.

I didn't really feel there was a good time for me to bring out my other rifles on Sunday. Maybe towards the end that could be included in the "fun stuff" category? I know that not everybody wants some stranger handling their weapon, but I sure would have liked to try out 5 rds on some of the other rifles and calibers. That may not really be practical so just food for thought.

Camping--there seemed to be others interested as well as me. Maybe next time we can coordinate a place beforehand. Someplace where they won't get freaked out if we clean rifles by the fire. lol Staying at the range Friday nite was not bad, but a real campground or, at least some other folks, would have been better. A bit spooky all by my lonesome. It took me awhile to figure out that the glowing eyes around me were the cows. lol. But the stars were incredible. Not sure how the range folks felt about me staying there, but maybe we can work something out with them if monthly shoots are in the future.

Which I hope they are. I work alternate weekends, but if you mix them up a bit so they are not on the same weekend every month, I'll go as often as I can. My improved score only got me to Marksman, bare minimum army qual. That's still a long way from Expert or Rifleman. I will get there, though.

If there are any Tucson folks who would like to meet at either the county or 3 Points range for practice, drop me a line. I need buddies to help me commit to getting out and not letting what I learned get rusty and, hopefully, improving.

Thanks again Appleseed. This is a great program and I was glad to see so many other women there. And kids! I've got some coworkers I can nag for the next one.

Songdog aka Coyote

[MOGromit]

Hey Southern Arizoners,

We're definitely going to be following up both with the Sierra Vista range to get more events on the schedule as well as with some other ranges that folks mentioned in the Tucson area.

Keep your eyes and ears open for new events to be added to the calendar.

AZG

[AZbinary]

AZsongdog,

We'll be at the Southeast regional range the 3 and 4th of October if you want to stop by and put a few rounds through the carbine.  We're usually there at 0800.

More Appleseeds in the Tucson area would be very cool, can't wait!

Thanks all,

Mark

[uralite]

Really enjoyed camping, shooting, and learning. Found out my sling was pulling my rifle 5 deg right rotation. No wonder my score was so bad. Now time for further practice. Looking forward to a Tucson Appleseed. May the Lord richly bless you all. E

[AwkwardStage]

SongDog (aka AZcoyote) and Serf, looks like there is a fair bit of cross pollination with TMM.  I must say that TMM was the driving force for me to finally get some superb training.  Best of all, it was in my home state and didn't drain my wallet.  Any chance you western folks want to visit the RWVA home range?

AS

[lysander6]

All,

  What a privilege to teach such fine desert rats, and of course I never fail to improve my shooting or learn a thing or two from the folks on the line.

Binary,

  Thanks for the opportunity to shoot the Carbine, I was mucking about my man-cave and ran across some spare .30 Carbine ammo.  Let me know if you are interested.

AS and AZS, we'll have to get together one SAT evening after a shoot.

I would love to see everybody at the annual meeting of the AZ Civilian Defense League on SAT (3 OCT 2009) starting at approx 1200, check it out at:

http://www.azcdl.org/html/annual_mtg.html

[AZbinary]

Binary,

  Thanks for the opportunity to shoot the Carbine, I was mucking about my man-cave and ran across some spare .30 Carbine ammo.  Let me know if you are interested.

http://www.azcdl.org/html/annual_mtg.html

Lysander,

Keep your rounds, next time we meet, I'll have a carbine available for you to put them through.  As far as the AZCDL event, I almost bought a ticket and sent it to Gabrielle Giffords...I was supposed to be TDY this week, but it's now later in October.

See you all...soon I hope