THAT. WAS. AWESOME.
Seriously, I'm an Illinois native (downstater) that "escaped" 16 years ago. It is so rewarding to come back to my home state and see that - even with those that are doing their best to suppress it - the spirit of liberty is alive and well in the Land of Lincoln.
11 of Illinois' finest showed up bright and early on Saturday at Illinois State Rifle Association's range in Bonfield. Great range, great RSO's and the shooters didn't disappoint. We focused on fundamentals of marksmanship on Saturday and finished with a PQT. The shooting and the history were hot and heavy...as were the cells of rain that seemed to show up every 10-15 minutes...and we ended the day with 2 new Pistoleer™s...congrats Terry and Alex.
Sunday's weather was perfect (high 70's, light breeze, low humidity) and that seemed to fire up our shooters. I'm unbelievably happy to say that an additional 7 of our shooters scored Pistoleer™...yup, you heard it. 9 of 11 (that's over 80% in dog percentages!!). Congrats Keith, Matt, Chuck, Greg, Jeremy, Kaylan, Ryan. And I want to call out Kaylan particularly...shot his first firearm 2 months ago, only the second time out shooting pistols. And he absorbed everything and focused...and got over the line. KT and Peper not far behind.
Of special note, Alex took an orange hat and Peper a blue (and Jeremy??????).
Seriously, one of the better weekends I've spent in a long time. great job instructor crew, Geek, JHB, Myrradah and WarriorPoet.
Till next time...
Steel...out.
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I want to start by saying, I love this range. The folks that help maintain it, run day to day operations, and event scheduling have my gratitude. They allow camping and even have a place to plug-in. It is worth the drive for this border raider.
What an incredible event indeed. Having IITs give strikes is one of my favorite things to see at an event. I got to see 2 at this one. Well done team. We had participants with several Appleseed events under their belt, to a first eventer. Years of shooting, to 2 months after a good introduction to firearms. With this diverse of a group, everything was still relevant and quickly absorbed. Seeing shooters coach and encouraging each other warms my soul too. It seems we all made some new friends.<or maybe we found new family members> Getting home after midnight on Sunday and dragging in to work Monday, was nothing compared to the reward of spending my weekend with this fine crew.
For those that did not reach your scoring goals this weekend, remember to dry fire and build that muscle memory. Everyone continued to improve all weekend. I thought we might see a new distinguished Pistoleer™ patch presented at the rate you all were shooting.
A special shout out to our new volunteers. Towl took an orange hat and is actually an Indiana resident. Woo-hoo! I am so glad the timing finally fell into place. Peper came to his first event in June and caught the Appleseed fever. Upon returning for his second event, he stepped up taking a blue hat. I know the program can use more good Applecore folks. I look forward to seeing you at future events.
Many thanks to the Instructor Corp for making this event happen, and for making the trek. Also a fund group to spend a weekend with.
This was the first Appleseed I have been a participant since taking a hat, and I was very pleased with the instruction, the pacing, and even the weather. The pacing of the COF was great, it never felt like we had to much downtime, but I also didn't feel rushed or overwhelmed.
I decided going in to intentionally use this shoot to get familiar with a pistol mounted red-dot, as up until recently I have remained staunchly "gun Amish" on my handguns. The dot purchase was largely so I could speak from a position of knowledge at other classes I run, but with the slowly degrading eyesight, I am a fan. The centerfire certainly added a little cost and a little kick to it, but once the NPOA kicked in, dropping 2 rounds of 9mm in practically the same hole proves it works.
Once I can get to a Pistol IBC my days of attending will probably wane ;) , but I can't wait to get more of these in Illinois. :F
Congrats to all my fellow Pistoleer™s, and our new volunteers.
Good times all!
Weather was awesome, shooters were awesome. well, some rain but I like rain :)
First event this year I havent sweated 5 gallons out of me....
Now, we just need to remove that doopy looking guy in the background of some of the pictures....
Huzzzahhh !
Great job everyone!
A big thank you to Steel Thunder and crew for putting on a great Pistol event. The instruction was spot on and was well received. The phenomenal number of new Pistoleer™s reflected just how the instruction was received. Congratulations to all the new patch winners, your efforts were put to the test and the results showed it.
Great group of instructors and shooters--a pleasure to be part of this group.
WOW!!! 9 Pistoleer™s! That's AMAZING! Congratulations to all!!
Alex and Pepper - thanks for stepping up!