We had 6 shooters of which 5 were first time Appleseeders for this weekends shoot. Saturday was overcast and a little chilly and we made the most of the instructions. The safety, attitudes and enthusiasm of the students was high level. They all has workable groups by the time IMC came around. There was positive feedback on the strikes, emotions stirred and eyes opened. The weather forecast for Sunday was torrential rain all day and the game time decision to conduct the memorial volley at 4pm on Saturday was made. While this prevented us from getting in an AQT on Saturday, it was ultimately the right call. Sunday the range turned into Lake Pelham. We had 4 shooters return and after an AM cleaned hits count target by Milo (congratulations and excellent work), we did a series of drills before the AQT. We did get one in. At that point we broke for the DOMs and the shooters unanimously were done. Did I mention the rain? It was sideways and biblical. Sunday was in the top 3 harshest conditions I have seen at an Appleseed event and I've been to Winterseeds.
First time rifle shooter Catherine and her dad Tucker we safe and attentive and had huge gains throughout Saturday. Couple Katrina and Ben soaked up the instruction and the rain on Sunday. Jim was putting constant groups together and will get quicker with time on the rapid fire stage. Milo came in Sunday and showed us what he was about with the cleaned Hits Count.
If you have any pictures please post here. Thanks to all for a great shoot and based on the rain and the lake forming, we should offer sailing lessons next time.
Thanks - MattNH
Hi, I was the repeat customer this weekend. (Or was it "remedial customer"? In all the excitement, I kinda lost track myself. :) )
Pictures, you say? Sadly, the only thing I thought to photograph was the redcoat that I cleaned before the rain cleaned my clock.
(https://i.imgur.com/0c54VTS.jpg)
I'd bought a simple Wal-Mart canopy that happened to have a quick-deploy thingamajig (https://www.walmart.com/ip/Ozark-Trail-10-x-10-Simple-Push-Straight-Leg-Instant-Canopy-100-Sq-ft/979524061) because I was worried about losing my shooting mat into a pile of newly-created mud; but heat loss from the cold water is what sank me.
My "Bob Allen" insulated gloves (that company advertises well to shotgun hunters, which should have been a warning sign to me) had a full-leather exterior and fit loosely around the fingers, slipping easily and leaving me insufficient dexterity to keep them donned when prepping magazines or push-pinning targets. (Evidence for the gloves' innards being slippery: I cleaned the redcoat, and shot a couple strings on the first drill, without the gloves, much to my support hand's dismay from my AR's aluminum handguard; and my groups from after I donned the gloves, opened ominously.) My waterproof polymer jacket's sleeves were too short, letting water in through my wrists, soaking my shirtsleeves and my gloves' innards. And the goretex on my pants was woefully insufficient for this amount of water, so they got completely soaked through. (And if I'd spent some time shoveling some sand around, then I just might have been able to fill in the little trench that happened to span the length of my shooting mat. Maybe.)
The next time I go shooting in moderately-cold rain, I must be better-prepared in order to Persist as a Rifleman does. The other shooters' impending equipment issues could be overcome; my shivering could not. :(
I did notice one opportunity related to targets.
The official targets are printed on various sizes of ordinary paper. This usually works great. And when it works, it is certainly the most economical (i.e. best) thing to use. And when precipitation is in the forecast (or in the air without warning), it still works, provided that pushpins and clear plastic bags are available to protect the paper and the cardboard. However, in case the precipitation is indeed in the forecast (not without warning), there does exist some alternative equipment that can make things easier in exchange for being moderately more expensive. (When there is not any precipitation, this equipment does nothing except be more expensive.)
Namely: there exists a company called Rite in the Rain (https://www.riteintherain.com/), whose product is an extremely hydrophobic paper. In addition to blank sheets by the ream, they also print and sell a variety of more specialized paper products including a small variety of paper targets, e.g. this course-of-fire established sometime after discontinuation of the particular Army Qualification Test that inspired the Appleseed AQT (https://www.riteintherain.com/military-qual-target#9128). Based on the large format of that product and the "Custom Contact Form" listed on their website, I estimate that Rite in the Rain has the capability to print any and all of the official targets, probably not near as cheaply as the regular paper ones, but with the capability of surviving precipitation easily.
