Oh my goodness gracious, what a way to wrap up the final event for 2023 at the world-famous Goin Firearms & Shooting range in Muenster, TX.
So, bit of a good news / bad news on the weather: It's going to be mid-60's all week. Too bad the weekend didn't get the memo, and the mornings were a bit . . . brisk. That's okay, we'll power through. After a round of introductions, MRAKESTRAW got us moving with a reminder of the fundamentals of IMC. ScottInTX then rose to the challenge and built on that by presenting trajectory and battle sight zero - pretty good, considering that's above and beyond for an orange hat O0 Once complete, it's off to the firing line for the range qualification: 5 shots in a 4" target at 100 yards, or a 4 MOA group. I believe that this may have been the fastest we ever completed the range qualification; great job crew! From there it's time to start the trajectory verification, and a little thing known as the KD AQT along the way. Lunch time found us discussing the impacts of wind, and hearing about the Regulators, the Battle of Alamance Creek and how those good men tried the legislative, executive and judicial path to find justice - all to no avail. Finally it's time to wrap the AQT, and do a quick and dirty second AQT Australian style before we wrap for the day. Congratulations to ITB and to LOCKE for qualifying scores :bow:
Despite the chilly start on day 2, we were exited to try a practical exercise for target detection. Taking a page from some instructor discussions elsewhere on the forum, MRAKESTRAW volunteered to go 500 yards downrange. From there participants got a real-world exercise on how movement facilitates detection, and how an object's appearance will begin to change as it becomes closer. This was a great exercise and is going to be added to our standard KD repertoire. From there, it's on to a discussion of range estimation and a working challenge to be the most accurate when ranging various model objects. The prize being, of course, the coveted Project Appleseed chalice - a wonderful chalice in yellow, featuring the Gadsden Flag - a chalice that was won by SASSY LASSY who determined the correct distance of multiple objects within a 2% error rate - WHILE USING A BASIC DUPLEX RETICLE!!!! ^:)^ :bow: ^:)^ wow!!!!!!
From the ranging exercise, it's on to Morgan's Shingle where an impressive FIVE of our TEN participants qualified. You guys rocked it! Congratulations to SASSY LASSY, THREAD & LEAD TL, POOKIE, LOCKE and Greg R. Only one of these fine five fellows followed their fortune to fulfill their fate and strike the shingle a second time while standing - great job, THREAD & LEAD TL!!!!
We had just enough time to knock out an AQT. Over lunch, SCOTTINTX once again went above and beyond the orange hat duties to present the story of King's Mountain. This is an important lesson in, amongst other things, the importance of the slope effect. Can you imagine being a rifleman and not knowing about the slope effect? How embarrassing would it be to be a rifleman and not know about the slope effect! Never fear, we discussed the slope effect and other key environmental points - like how a 20 degree change in weather might change point of impact, which is pretty useful information considering that the day was warming up. ITB was kind enough to pull out his genuine, fully functional (after lots of fiddling) brown bess musket and give an impromptu lesson / presentation. Judging from the audience reaction, this may have been their highlight! O0 Finally we're on to the last two AQTs of the day, and then a wrap-up session. Congratulations to Thread & Lead TL for re-qualifying as a KD rifle(wo)man! ^:)^ We hope that our out of state participants in particular enjoyed their weekend - we suspect that the sight of instructors having to jump into a truck and chase cows away from the firing line is a sight they may not have been expecting **)
There were so many excellent happenings this weekend, but it seems like we weren't quite done yet. During the after event discussion, the instructor cadre managed to harass brow beat persuade one of our fine participants to take up the coveted orange hat. Ladies and gentlemen, it is with great pleasure that I announce SASSY LASSY as Project Appleseed's latest orange hat! We've been wanting to get her on the other side of the line for a while, and are very excited to make it happen.
As a final note, anyone that attended quickly learned that it was no great secret that unfortunately the shoot boss got knocked down a bit earlier in the week with some sickness and probably wasn't performing at optimal levels. Said shoot boss would like to offer a very sincere "thank you" to the crew for helping pick up the slack and make sure that the event was the absolute success that it was. You rock team, these events couldn't happen without you. :bow:
It was a great event, even though health chased me out early on Day Two. This was my first KD, and I love the format.
AF5US, you did a great job despite being ill. Even with the occasional high wind, your voice carried and you handed off roles often enough that there was no loss of information. Thank you for a job well done!
It was great to meet everyone. It's always fun driving down to Texas for a KD.
Let's work a little bit on that weather thing...27° on Sunday morning was less than optimal. !@#)
Thanks to the instructors for running a great event. Special shout-out to mrakestraw for that long Sunday morning walk in what, in my opinion, was actually a very effective exercise in viewing a person at various distances.
Congratulations to TL for the trifecta - KD requal, shingle hit prone, shingle hit standing
A few pics...
Wrangling cattle with a pickup - quintessential Texas!
(https://i.imgur.com/t3VfLsG.jpg)
TL getting her KD tab
(https://i.imgur.com/jzMGKpR.jpg)
Pookie rockin' it on his Garand. Look closely right above his head..
(https://i.imgur.com/ZULIW6J.jpg)
Another picture or two