RBC Ramseur 209 is now history. Due to some "transportation problems" I was delayed in my arrival until the morning it began so Crash, VA, DD, and Truculent Turtle were already underway when I got there. I quickly caught up with the shooters and soon enough we were through with the morning lessons and out on the line putting rounds downrange.
Sure, it was a little chilly in the mornings, temps in the low 20's, making it a tough call for crawling out of the sleeping bag, but once up and moving it was always worth it.
I must begin by saying that I've not seen a better bunch of shooters. I don't think we caught anyone dragging wood more than twice the whole week and trigger control began good and continued to get better. The results spoke for themselves on the targets as scores began to come in and got better all week.
By day 3 the shooters were so far ahead that we were able to jump ahead a half day and cover the advanced class early which left the entire day on Thursday to do nothing more than shoot KD. This was accomplished and landed us a new Rifleman in the process, so congrats to "Tex"!
Even the Birdman got to shoot during the lull and placed all rounds fired on that steel silhouette at 430 something yards, and I grinned at each satisfying "smack!" as it reached my ears, thinking to myself, "You still got it!". You Red Hats will understand.
More classwork on Friday for the Orange hats in preparation for the upcoming Appleseed event and then that evening a fun shoot we traditionally hold pitting the instructors against the shooters in a course of fire including several ranges and various sized targets. The Instructors were hampered by having to use rifles that were not sighted in because they had been loaned out during the week and yet still came in a respectable second place. (Anyway, we all knew the team which won was cheating) Congrats to team 2 for the first ever defeat of an instructor team! (Cheaters.......)
By Friday evening I was getting pretty ill and decided to retire to a hotel in an attempt to get well enough to attend the Appleseed. This was not to be though, and I missed the entire thing, so I hope the new IITs did well and will rely on others to relate that part of the story of RBC Ramseur 209.
I believe the count was 11 shooters on the line with 10 shooting Rifleman scores. One shot his first with an exact 210 and only by the good graces of his Instructors was spared a tossing into the creek.
Good food, nice showers, lots of laughs, a great campfire every night, and great shooting. If you missed it, you really did miss out. In all, it was a great time and only proved once again that no matter where you may be, it is always TRULY better in the company of Riflemen.
A hearty "second!" to JB's input.
When we started seeing AQT numbers in the 200s from the get-go, we thought the whole RBC had been rigged. Well, the joke was on us, because our students really were that good, and no one suffered a "marksmanship meltdown".
What a fantastic group! Most camped on-site, and a few stayed out in town. JB said enough about the campers: it was cold! The shooters who camped couldn't have been happy about leaving a frigid tent and ending up on a freezing slab of concrete.
I'd like to say a special thanks to everyone for their generosity and sense of community. It's easy to say "We're all in it together", but it's difficult to make that happen in the real world.
One student arrived with only a 22 Savage, and no centerfire rifle for full-distance. When full-distance day arrived, another student had offered him a FAL and an M14! His introduction to the M1 was the next day, and I hope he is off contemplating his first centerfire rifle as I write this.
What a great event!
crash
pics
I am the shooter that Crash mentions who only brought one .22 Savage Arms bolt action rifle to the Boot Camp.
Last night I wrote a lengthy and detailed response which was somehow lost when I went to post it so i will take that as a sign that it was unnecessary; so this post will be much more brief.
I am still in disbelief at what I was able to learn in such a short amount of time (evidenced by a 400yd shot in the black) and the extreme generosity of everyone, instructors and other shooters, at the camp.
Thank you to Junior Birdman, VaShooter, Truculent Turtle, Crash, DD, Redman, Rocky, Jim, Dave and all the other folks that made this one of the best experiences of my life.
PS. Now I have a little more firepower than what I showed up with to the first boot camp and will be looking forward to getting my new sights on the target at the April 18-19 Appleseed. :~
--Jeff
Jeff, I'm going to make an example of you...in a good way.
Jeff arrived and said, "Teach me to shoot." He brought the teachable attitude that we harp on incessantly, and he worked hard during the week.
He left as a Rifleman, and left a few wounded pop-ups behind.