Alrighty, this was a great way to cap off the 2020 Appleseed season in San Antonio, TX. We had several dedicated students show up despite the slightly inclement weather on the first day. Our student group was small, but eager to learn! We had a seasoned marksman who was looking for further enlightenment, a father/son team who finally found an opportunity to attend an event together, and a family of 5 who were there willing to bring Freedom to future generations.
We started the weekend's teaching in the standard fashion of discussion Appleseed's mission, safety, and our shared National history. I was eager to see how our students would do on the first Red Coat target. To my surprise, only one student was able to get all three rounds in the 100 yrd target! With this, I knew we had a group of shooters who would be happy to listen and put in practice the teaching methods provided.
Boy, oh boy, was I right!!!!! I don't think I have ever seen a group progress so quickly and solidly with their shooting as this! The four kids were able to soak up the information and turn it into solid shooting positions and technique with ease!!!! The father and son team were able to turn large groups into pin-point accurate clusters in very short order. The seasoned marksman was able to greatly improve his ability with iron-sighted shooting to the point where he was expertly coaching the younger contingent regarding their shooting form!!!
To prove how well this group progressed, we were able to award Andrew with a Rifleman patch with a score of 211!!! On top of this wonderous achievement, he was able to do so with an ailing rifle. He had been previously using his main 5.56mm rifle with a 22LR conversion and not seeing a lot of accuracy with this setup. He decided to remove the conversion and shoot some of that expensive/hard to find 5.56mm ammo. Things went well for a bit and then quickly unravel as it started to key-hole during an AQT. The impressive thing was, the key-holes were all on-target and right where they needed to be - in the 4 or 5 ring!!! After seeing the key-holing we had to ask him to retire the rifle and switch to a 10/22, but not before realizing his scored AQT had earned him a Rifleman badge. Way to go again Andrew!!!!
Further evidence of this group's dedication presented itself in the scoring of the Last Red Coat of the event. We had 5 shooters get all 3 in the 100, and three of those got all three in the 200 yrd target as well. One was also able to also place three in the 300 yrd target. Sadly, no one was able to make it all the way to 400 yrds, but there is always room for improvement. We did have FIVE hit the Shingle and I was happy to see Andrew, our new Rifleman, was one who hit the shingle. Also, one of the most serious students I've seen in awhile - 11 yr. old Gretchen was able to count herself as one of Morgan's Rifleman!!! She nailed it! Way to go Gretchen!
Their collective improvement certain speaks volumes of their resolve, as well as the validity of the Appleseed teaching method. One huge help in our teaching is the use of a well equipped inert demonstration rifle. We had the great opportunity to use, for the first time, a demonstration rifle which was donated to the San Antonio Appleseed crew by Vortex Optics!!!!! The demo rifle is solid, weather-proof and should help teach students proper body/rifle position for many years to come. Thank you Vortex Optics!!!!!!
This is the reason why Instructors come out and donate our time to such a noble cause. The smiles on everyone's faces as they finished up the event, the Rifleman patch held high, the giddy squeals of excitement of hitting Morgan's shingle, the somber acknowledgement of our shared continued fight to keep Freedom alive - this is what keeps Appleseed alive!!!!!
Looks like an awesome shoot!!! Love the snowmen too!!
Great job, Chad and crew! I wish I could've been there, but you all did a bang-up job from what I see!
Huzzah!
Tim
Beautiful job, Chad! :beer: :F
Thank you very much Tim and Traci!!!! Appleseed is very fortunate to such dedicated volunteers such as yourselves!
Quote from: GenX Minuteman on December 24, 2020, 04:45:18 PM
Thank you very much Tim and Traci!!!! Appleseed is very fortunate to such dedicated volunteers such as yourselves!
Brother, your AAR reads like being there. Texas is lucky to have you, my friend