50% Chance of rain - 100% chance of Patriots!
Only eight souls braved the Florida summer weather at Myakka City last weekend, but from young "T4" (Terry the fourth), to his grand daddy John who, from what I was told, is just north of 70 (never know it to look at him or his scores!), every one is a winner in our book.
Despite an ominous sky in the morning on Saturday, not a drop of rain made an appearance and Sunday turnt out to be quite sunny. All but one or two were new shooters with little to no experience (AKA bad habits to unlearn) and it was rewarding for the instructors to see so much improvement. Thomas went from barely being able to operate his rifle - the last one to make it safe every time, to being the first one off the line in just 1.5 days, and ended up shooting KD on Sunday to great effect. His mom Gloria displayed the grit of her storied ancestors, fighting heat, fatigue and certain limitations - she just kept on going both days.
Master T4 was a pleasure to work with, but don't tell him - wouldn't want to swell his head. His mom CJ, got herself one of our brand-new pink "Shoot Like a girl" hats and it fits her, as she shot very well. Dad (big Terry) also shot well and was invited to shoot KD on Sunday and was grouping near Rifleman standards. CJ's dad, John, made Rifleman at his first event - congrats sir!
All but one from Saturday returned on Sunday - Jason had family commitments, but he shot very well on Saturday and I predict will soon be wearing a Rifleman patch.
Robert went from no hits on paper to tight groups worthy of his ancestors - keep at it sir and I will surely hand you a patch one day soon. Be sure to get that front sling swivel installed and practice with that new GI sling. O0
It was a safe, family oriented event and it was our pleasure to spend time with each and every one of you. I hope to see every one of you on the trail agin soon. Please remember to dry fire with your safe rifle at every opportunity and also to pass out the fliers you took to your friends, neighbors, co-workers and family. Get them to come out now that the weather is getting nicer and we'll make them familiar with the heritage too! ^:)^
Everyone please forgive me for all of those "quickly"s - it comes with the job. CJ - I so take that crack about taking the picture too soon back. :-[
Huzaahhhh!
It certainly was a great weekend. Talk about humid, though! I must commend all the shooters on their grit and determination.
After all of the shooters left on Sunday night the instructors broke out three Garands (two were "brand new" CMP rifles). We then proceeded to shoot squares.
All of my groups were four MOA and I was quite pleased. Then I looked at Brown Bess's group. It was under three MOA. It figures that the oldest instructor would shoot the tightest groups!
Thanks again to all the shooters for making it a very worthwhile weekend.
RickB
Yeah!!!! what a beautiful weekend with nothing but shooters who were willing to have an open mind and learn, nothing more an instructor could ask for.......BrownBess