Saint Augustine Oct. 10 & 11, 2009

[PHenry]

History meets the oldest city in America!
Imagine my surprise when I arrived early Saturday afternoon to find in excess of 40 rifles on the line at the Ancient City Shooting Range, when there were but 16 pre-regs as I left for Hernando's event the weekend prior!

ItsanSKS was filling in for me as shoot boss, backed up by a capable crew of instructors - RickB, Willorith, BrownBess, and Buckshot. I had spent the previous week at Ft. Stewart, GA. training National Guard troops prior to deployment to Afghanistan, but that's another adventure altogether. My voice was "shot" (forgive the pun) from hollerin on 2 platoons of soldiers per day for a week, so I did my best to lay back and let the "Florida Team" TCB, and TCB they did - great job ya'll.

The range uses individual "bays" with a safety berm in between every 12 to 15 shooters or so. This served to stretch the line out and place more demands on the instructors in terms of echoing line commands, etc - an excellent opportunity to improve them skills. 

This range is beautiful, with a wide covered firing line. It is a members only club, that afforded us the privilege of holding an event there. The owners Chuck and Missy were gracious hosts and made sure that lunch were catered in each day. Evidently we failed to disappoint them completely, as they have afforded us another event in December! Many thanks Chuck, Missy, Clint and that other nice young fellow who served as Range Officers for the club.

There were several familiar and much missed faces - Dave, Kimberly, Jonathan, Terry and Stephanie to name a few. Always a pleasure to see ya'll.

It raint so hard Saturday PM, we got flooded out briefly, but in the Appleseeds tradition, simply launched into some history as the "tides" abated. Despite the delay and with some on-the-fly changes to the POI, ItsanSKS and staff managed to git an AQT in anyway, but no Rifleman.

Sunday brought mostly sun and no rain, so the AQT grind was on after some reviews of all points of instruction. So many came close. Kimberly and Stephanie were shooting better than some of the men would have liked (Hey, it's hard to get out-shot by a "girl" for us "old fashioned guys  ).

The attendees showed the grit of thems that came before them, braving the heat and bright sun without so much as a complaint. They sweat liquid out as fast as they took it in, but kept prepping mags and getting into the positions - determined to persist their way to that coveted Rifleman patch.

Casey Blane showed up with the best darned homemade lemonade any of us had ever tasted in the afternoon, just as we were all feeling the effects of Florida's "dry heat" - many thanks Casey! I'll look forward to seeing you on the line at Hernando soon.

In the end, only two made the grade, but there were several others knocking on the door. Congrats Chris and Larry! Clearly the St. Augustine area has men and women who know well what they are about - Lord Percy is rolling over!

I know that I speak for all my fellow RWVA instructors when I say thank you to all who attended - it were an honor to stand amongst you and I will look forward fondly to finding myself surrounded by all of you again one day.

A great event at a great range with great people. Who said saving a country couldn't be fun?

PHenry

[caseyblane]

Thanks for coming to St. Augustine. We've got a good population base up here in NE Florida. Hopefully we'll set it on fire for Appleseed soon!

[ItsanSKS]

What an event! 

We *all* were surprised by the admin sheet-  had been in the 'teens for weeks, and then to jump to 41?!    Yikes! 

As PHenry has pointed out, this was my first complete event as Shoot Boss (In Training)- though I was concerned with how well I would pull it off, I was comforted in knowing that a solid core of instructors would be present to keep everything under control.  RickB, Willorith, BrownBess, and Buckshot- thanks a million- I don't know what I would've done without you guys. 

Being the first event at a new venue, I had no idea what to expect- had never stepped foot in St. Augustine prior, and had only vague directions to the range itself.  Thankfully, the range is located not far from the interstate, and there were plenty of hotels and restaurants within a mile or so. 

RickB and myself carpooled to the event early Friday, to get a feel for the venue, figure out the logistics, and get the firing line set up.  Forum member 'Marandy', who had previously expressed a desire to attend, but had scheduling conflicts, surprised us by showing up and lending a hand- many thanks Martin, it was definitely tough going. 

I've got to say that the folks who run this range are an exceptional bunch- Chuck & Missy both worked diligently to ensure that we had everything necessary, even insisting that they cover the cost of the Instructors' meals on Sunday. 

While no AS event is ever the same, it never ceases to amaze me at the quality of the people who show up;  even during the torrential downpour on Saturday, never a disparaging word was heard.  Soaked targets, shooting mats, rifles- *everything* was wet.  A valuable lesson was learned by all in attendance- they now KNOW how their rifles and ammo react to being wet.  Priceless information!

As we watched the 'public' side of the line scurry for the cover of their vehicles, our exceptional attendees circled up to hear more history.   The range personnel were in awe of the perseverance on display, and we gained a few believers on the spot.   

After the event had closed for the weekend, many folks asked when the next one would be- they had friends and family who would love the program, and would be sure to attend ASAP.  I worked out a date on the spot with Chuck & Missy, and our next appearance is scheduled for December 12,13 2009. 

Chuck made sure to inform us that 2010 is already looking to be a banner year for the Ancient City Shooting Range, with most, if not all, of their weekends already booked.  It may be late summer or early fall before we get another opportunity, so be sure to register for the December event!

[PHenry]

FYI: Chuck told me that they are planning on building another line behind the current line, and are waiting on funds to build a cover. I told them that Appleseeders don't need no stinking cover! (cept maybe in summertime) 

So, support the Ancient City Range by purchasing a membership - they are good people and deserve our support. The 2A doesn't count for much if we don't have a place to practice - perfect Appleseeds practice that is. 

We need this venue, as there are obviously numerous true Patriots in NE Florida, so let's do whatever we can as Appleseeders to help them help us.

I know that Kimberly is already a member of the club - are all of you "hairy-legged men" gonna let a pretty young lady do more for Liberty than you? Yikes!

Just sayin'
PH

[BrownBess]

The Rain was very impressive, and I was so surprised how everyone handled it....good show to all who participated...and was that high score a 244???

That is Itsansks getting his 'ShootBoss' hat from PHenry,

Lots of Rain coming down

Willorith demonstrating the steady hold factors with Buckshot

PHenry trying to dry out some Mats

Collection of loaner rifles

And some more Rain, it did cool things down some

BrownBess