Grandfield, OK
22 April 2009
After Action Report, 18-19 April
Saturday morning broke to see a full line of shooters in Grandfield, OK. After only having ten people show for the March Appleseed, it was great to have a sold-out show. And what a show! We had shooters from seven to seventy. Seriously: the youngest shooter on the line, Ethan, was seven years old and carrying his very own Cricket rifle. For being out on the line when most kids would be watching Saturday morning cartoons, Ethan received an Appleseed coin and a round of applause from everybody.
Ethan wasn't the only young'n on the range, though. We had quite a few kids, including several homeschoolers. It's always good to see the future of our country interested in learning marksmanship and history, and these kids were no exception.
Saturday's first AQTs saw scores as low as the fifties. With a little training and instruction, though, things turned around rapidly (a few equipment substitutions also helped). We had two qualify as Riflemen by the end of the day, and most ended the day as marksmen.
All in all, we couldn't have asked for a better day. The weather was absolutely perfect, the range wasn't muddy, and we didn't even have bugs. The rifles ran well; it was nothing like the Davilla ("209!") Boot Camp.
Dinner at the Prairie Rose was uneventful. The catfish was as good as last year, but didn't include a floor show this time. We'll have to work on that.
Sunday recalled what Oklahoma is all about: wind. A cold front rolled through overnight and reminded OG of why several of us chose the bunkhouse over tents. We faced a stiff north wind all day, but everybody put on his game face and persevered in the face of adversity; Paul Revere himself would have been proud of everybody. Even Ethan stuck it out; his dad promised him a German Shepherd puppy if he made Rifleman, and OG worked with him all day to keep him supplied with fresh rounds for his single-shot rifle.
We did several more AQTs Sunday after we warmed up, and scores improved rapidly. Several of the people in the fifties doubled their scores (or better). After lunch, we worked on position changes and mag changes; one student who said that standing-to-prone with a mag change was impossible at 25 seconds was amazed when, after a little practice, the stopwatch said he'd done it in fifteen, with solid hits to boot.
We shot another AQT and had several people come close--205, 206 207 was common--but nobody else made Rifleman.
We packed up the 25m range about 1500 and moved to the KD range. Folks, if you haven't been to Grandfield, you're missing out. We had a covered firing point with steel targets out to a thousand yards! Yours truly even managed to land a fair number of hits on the 1000 yard targets, firing an unfamiliar rifle and 55gr Wolf-brand .223 ammo. That's no tale, either--OG was spotting for me. We had several ARs and M1As on the long range, and everybody was impressed with how easy it was to put lead on target at long range.
Most importantly, though, were the students who approached us at the end of the day to say that they'd learned a lot, both about the shooting and about the history. Everybody enjoyed the stories, but many started to see connections they'd never noticed before. The Spirit of Liberty was awakened in more than a few minds, and left most of them thirsting for more.
(Oh, and despite not making score, Ethan's dad seemed so impressed with his attitude and hard work that it looks like he'll get his German Shepherd anyway.)
Is the father and young son with the AR on here? You left 3 30-round magazines. Call me at 620-770-2617.
Sorry I don't remember names.
Dan