We had a great Pistol Clinic at Marriottsville. Our group consisted of 4 brand-new (never touched a pistol) shooters and 4 minimally experienced shooters.
Saturday was hot (mid-80s. with no shade) in Action Shooting Bay 6. Sunday was a little less hot (low 80s) as some clouds were prevalent for a few hours as some showers passed by.
We started the event very slowly going over basic pistol instruction of stance and the six steps to firing a shot. We customized the training drills to introduce the basics of pistol shooting. For lunch, Progress Not Perfection offered her emotional First Strike presentation to the class. She does a great job with it. Most of the day was spent working on basics like grip and stance. At the end, of the day, we introduced the first part of the PQT.
The start of Sunday went very well. After the safety briefing, Phoebe presented the Second Strike. She did an excellent job. We reviewed the 6 steps to firing a shot. After shooting the red coat target, we did Big Dot and Little Dot to give the students a lot of practice and coached them along the way. It was remarkable the progress that they made with their shots. At that point, we began the PQTs in earnest. We had one shooter get a 208 with her first attempt. Sadly, her scores never improved due to pistol malfunctions and mistakes while learning the PQT and all the stages. We are certain she will return and earn her Pistoleer™™™ very soon. At lunch, k3 presented the Third Strike which was very thorough and well-received by our students.
We did not get anyone who earned a Pistoleer™™™ or Immortal 400 patch. But all the students found the instruction very helpful and their skills improved remarkably. They are looking forward to returning another time to earn their patches.
We were very proud of our students who had zero skills on Saturday morning or needed a lot of help. By the end of the day on Sunday, they were all on paper and scoring very well with their pistols.
I want to thank CMS00 who brought 5 loaner pistols to the event, and we needed all of them as most participants did not have their own pistols. He's our Applecore volunteer and supports the program every time.
Many thanks to our host range (AGC in Marriottsville) and host club (Arlington). Without their support, this event would not have occurred.
Pictures are available at this link: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1OPjTmCbARNbErERPZ8cTSHY2QbDrx6J6 (https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1OPjTmCbARNbErERPZ8cTSHY2QbDrx6J6)
They will also be posted on the Maryland Appleseed Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid0x93PShYCVyjjYmaFGGYZLWD7YCeZsgi85FrsLRuV7k3XkxuiGPF2Tb5YLEWjTdCcl&id=100064405762810 (https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid0x93PShYCVyjjYmaFGGYZLWD7YCeZsgi85FrsLRuV7k3XkxuiGPF2Tb5YLEWjTdCcl&id=100064405762810)