What a glorious weekend! We had a tireless minority show up on Saturday morning keen on learning to set the brushfires of freedom--and learn to improve their marksmanship. I am happy to say that, in my opinion, we were able to accomplish both goals. The list of pre-registered shooters swelled during the check-in process and we ended up with nearly double the number of participants we expected. This was most excellent! After the usual introductions, safety briefings, and statements of purpose, we got down to the initial Redcoat target and we saw that improvements could be made. Students heard NPOA for the first time that day, though certainly not the last, and the Six Steps was thoroughly covered. The uncomfortable yet stable prone position was built and our shooters had rifles fitted with slings, stocks built up, and the beginnings of sore muscles established. By lunchtime, the sighting in process was complete and the group sizes were remarkably better. During the afternoon the deluge of information continued with different positions, reloads and transitions, Rifleman's Cadence, and the dreaded Time Monkey came out of its box. By day's end we saw the final Redcoat target had produced impressive improvements although no new Riflemen were yet revealed. Throughout the day the true events of April 19th, 1775 were shared with our fellow Americans. People like John Parker and Isaac Davis would have been proud to see the light of Liberty shining in the faces of our band of patriots gathered together at the Hernando Sportsman's Club on a fine Florida Saturday.
Day two went even better than the first day with significant strides being made in understanding and marksmanship. I will leave the details up to those others who were there but suffice it to say that our instructors felt exceedingly well paid for their efforts. After the last shot of the day, we saw a new Rifleman emerge in the form of a remarkable teenager named Victor. Persistence does pay and he just would not give up. Huzzah! Charlie also re-qualified not once but twice proving that his skills were still intact. Several others might have made it as they were heartbreakingly close but there is always a next time and the title of Rifleman still awaits them. To everyone, thanks for coming out. You are a great bunch of Americans and I do look forward to seeing you all again in the future. I also want to thank my fellow instructors: Henry, Janet, Glen, and Archie for making this a great event. Your hard work is truly appreciated. Now, here are some photos that Rambo Granny snapped. If you have any to share, please do so as we all want to remember what fun we had.
Sorry to take so long posting , we had a medical emergency with our youngest daughter. She is well now.
Great Shoot Saturday and Sunday breezy, almost a perfect Florida weekend, you should of been there.
Learned a lot of little tricks that will make me a better shooting coach. We had a great instruction period Sunday with our Volunteer Models showing us proper shooting positions.
What other things did I observe Saturday
• Quit worrying so much whenever I work with a new Shoot Boss
• 9mm4545 (Bruce) does a great history (and makes fantastic cookies)
• The no-see-um's at Hernando are the most voracious in Florida (especially when you're doing prone demo)
• Smoak (Glen) can spot and correct 4 times more shooter mistakes in the same period of time than I (new goal for me to shoot for)
• Safe, on Task, bunch of shooters on the line , you should all be proud of your rifle handling
• Rambo Granny (Janet) ran ring's around all 3 of us guy's
• All the Instructors got the chop's ( when you students left we all shot 1 quick RedCoat, everyone cleaned the targets)
What other things did I observe Sunday
• Alkyford (Archie) can make your eyes water 25m downrange in a full value wind
• It's a good thing to have spare parts and spare rifles around
• Brake cleaner is not your friend on all rifles
• Less Talking and Strategy, more prep and hits on paper (right A-Team)
• Christan Rock's, The little dude just need to build some muscle so he can stabilize the rifle Standing. Totally safe and on task, good man
• Mateo and Sophie whichever of you good people do the most dry-fire practice will be the first to get the patch (remember "only perfect practice makes perfect")
• Heather is knocking on the Rifleman door with a tube fed Marlin 60 (fine shooting and would have most likely made too, but for a sand issue)
• Charlie getting down to prone position looks like a unfolding lawn chair. Victor on the other hand looks like a Panther. Both are darn fine Riflemen.
Stoneknives (Henry)