We just wrapped up our latest Appleseed at the Mid Carolina Rifle Club in Gaston, SC -- what a blast!
Saturday opened up with a ragged volley ringing out on our Red Coat at 9:02 AM -- the range opened for firing at 0900 so we packed every possible minute of marksmanship and heritage possible into the day. We spent the morning learning three critical marksmanship skills: steady hold factors, natural point of aim, and the six steps to firing a shot. After hearing the first strike of the match from DEH, Polonius, visiting from North Carolina, treated us to a discussion of IMC and kept our line moving along.
After lunch -- and an awesome second strike from SeaBright! -- we mixed things up with some reloads, new positions, and transitions. We were happy to have Kestak visiting from GA to teach positions and provide translation for our students who were not native English speakers. After we learned all of the shooting positions, DreamerOfDreams teared everyone up with a heartfelt Third Strike of the match. We managed to get two AQTs in on Saturday and while we didn't have any 210+ scores yet we had several students knocking on the door.
I was most pleased with our final Red Coat of the day: every single student got three hits on a silhouette, two students claimed hits on Morgan's Shingle, and we had dramatic improvement from the first Red Coat of the day. More sobering, however, were the results on a quiz about our knowledge of our own elected representatives and civic involvement.
On Sunday we got everyone back together with another Red Coat. Facing some ominous looking weather, we dove in quickly. LeadFarmer helped us review some of the critical info on Talking Targets so students could continue refining their marksmanship, and we got through three AQTs by lunch. We were thrilled to have Matt, Travis, and Bryan get over that 210 bar and earn Rifleman's patches!
After hearing about some Patriots in Petticoats, Dangerous Old Men, and Gallant Children, we were pleased to find that the great weather held -- those storm clouds never opened up on us! We moved back to the 100 yard line and learned the come-ups for our .22s, applying some of the KD lecture and our IMC. The day wrapped up with a Flag Tour and discussion.
Overall this was a great shoot. I had a blast working with our awesome instructional team and great crew of students. The Mid Carolina Rifle Club has continued to be a gracious host for us with a great facility, and TheIronMantis as always does a great job of forging riflemen who know what they are about.