Given the required quality-control and volume, I assume that Deep River Traders would need to own this effort if the resulting product is to be used in an official capacity at Appleseed events; and as a layman I would estimate it is probable that the increased capital expenditure, risk, etc etc, is not worthwhile.
But, even today, any student with a tabloid-size printer, a ream of Rite in the Rain's letter- and/or tabloid-size bulk copier paper, and proper attention paid to sizing the silhouettes and avoiding inadvertent rescaling during printout, could produce hydrophobic paper targets for his/her own personal use. With these targets, surplus political campaign yardsigns in place of the cardboard backers, and the same staples as are normally used; a student could practice the AQT (or the redcoat) at an outdoor range on his/her own time even when there is precipitation and all of the range's usual occupants are dispelled.
(That said, rain's dispelling properties are imperfect. Sometime early in the day today, someone remarked, "at least it'll be a quiet range today", everyone nodded, and then during a subsequent preparation period, a centerfire rifle in the neighboring bay started converting money into noise.)
Nice job everyone, and great suggestion Milo!
(https://dsm01pap001files.storage.live.com/y4mcJrWU4t1RKIlZpRfbXPUQpOAaoo4JzM2UjOGTVNDtRftLTiYI6Kak2V8e24rl6tca4Klu2-7raa_C6k1GUwYH_CHT55xNeNYuj5SR5w_8wscqxqMtUjLNUygHoMKwzfWnF1oViovuVTPVdI23G1LSzi10GXMGi39XHILRuNuUHFXowLoL6QLNGw7yN3rWqxO?width=660&height=495&cropmode=none)
(https://dsm01pap001files.storage.live.com/y4mxfqAZIpOA3IyZxw5seRF9PGKai-pEhsIx2_egWfPa-L6eAv9FDz2sEg96bzQzXfph2dkS1NLg3M3_KlE5IpVf2b2B-6c7TI1CAIkKuWh-3TniLQEUwH1MidZy4qXvw7CsTjfPhwxswRKB78y72uMIN1Dr_CmZjuFd3iDW0WTtQjYCwo_dc6Jnum30qUgePOY?width=660&height=495&cropmode=none)
(https://dsm01pap001files.storage.live.com/y4mxfqAZIpOA3IyZxw5seRF9PGKai-pEhsIx2_egWfPa-L6eAv9FDz2sEg96bzQzXfph2dkS1NLg3M3_KlE5IpVf2b2B-6c7TI1CAIkKuWh-3TniLQEUwH1MidZy4qXvw7CsTjfPhwxswRKB78y72uMIN1Dr_CmZjuFd3iDW0WTtQjYCwo_dc6Jnum30qUgePOY?width=660&height=495&cropmode=none)
(https://dsm01pap001files.storage.live.com/y4mO3a7VpdJqu-v3c89LEs0GAGNNY-xeA7WPGQhb614ZkChqA9MRnHhmKstm62zw0qaIOCt8_e0Zw4g3Dtn8C4hur0e1BRCwVB_ndZFP9n8L-TiCCk3i70s6_555MdxePnyGR_O56bD8ua0oJdkS_jVku4U-LCkAkBb-nxznvA8gbaJ2dcn7jrOrLLcOKuuPR3l?width=660&height=495&cropmode=none)
