Once again Port Malabar Rifle & Pistol Club (PMRPC) provided an excellent venue for our Patriots' Day Shoot. The grassy action bay (35 yards wide by 50 yards deep) they provided, free of charge, enabled us to allow center fire as well as rimfire rifles on the line.
The weather was typical for July in Floridaâ€"oh wait! This was mid-April. It was HOT and muggy with occasional winds to lessen the stress. The students were dedicated but we did have several take extended cool-down breaks in addition to the frequent moves we made to the shade of our awning city for stories and reloading.
We reduced the round count for the squares to 3, added extra dry fire time to the prep periods and used drills with two one-round mags for transition practice. Not only did it cut down the ammo exspended it saved considerable time allowing us to shoot two AQTs on Saturday and five on Sunday. Two new Riflemen emerged: Kecia and Earl. Was Earl sandbagging? He's been to something like 8 events and when he finally scored Rifleman it was 238! Ok, Earl just two more points for Distinguished Rifleman. Cable__Guy, Nestor and Paul requalified to give us a total of five of the special full-color patches presented. All the shooters displayed eagerness to learn skills and made steady progress. We'll see many more Riflemen among this group.
Our collection of Revolutionary flags was retired and presented to the shooters after 10 years of abuse from Florida's sun and winds. A fitting ceremony was held with the winners of a redcoat team challenge taking their pick after Birthday boy Landen, our designated sniper, chose the Gadsden Flag.
Big guns were brought out for the Memorial Volley--Two M1s, several ARs, and a 30-30 lever action. A bald eagle circled the range as we prepared for the volley. It was a loud and solemn event.
Promotions were earned by EpicQuilter (Debbie) to IIT1, and KawGirl (Caryn) to IIT3. New orange hats were accepted by Alarm Lister (Dennis), MyNameIsEarl (Earl), and Bama Girl Kiki0626 (Kescha)
Debbie took the prize for 7th stepping with fourteen. The remaining seven students were Palm Bay alumni.
This event was safe and productive due to the dedicated assistance by Sieggie who set up the range and staffing by very cable instructors. Thank you all!
Thank you to all the instructors and to all that came out. It was glorious to spend Patriot's weekend in such a wonderful environment of learning and marksmanship. Special thanks to the Port Malabar Range for hosting the event. I look forward to giving back and working towards that coveted Red Hat.
I want to publicly say that I truly enjoy the stories and the passion that they are told by all who come to Palm Bay. Palm Bay was my first Appleseed, and it was then that I choose to finally read "Paul Revere's Ride" by David Hackett Fischer. My love of history has increased and the wonderful charisma that the stories were told have reignited my love for the beginning of this great nation.
Read on! For sure do American Spring and others. Endevoure to Persevere, and all the words and thoughts that were once our core beliefs. O0 Earl
It such a great weekend! I know this was only my second Appleseed, but it was AMAZING! I have to say that it is my favorite Appleseed so far. Thank you to the Port Malabar Range for hosting the event. I could not think of a better way to celebrate Patriot's weekend then to have spent this weekend with fellow patriots eager to learn history and marksmanship. I am honored to accept an orange hat and look forward to my journey to the red hat! A special thanks to TheMenace, Cable_Guy, Sieggie and Kawgirl for all of your hard work and getting many of us through misfires and heat for the two days we were there, you guys really made it worth the drive from Bama!
Now the race is on for distinguished between My Name is Earl and myself LOL :snipersmi
:yeahthat:
Lots o' Picts - Part 1
Lots o' Picts - Part 2
Lots o' Picts - Part 3 ----- THE PATCHES and NEW HATS :F
WOW!!!!! What a fantastic weekend! A great big THANK YOU to TheMenace, Cable Guy, Sieggie and Kawgirl for running a fun and safe event. While I have been to several AS's over the years, the Patriots Day event is always special and to have a showing like we did, made it even better.
I'm certainly looking forward to my journey as a new Orange Hat and am really looking forward to my first event.
A big THANK YOU to all the Instructors/Staff that ran a memorable Patriot's weekend event! It was awesome and, as always, I learned something new yet again! Another big THANK YOU to all that helped setup and take down the range and the Shade City! That's a lot of work and it went quickly together. Now, if I can just figure out how to get a cotton sling to slide off I will be good to go. Hahahaha!
Had a great time as usual attending my 8th Appleseed at Palm Bay. Looking forward to attending more there in the future. Huzzah!!!