April 19th, 2015. A beautiful day for America -- and therefore, all those who keep the fires of liberty burning in their hearts. This was a rare one-day shoot for the Chabot Gun Club, but when that one day is Patriot's Day, we'll take it!
The day got off to a quick start with a safety briefing before running right into instruction. We meant to make this day count, as it did 240 years ago. Sling use, steady hold factors, and shot group analysis were covered before moving into instruction in the seated and offhand positions.
(http://i.imgur.com/0ww7bMi.jpg)
Ron and Hans instruct and demo the kneeling position.
By lunchtime we'd already done one AQT with instructional segments in between -- the shooters were thrown into the deep end and rose to the occasion!
Lunchtime saw us, as always, remembering our honored forebears as Hans recounted the events of the day up through Lexington Green . . . which a few sneaky instructors had reproduced with full-size redcoats on the target line! A little hustle got the twenty-eight attendees of the shoot on the line in time to participate in the Memorial Course of Fire with hundreds of other patriots around the country.
(http://i.imgur.com/dSMtKTq.jpg?1)
Your humble shoot boss is pleased to announce that not a single redcoat was left standing.
From there it was a combination of AQT grind and refinement of technique. Of particular note was Lauri S., who seemed to gain 10 points each time and ended the day with a very impressive 195!
At the end of the day we'd run through six AQTs and had found a few riflemen among us . . .
(http://i.imgur.com/4usOuBD.jpg)
Congratulations to Andy, Tony, Lance, and Blake!
Andy re-qualified with 213, 214, and the weekend's high score of 220. There were a number of shooters who turned in impressive targets and will be sure to get their patch next time!
We were also lucky to have some youth shooters with us:
(http://i.imgur.com/i1qK6S0.jpg)
Max, Ethan, and Spencer! Great job, guys!
To everyone, shooter and instructor alike: thank you for making this day so special!
**********************************
If you'd like to contact someone from the instructor cadre, please send a PM to:
Ken ------> haleson
Chris ------> Freeman
Ron ------> The Horse
Hans ------> Libertarian777
Jules ------> gr8fl1
Matt ------> just.a.guy
Marta ------> 22CaliBear
The promised link to Tim's Chabot information post, including the Zombie Triangle targets, is here (http://appleseedinfo.org/smf/index.php?topic=23542.0).
We have a video of the Memorial Course of Fire and will post when able.
A few personal items were left behind on Sunday. If you're missing clothing or water bottles, etc., please PM me (22CaliBear) and I will check the stash. Unclaimed items will be donated to Goodwill in about 1 week.
It was truly a pleasure to be at Chabot with all of you on Patriot's Day.
I realize I've been negligent mentioning that this was Marta's first time with a hat and she did a fantastic job!