With everyone drenched in sweat before 8am Saturday (and at only 15% humidity), I knew this Appleseed would be another SoCal summer scorcher! An Infernoseed for sure. And with 8 students to myself, I knew I'd have my work cut out for me! Thankfully, Will, Steve and Mike, 3 of our "regulars", pitched in strong, and helped me get the shade tents, target line, and tables out of storage and all set up.
So after the usual safety lectures, notes about our goals, and a quick round of introductions, our group of shooters got down to business - but not before learning that 3 of our 8 shooters had never touched a rifle until this moment!
Now, I know the Redcoats are supposed to be shot with zero instruction or coaching, but in this case, I had the necessary privilege of showing these 3 how to basically manipulate their Ruger 10/22s - from square one, before we could even start. Not to worry, they all proved to be fantastic students, and we were quickly under way. The Sat AM redcoat produced 4 shooters clearing 200 yds, 2 complete beginners clearing 100 yds, and Will, one of our regulars, "warming up" by cleanly tagging Morgan's Shingle.
Instruction proceeded in earnest, and before lunch time we had covered Steady Hold Factors of Prone, 6 Steps, NPOA, Rifleman's Cadence, and IMC, with a couple of shooters making great sight adjustments on their first try.
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Lunchtime brought the Lexington/Concord/Battle Road story, and the sun pushed the temps over 100F in the shade.
After lunch we talked about those pesky gremlins then did Ye Olde Ball and Dummy Drill, which all the shooters found beneficial and some found absolutely entertaining. Then we made our way through seated positions, standing position, safe and smooth transitions to seated and prone, and prepared for our first AQT, as the late afternoon sun pushed us beyond 105F.
Congrats! Justin shot a 213 on his first AQT ever, on the first day of his first Appleseed ever! Mind you, he is obviously skilled with his AR-15, and joined us as the tail end of his "2nd Amendment Vacation Tour" that included a visit to several of the ranges around Las Vegas.
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By the time we finished with our first AQT, the hot wind and blazing sun had exhausted everyone. We shot our afternoon redcoats, which produced exactly the same stats as the morning redcoats, and packed it in for the day.
Hallelujah! As we were cleaning up, another instructor, Cal 7.62, showed up! He planned to camp out at the range and help on Sunday. I was so happy to see him!
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Sunday morning dawned warm again, but not quite as bad as Saturday had been. Cal7.62 jumped right to work, and we shot our Sunday morning redcoats. Stats improved massively! With 1@400yd, 3@300yds, 2@200yds, and 1@100yds, with THREE Morgan's Shingle hits, and Will "Cleaning" his redcoat. I was beside myself to see that yesterday's work had clearly sunk in, and a little best of R&R (and probably cool A/C) was all this group needed. We had lost one shooter, who had other commitments, so these Saturday morning stats meant we had EVERYONE on the board.
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With Cal7.62 helping me demo, we moved quickly through our review of Saturday's skills, and Cal7.62 and I carded sights to make sure NPOA was truly absorbed. Then off to the AQTs! Then lunchbreak! Ahh, the Dangerous Old Men. Cal7.62 told us about Lamson and Batherick, and Hezekiah Wyman, and I wrapped up the stories with Sam Whittemore. Then back to the AQTs! I think we did... 5 or 6? The relentless heat (and now with a blasting, dusty wind) brought down another shooter, as Derf punched out around 2pm. Then Justin, our new Rifleman from Saturday, had to leave early since home was still 6 hours away, so he shot his closing redcoat while the rest of the group rested and prepared for another AQT.
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Congrats! 15-year-old Cindy shot a 211! In the photo above, you can see the rifle doesn't even "fit" her in the standing position. But she makes it work. In fact her best Stage 1 (with that same rifle position) was a whopping 48! Since touching a rifle for the first time just the day prior, she had been rapidly bouncing upward, with scores of 160-something, 178, a frustrating, teasing 206... then finally, it all came together! In fact, she didn't even complete stage 2, leaving 2 rounds in the rifle. With a Stage 2 score of only 33, she was deflated. But I assured her that all was not lost (mathematically), and to think only of that "next shot"! She decided to believe me, and marched on.
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Not only did she gain her Expert Rifleman patch, she then went on the clean her closing redcoat, including a 3-leaf clover in the 400 that was easily the tightest I've ever seen. Will also cleaned his closing redcoat, which left us at 2@400, 1@300, 1@200, 1@100, 2 Morgan's Shingles, and 2 CLEANED redcoats to close out. Cal7.62 delivered the benediction.
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I am so proud of this group. Can you tell?
Oh, and I drank 10 bottles of Powerade on Saturday, and 9 on Sunday. No joke. It was hot. I still don't have to pee.
-Zo
Congratulations to our new Rifleman and Riflewoman! This would definitely be a fitting event for Infernoseed patches!
That was a ton of fun! I took 101 home so it was nearly 8 hours. I wasn't able to put my elbows on the arm rests because they were wrecked from firing in the prone position so that made the drive a little rough but it was worth it. I learned a lot and am looking forward to doing another one in the future. Maybe I'll even get a proper sling.
Congrats Cindy! Nice shooting!
-justin
It was truly a pleasure helping out @ Piru this past weekend. Congratulations to our newest riflemen, Justin and Cindy. Meeting Zoanyway was a real treat. Great guy and very knowledgeable. The students were attentive and eager to learn. I can't wait to do it again! Except for the heat.