Spring is in full swing on the Colorado Front Range, and we were lucky enough make an Appleseed return after many years to the Ben Lomond Gun Club in Ramah, CO! We greatly appreciate the support of Ben Lomond Gun Club and the use of their beautiful facility out in Ramah.
As the weekend began, the weather was chilly and windy, but that didn't deter any Appleseeders, new or returning from getting out on the line.
After a morning hits count target to see where everyone was to start off the weekend, we got straight into learning about sling use, prone positioning, 6 steps of firing the shot and natural point of aim. Our students were soaking up instruction like sponges and we started to see groups shrink rapidly. The wind died down mid-morning and things warmed up, setting us up for a really nice afternoon.
We heard riveting recounts of the events of April 19th, 1775 over lunch from Flux and Black Russian and jumped right back into sight adjustments, talking targets and sitting/standing positions and transitions in the afternoon. All the shooters were feeling confident about their new marksmanship skills so were able to squeeze in our first AQT of the weekend! When the dust cleared from that first AQT, a rifleman emerged! Lane showed he is definitely a man who knows what he is about, shooting a score of 221 after an 8 year hiatus from attending an Appleseed event. We ended the day with another hits count target and in an impressive showing of their marksmanship skills, Lane and David S. both cleared it! Everyone improved after day 1 and it really showed.
On Sunday, the Ramah crew returned to chilly temperatures and sustained 20 MPH winds on the range. We started off the day with some review of sling use, steady hold factors and rifleman's cadence. After some squares and time to talk targets, it was time to shoot another AQT. The wind proved to be a challenge, especially when shooting from the standing position. We reviewed standing, got some tips on staying stable in the wind and everyone thought it would be good to practice transitions and magazine changes to up those scores on stages 2 and 3. Another AQT before lunch showed serious improvement and that the old adage, "slow is smooth and smooth is fast" rang true. We wrapped the day with another AQT and another hit count target.
We saw big improvement from everyone on the line and the persistence everyone showed dealing with whipping winds and non-ideal conditions was fantastic. Thanks to all our shooters for spending the weekend with us and we can't wait to get back out to Ben Lomond Gun Club again and hope to see everyone up in Boulder in May for a rimfire known distance shoot and in June for another 25m Appleseed!
Many thanks to our team of instructors: Black Russian, flux, Zuke and bravhrt for making this event happen, and thanks to our Shoot Boss: Captain for making the long trek back out to Colorado from Arkansas to put this event on. It was a great weekend!
Pictures to follow!
What a fun event and a fantastic group of shooters. It was a real pleasure sharing the weekend with everyone. Here are a couple of photos . . .
Group Photo
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52047876171_e1974e0214_h.jpg) | Welcome - Day 1
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52048383030_fad76ac167_h.jpg) | Safety
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52048383030_fad76ac167_h.jpg) |
|
Sling
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52048122264_2978b43fec_h.jpg) |
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52048382605_67d27add0b_h.jpg) | Dax - planning for lunch
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52048382415_6cf82007b0_h.jpg) |
First Strike
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52047924608_c2f4410f40_h.jpg) | Second Strike
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52046831077_ae640a54c9_h.jpg) | IMC
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52048381995_8292b06ff3_h.jpg) |
|
Third Strike starting
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52046830802_0aa4a10cf1_h.jpg) | Range Manager
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52047923928_2b7e255925_h.jpg) | Thanks to Range
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52046830542_d05e3c25a5_h.jpg) |
First Rifleman
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52047877636_e784ae5a76_h.jpg) | Cleared Redcoats!
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52047877451_f8408be669_h.jpg) | KD
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52047923413_640aac35f1_h.jpg) |
|
More KD
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52048381120_4ebb51c6e2_h.jpg) | More KD . . . Giving up?
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52046829807_21df4162d2_h.jpg) | New Shoot Boss!
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52048380780_1ff6922a68_h.jpg) |
And here's the last of 'em.
Trees blowing down
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52046829492_f56437b609_h.jpg) | Bringing others - thanks!
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52046829257_6d82ed4f1a_h.jpg) | William Diamond Patch!
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52048380565_7702342163_h.jpg) |