It was a muggy Saturday morning in the South when 15 eager patriots and 11 instructors gathered at the Shaw-Woodward Firearms Training Complex to work on marksmanship and hear about the events of April 19, 1775.
We started the day with hearty welcomes, then jumped right into the history. Captain John Parker, aka Roswell in period style cloths, told us about Paul Revere's ride and the events at Lexington during the first strike.
Moving on to marksmanship, we covered safety, brought out the rifles, and engaged those pesky redcoats. After review, we saw that a bit of work might be in order, so we jumped right into the instruction. We covered eye dominance, sling use, the 6 steps, natural point of aim, and prone. Then we engaged our first square.
The next block was enjoyed by all - lunch! The shooters ate while one of the instructors worked. Upacreek presented the second strike, and then we went back to the line. After a few more squares, we covered talking targets, IMC, rifleman's cadence, and carding the sights. We covered mag changes with a drill to reinforce. At this point, the heat was taking its toll, so we took a break to hear 6Bones give the third strike.
We did a quick review with demo of prone and NPOA, then ended the marksmanship portion of day trying to take out the redcoats again.
Lastly, we gathered back in the classroom to cool off, present youth patches, and listen to a compelling benediction from Ramblin' Wreck.
On Sunday morning, eleven eager shooters returned. We had some opening remarks, then Wreck presented the story of Ephraim Brank. We reviewed history and safety, then moved back to the line.
After another redcoat as a warmup, we shot a couple of squares, then repeated the mag change drill as a refresher. We then covered transitions and shot stage 3 of the AQT. We covered sitting and transitioning and shot stage 2, covered standing and shot stage 1, then moved to stage 4. We talked about the rifleman's bubble and rifleman's dance, then did ball and dummy.
Everyone was ready for lunch, so while the shooters ate, Gator0246 and Upacreek shared the duties of presenting the known distance block. After lunch, we went back to the range and got two more AQT's in before the heat got to us.
At the end of the day, we had one new rifleman, Martin, who turned in a 210 and got the obligatory baptism with real water from the North Bridge, which was brought back by one of our instructors. Instructors Kelly and Kurt also requalified.
Capping the day, no pun intended, .416_Rigby earned his red hat, KellyMtnView traded in her blue hat for and orange hat, and Austin asked for a blue hat. Huzzah! Thanks to all for stepping up! Oh, we also got to fill Rigby's orange hat full of holes! It's tradition! What fun!
I enjoyed the weekend and was pleased to meet all of the shooters. We encourage you to return to another event. Remember to practice all of the things you learned, and follow that 7th step, bringing a friend when you come back. We look forward to seeing you on the line again soon!
Thanks to the instructors for giving up your weekend to help with the event, and thanks to the Cherokee County Sherrif's Department, Sherrif Frank Reynolds, and Corporal Josh Watkins for letting us use the range. Project Appleseed appreciates their support!
It was a great day for liberty!
Great and rewarding event! Below are a few of the pictures I collected from other Instructors.
I used all my loaners on this one (Battlecat had to stay at home though)
(https://i.imgur.com/xIBCNst.jpg)
A nice start to the event was 6Bones and Bug_07 being awarded "Battle Road" patched for a recent trip they took to Boston to walk the trail.
(https://i.imgur.com/eNVgfsU.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/kgUnI9F.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/ehIYrfM.jpg)
Upacreek and Axeman instructing the prone position.
(https://i.imgur.com/7LhR2V2.jpg)
Rigby.416 and Bug_07 teaching the seated positions
(https://i.imgur.com/0s87ILD.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/7gn92JY.jpg)
Rigby.416 Instructing the AQT
(https://i.imgur.com/MYvg3nL.jpg)
Leadslinger66 awarded Rigby.416 his well-earned Redhat.
(https://i.imgur.com/65bKtbj.jpg)
We promptly filled Rigby's old Orange hat full of large caliber holes! :---
(https://i.imgur.com/reMcUMp.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/L5GljRv.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/TlAfoJS.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/sLeCy4N.jpg)
Congratulations to Martin!
Thank you for stepping up Rigby.416, KellyMtnView, and Zinthous!
I hope to see all of you on the trail soon!
In Liberty,
Roswell
This was a great event; did anyone mention it was hot.
Looks like another great event at the Shaw-Woodward Firearms Training Complex! Can't wait to get back up that way one of these days!