A quick report on day 1 of our October Appleseed at Castro Valley:
Contrary to the roasting we got at our last two local shoots, today opened with chilly, dense fog drifting over the range. It cleared enough for us to start our 25m shoot on schedule, but the public lines next door - which go out to 100yds - were shut down for the morning. So we had an unprecedented quiet morning of instruction at Castro Valley.
Maybe that helped out the shooters, because there were some great groups posted, and our two AQTs of the day brought forward four new riflemen! Congrats to Wes, Dave L, Andrew and Danny! Wes also stepped forward to take an orange hat, and KP earned his red hat! ^:)^
There were lots of scores in the 190s and 200s, including one heart-breaking 209, so we expect great things tomorrow! Stay tuned....
Information on Appleseed-friendly activities at Chabot Gun Club (Castro Valley), including target downloads is
here (http://bit.ly/MOQxm5).
OK, the car is unpacked and the debris is scattered all over the house, so it's time for the whole story, followed by some pix!
After 90+ degree weather on our last two Castro Valley shoots, it was quite a change to arrive at the Chabot Gun Club and find that the Bay Area marine layer had gotten there ahead of us, with a dense fog that made seeing even 25 meters an iffy thing. We just started setting up and crossed our fingers that it would work out. In fact it did - by the time we were ready to go hot, the fog had cleared enough for the targets to be visible. Even nicer, it stayed dense enough that the neighboring public lines - out to 100 yards - had to stay shut down for the morning. So what one instructor has called the 'soul destroying noise' of the range gave way to peace and quiet! For once, we could do our instruction without yelling, and that contributed to keeping Mr. Time Monkey in his cage for the day (at least for the shoot boss, not so much for the shooters >:D )
Our instruction was largely handled by visiting IIT KP, who came all the way across the Central Valley to help us out. With 37 shooters on the line, we saw some good groups that gave us hopes for great things, and we also spent a fair amount of time wrestling with sling setups and balky sights. By lunchtime we had worked our way through the prone position, including a gentle introduction to that time monkey. We had stirring stories of 4/19/1775 delivered by American Amazon and KP, then back into the instruction - up off the dirt for the introductions to sitting, kneeling and standing.
Then our first AQT of the day, the monkey back in full force, and with instruction on safe transitions. No turtles on this firing line! As the shoot boss practiced on his speed math, the first Rifleman of the weekend was revealed, as Danny - who has obviously been off practicing O0 - clocked in with a 221! We got in one more AQT and there we found three more members of the corps of Riflemen!
- Dave L took over high score with his 223.
- Andrew came in with a 210, and received a bit of that cold North Bridge water. (But let it be known that Andrew made that score with 4 shots missing on stage 2! There's a lesson in not giving up over one bad stage. O0 On Sunday he showed it was no mistake with a 225!)
- Finally, Wes achieved his goal of earning the patch with a 216, and also stepped forward to accept the challenge of an Orange Hat. His mom, kilakiwi, is our local Blue Hat, so we have another Appleseed family team in the Bay Area. ^:)^ )
Four Riflemen on Saturday, the best we have ever done at this range!
I was also revealed that the reason KP had been doing all the work was it was his final exam for receiving his Red Hat. It was presented to the acclaim of all. Huzzah! ^:)^
Sunday dawned without the fog, but with a smaller firing line of 19 shooters. But they were serious and focused, and had come to get it done. The morning Red Coat targets showed it - not one single regular survived to bayonet a shooter! We sped through a review and sighting in some new rifles, and then ran a ball & dummy drill to catch any bad habits our returning shooters might have picked up. Then on to the first AQTs of the day. By lunch time we had revealed one more Rifleman - Paul M took over high score with his 231!
Then a break for lunch and some stories of Dangerous Old Men and one Dangerous Dame - Deborah Samson. And some words about our Bill of Rights and how and why they were fought for. And then back into that AQT grind, as groups got smaller and transitions smoother. By mid-afternoon we had a couple more qualifiers, but we hung onto those targets to see if scores would improve.
When the scores showed that shooters were tiring, we took a break for some instruction on long distance shooting. Then we followed that with a fun shoot: A "Parker's Revenge" contest in which squads of four competed to drill the most silhouettes on an AQT target in one minute, each shooter having ten rounds, and each silhouette needing at least one hit for a target to qualify. Since this was a group of experienced shooters, we made "hits count" - only shots in the dark were scored. Squad 1 took down all of their redcoats, and received the prize!
Then back into the Grind for two more AQTs, before the shadows got long and our visiting instructors had to hit the highway. We shot our last Red Coat target - again, none survived to bayonet a shooter - and gathered for final awards. Where we learned that we had 3 new Riflemen amongst us:
- Mikhail made it with a 210, and also received a bit of that North Bridge water!
- Ian scored it with a 211. Ian had been stashing his targets, and only when a gust of wind started them blowing away did a couple of the instructors grab them and say "Hey, these are good. We should score these!"
- Simon made a 210, but avoided that North Bridge water by backing it up with a 214.
There were lots of other shooters just on the edge of that expert score. I'll mention Paul R 208, Mike L 204, Leo 201, Nitin and Gary both with 199, and Rob with 198. Work on those steady hold factors, 6 steps, and get in a bunch of dry practice (it's cheap!) and you'll have it next time.
We want to specially thank the shooters who stayed and helped tear down at the end, since we were down to two instructors at that point! Also big thanks to visiting instructors KP (Ken) and mamanojama, who helped out when a lot of the locals had family and work obligations. And to the other instructors who gave up part of their family time to further the Mission this weekend. Huzzah!
