Cheating celebrities or Heritage?
23 Americans chose the later last weekend and America is better for their choice.
Once again I have been afforded the company of some truly fine Americans - attendees and instructors alike. Rather than drool over the exploits of morally bereft celebrities, 23 shooters and eight instructors all gathered under partly cloudy skies and mild temps to honor the men and women who founded the greatest nation the world will ever know.
This event began, as all Florida events, at 9:AM sharp, with all attendees already signed in, gear set up on the line (no rifles) and the instructors front and center, ready to pass on the heritage. We were blessed with a large staff and a willing firing line of attendees - the stag set for a great event.
There were "repeat offenders" as well as new faces. Two of the aforementioned repeat offenders now serving as instructors in training! Welcome aboard SendIt and Mrs. Cleaver! One end of the line was taken up by a great family of patriots who had the foresight to bring cookies. 8) Every demographic was represented, from "hairy-legged men" to moms, in the finest tradition of Appleseeds.
We started out a little slow, owing at least partly to my own "curse of gab" :-[, but picked the pace up as the day moved forward. After Willorith regaled us with his own version of the first strike of the match, targets were passed out and firing lanes assigned. And so 15 men and women began their own individual journeys toward becoming a Rifleman, a time honored tradition dating back more than two centuries in America.
The Redcoat targets showed some promise, but also plenty of room for improvement. And so we began, installing one layer of marksmanship knowledge upon the next - the six steps, sling use, proper prone position and the steady hold factors. NPOA, IMC, and Rifleman's cadence. The attendees were taken through the very same steps my own father saw in the Army of the 1950s.
As the Army has now abandoned this system of teaching marksmanship, the heavy burden of maintaining the tradition now falls upon the shoulders of We the People, but perhaps that is as it should be, as the tradition was born on April 19th, 1775 by We the People. Who better to see that it survives than the off-spring of those determined New England farmers and shop keepers?
With mostly 22s, the line was fairly "quiet", but there were a couple HP rifles to keep our hearts pumping! 22s are a great teaching tool and are cheap to operate, but there is something to be said for a rifle that kicks hard into your shoulder and reminds you when you fail to emply a proper handshake grip and rearward pressure. :--- :--- :--- :---
The pace quickened and the attendees never complained. They even wrestled with math in public and not a disparaging word could be heard! Their hard work afforded us the opportunity to shoot three AQTs on Saturday and two Riflemen were revealed! Congrats to Kevin S (217) and Tom S (227)! 13% Riflemen on Saturday - could it be a sign? Lady Liberty was surely smiling upon the descendants of the Children of Liberty! Sunday brought us 18 shooters to the line and several more repeat offenders, including six who were not present on Saturday. Sunday is a tough day for thems that can only attend one day as the program of instruction is weighted toward instruction on Saturday and shooting AQTs on Sunday.
Improvise, adapt, and overcome is the adopted motto of Appleseeds (well, one of them anyway), and so the new arrivals forged ahead without the benefit of extra squares for sighting and "reader's digest" demonstrations. The improvement in marksmanship was obvious. The weather was nice. The cookies were sweet. O0
Why is the shoot boss running downrange with two other instructors hot on his heels? What are those odd metal items in their hands? 14:30 - time for KD! A brief poll was taken and thems who wanted to try their newly acquired skills at known distance shooting were culled from the line. ItsansSKS was in charge and did a fine job of offering a brief, yet concise explanation of bullet trajectory, "come-ups", target detection and range estimation. Any questions? OK - let's head over to the hundred yard line.
I was skeptical about running a KD line with only 100 yards, but targets never lie. 100 yards proved, just as surely as 200 or more, that what works at 25M, works at greater distance. It also proved the lowly 22LR cartridge has more "gas" than this old man had previously given it credit.
A fine fellow named Gary proved that a man can pick up a rifle for the first time in his life on Sunday AM and by 3:PM, be shooting 6MOA groups out to 100 yards - all with those odd little 1022 open sights that were surely invented by the devil himself to drive good men to drink. >:D
By the end of the day on Sunday, another four men who know well what they are about were revealed. My red hat (well, maybe dusky rose would be more accurate at this point) is off to:
Rob H. 212
Chuck M. 216 (persistence pays!)
Shawn S. 217
Jon D. 233
There were also two of the "fairer sex" that came so close to getting one those new Yotnottin's Rangers patches that you could almost see a tint of purple on their finger tips. Karen and Michelle, I expect to see you back soon, as I have your patches set aside!
What a weekend! To be surrounded by Patriots on a fine Spring day in the Sunshine State - who could ask for more?
Now ya'll remember what we said - dry fire at home with a safe rifle and pass the word to everyone you know. Maybe, just maybe, our posterity will have good things to say about us in 200 years. ^:)^ ^:)^
PHenry signing off for now. Keep yer bodies hydrated and yer powder dry! O0
This Appleseed, like all others here in FL, ran like a well-oiled machine. Owing in great part to the outstanding instructor to student ratio, all attendees made impressive improvement in their marksmanship abilities.
With no idea of how a .22lr would react 'at distance' I admit that I was hesitant to allow a .22 on the KD line. But, I was curious as to how it would work, so offered the last remaining KD position to Gary, who was using a borrowed, bone-stock Ruger 10/22.
After a 15 minute intro into the 'fundamentals' of actual-distance shooting, including education on 'come ups', creating a shooters log for each rifle/ammo, and the effects of trajectory, six attendees took up position on a low berm, aiming at a 4 MOA square. Five rounds from the prone position and it was time for a little IMC. Shooters rapidly discovered that the discussion on bullet trajectory was spot on, and adjusted their sights accordingly, making note of what adjustments were made, so they could return to their 25m zero later.
Another 4 MOA sighter group to confirm 100m zero, and it was time for Stage 4 of the AQT, utilizing Stage 1 targets posted at 100yds. Scores were impressive, and all showed great improvement.
My father scored "Rifleman" at this event, which is a great source of pride for both of us; his is a story of persistence, overcoming persistant eye and knee issues at nearly 10 AS events. With the aid of a properly mounted scope, and shooting stage 4 from the seated position, he finally broke the 210 barrier- CONGRATULATIONS DAD!!!! I doubt this will be the last we see of him on the firing line, as I know he wants to prove it can be done with his Mosin Nagant 91/30.... Hope everyone has adequate hearing protection!!!
A big "HUZZAH" to Chuck! A true rifleman persists and you are a true rifleman.
Congratulations!
RickB