(https://dsm01pap001files.storage.live.com/y4mw7WRvfGwtS5ePOeyJgc_bR5q0XYtF14ivW645Y1429h9zsFAJsFK8_IjyhujmuYeH9HLNdtzaC3Z2O-Gd5WbqBebLFGTOQt5PY4wOyUkrUhEdOww0UZJPVnXEnyRLPBe6MA6BnQi91_c1llU_ABp4Z_sO-0bRY6GPT81kazIVME5TZTwbppRp_kBMoYrbEQM?width=660&height=495&cropmode=none)
(https://dsm01pap001files.storage.live.com/y4mzOg7w4axUUu1YGao2k2jiMrHok_RlfNTi7FhG4wi36VadfFdCqQh79m2O3GqUqaZ14qVaVgmFP7q0ey9hcUdJeSm67heCSajZvRMKIhDQdh0LWIFBmNPVN5HYIqzrCVdylPMeTVTIyS00xExZvnHeGUsowoGc6bTlm5euTTR2p10pv13BsNDdsmiluv9VY2n?width=660&height=495&cropmode=none)
(https://dsm01pap001files.storage.live.com/y4mcBmlpo5L8iE4zC01kyOCQXCuJrRH8x9l6V8US_gsNQqSZwDElcbP2aKb0yfCt_1ZU-7UfiWSSrFhO51tJnWALqkHmgiWfScZeLflAQouk0mb5LWfXviSllsOSJxYW4i7sXls4t1mAfymI4ZYRcOT4qn1hnODMVKjhWQb6lPjrOXTNU2P3VsCCyP7MK0qSnPP?width=660&height=495&cropmode=none)
(https://dsm01pap001files.storage.live.com/y4mkzvkrOVhvQx4wf0tUsDJV7KFEMhh-vBzIWuSfenQYNu6xakJpAy4jsX6XCRdFKRwk3cY6zKsR0qAL0GFXuFcDh02E4aOTnOg1iQkQFfAIA2ovp59425Xf7Ax1_1P9Kjg4zxKdyKEKKIhnsSEdUmIWgaqNaws4PncSBXc0895Zi1wmM03oiFRaaFAmSe7ChU4?width=660&height=495&cropmode=none)
(https://dsm01pap001files.storage.live.com/y4mP7O3jLXHxTgsP8V8TGsji9XY8CIEQDMkpkI4Thrf4cInO3gpGmstcyKZeV5wsOVhJrZVusCBKTerHC_BUuozyx0aJ-gT-cRKra4CDq4aui3eAwLPUm3EgIk-Gf7TSvI2mX85gAG9RvOniL5vrJHrL6fWeW1Y9jqIQChRoOS9HXZCqQTVweD2Y_6YSFGYELN1?width=660&height=495&cropmode=none)
(https://dsm01pap001files.storage.live.com/y4mygxPKA9RAsxirNaTFx7GBooIugOmS7JZbqeCcuZxsluwGcSeTx87-PEAY8GjjFXEEuy2LvFancXcxoR93Y4J3_-ZQXlNWK-nfQjsmJYhAlPU0W6M2mvqirHIZpmS2zLYED3JySxkLHUd6iGx_FUNoqonHEhYDMwUiuLW1hNHyKezCJ2g8o_PgOcrr4KWFbZK?width=660&height=495&cropmode=none)
(https://dsm01pap001files.storage.live.com/y4mFwrfGiTZyvndMSsrvIa_cMngm8JOBEVjqj_5FfH-E_Mp-HG1wm6XXmmQrXohUc6_DSzWz-FrX9YD5OIinVmU98gD6dY9KitJ-tkSE--pA7Rrw4C4Ue-ENUZR4Lcvpsxv9PXM7VSecYKd7B2gwRVaXswNFbllrM-bWP3miAJ23AB3CGdVSnkP3yyDn4k-Z9Wu?width=660&height=495&cropmode=none)
Here is a link to a short video so you can get an idea of what it was like to instruct during the downpour.
Link to Video (https://1drv.ms/v/s!Ak_Up0H34vXskOV9pWHkXT7pFz30Fw?e=GbRNiA)
Quote from: mmirate on April 23, 2023, 07:39:04 PM
(https://i.imgur.com/0c54VTS.jpg)
Nice redcoat, mmirate!
That Rite in the Rain paper looks neat. Amazon has it, too: https://www.amazon.com/Rite-Rain-All-Weather-Copier-8511/dp/B0016H1RYE/