We look forward to seeing a lot of you back in December. Remember to sign up soon if you intend to come, this place sells out even in the rainy season. (And by the way, we do shoot from under the covers when serious rain is forecast.)
Pix coming soon! But first, Los Gigantes!
Well, that was a proper :DH: Go Giants!
OK, here's the pix!
A foggy morning at the Chabot Gun Club range!
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-lVNfFT1-udQ/UIXUuaAgZLI/AAAAAAAADhs/DM93Jmk6jWo/s640/100_1299.JPG)
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-1B3feC6e0uM/UIXUu7j8WNI/AAAAAAAADh0/sbzM0h11pZY/s640/100_1300.JPG)
Downrange, listening to the targets talk
(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-yqUx30qQXPU/UIXUx7m_vAI/AAAAAAAADiE/y0F1dPCs8Q8/s640/100_1302.JPG)
Lunchtime heritage
(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-NpHyhynKcis/UIXUzPT65jI/AAAAAAAADiU/DWo55kRK0vg/s640/100_1307.JPG)
Now there's a new use for .223 brass ;D
(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-a2iFSLKOSdQ/UIXVWaChLEI/AAAAAAAADoI/UVF_8XK9yLU/s640/100_1306.JPG)
The right side of the Saturday line
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-TaugOOuxcb8/UIXU10xa2-I/AAAAAAAADi0/Uz6q43Xpv5U/s640/100_1313.JPG)
Nitin keeps up his style, refuses to give in to the ball cap trend
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-HOisCy-SdMI/UIXU2X1S5KI/AAAAAAAADi8/qGr3UNhCELc/s640/100_1314.JPG)
And while we're on the topic of fashion
(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Sld99SScDks/UIXU5PkWePI/AAAAAAAADjc/gYwbW9vUQsA/s640/100_1319.JPG)
The shoot boss doing speed math during the breaks
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-sx0zKx6gcEc/UIXU3jZH3II/AAAAAAAADjI/dSBT1D0UN8A/s640/100_1317.JPG)
The left side of the line, in prep
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-VvKc39yY0-0/UIXU6uE2UvI/AAAAAAAADjo/bPyXH0tTV9Q/s640/100_1322.JPG)
Rifleman Danny!
(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-1bALJmPgTjU/UIXU8bWtPzI/AAAAAAAADkE/X4rvhAN4w8Q/s640/100_1334.JPG)
Rifleman Dave!
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-M9PtVag1l9I/UIXU-YAYlmI/AAAAAAAADkU/4Xhj208sQn4/s640/100_1336.JPG)
Rifleman Andrew about to receive the North Bridge waters!
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-1WrOolc5408/UIXU_H1ZtvI/AAAAAAAADkc/S6ZKzLLAfNY/s640/100_1337.JPG)
Rifleman Wes...
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-mgwTOiUTwBU/UIXVawfeaAI/AAAAAAAADpA/6QgRwfiuQrI/s640/100_1340.JPG)
...takes an orange hat, seen with proud mom and shoot boss!
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-F0cEBZy185A/UIXVDuChx1I/AAAAAAAADlE/RnJoQtDnptY/s640/100_1344.JPG)
And KP trades in his orange hat for red!
(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-_wx4clLTtxI/UIXVacR96iI/AAAAAAAADo4/6DtGt6I-lQM/s640/100_1332.JPG)
Day 2 - it's ball & dummy time
(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-2Q0AuxAAmPo/UIXVFoj4fhI/AAAAAAAADlc/LlN_qXpfOjM/s640/100_1348.JPG)
Rifleman Paul turns in high score of the weekend!
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ZX0aGuOITEc/UIXVGonTu-I/AAAAAAAADlk/od1aVPMT1rY/s640/100_1349.JPG)
Newly hatted instructor KP and shoot boss tells some stories of Dangerous Old Men
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-W-YLQZrC4po/UIXVJbt7AII/AAAAAAAADmA/xBZA6hWXgBA/s640/100_1353.JPG)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-1Ab32FuWlEM/UIXVKPtd1RI/AAAAAAAADmI/vFQFHB7A5r4/s640/100_1355.JPG)
(Not that any of us resemble that remark...)
Our new IIT gets his initiation into watching the line at lunch - accompanied by RH BoxesofLiberty
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-LGP__BQHoj8/UIXVLJYAm0I/AAAAAAAADmQ/2uBfSxx9FVU/s640/100_1357.JPG)
No, we're not waving to the black helicopters. At this very noisy range the line boss uses a hand signal to warn the other instructors when there are 5 seconds to go on a timed stage.
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-VC56tPDKbdY/UIXVOQxCa1I/AAAAAAAADmw/AQdxWIVrkwM/s640/100_1363.JPG)
If we hadn't confiscated Rifleman Ian's targets, he'd never have known that he made it!
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-ySNP0vUnQr4/UIXVQmYujuI/AAAAAAAADnQ/ocCfR6RrP4o/s640/100_1367.JPG)
Rifleman Mikhail receives the North Bridge waters
(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-ZMg1XiCS8w4/UIXVRfqhtTI/AAAAAAAADnY/RpHUibLIDhI/s640/100_1368.JPG)
And rifleman Simon makes it 8 for the weekend. Huzzah!
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-2VpyIz4v8gI/UIXVUbGIVaI/AAAAAAAADnw/NeLUeGonbrw/s640/100_1371.JPG)
Janet (mamanojama), the better half of our visiting instructor duo. Thank you both!
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-yTAAvA8jFZA/UIXVXkTy0rI/AAAAAAAADoY/LhBQuvXb3F8/s640/100_1316.JPG)
Lots more pix in the full album:
https://picasaweb.google.com/114208333789247233986/CastroValley1012