Happy New Year! What better way to start off the year than 13 friends at a known distance event. The Mountaintop Gun and Archery Range hosts are great! They beat most of us to the range to get a fire going inside. We kicked the morning off hearing the history of the shoot - Ramblin' Wreck started this Dec 31, 2013. While it has alternated between Dec 31 and Jan 1, each shoot is a celebration of what we've accomplished and what lies ahead.
Ramblin' Wreck shared the story of Ephraim Brank and encouraged us all to be not just riflemen, but KD riflemen. A worthy goal for every American. Maximum Ordinate gave some tips on how to shoot using battle sight zero(BSZ) for any rifle. ArmyVet helped us remember the pros and cons of shooting using either BSZ, come-ups, or hold overs. And Wileycoyote got us ready to shoot safely.
It was toasty warm as we did our review, but now we got to go to the frigid outdoors. Just kidding - this is the south. It was BEAUTIFUL, warm(ish) and sunny - over 50 before the end of the day. 3 shooters managed to hit Morgan's Shingle. Many thanks to Wiley for bringing the Light Bright Shingle (and all the other supplies) We could all see and hear each hit as it lit up and rang out. Congrats to Google for hitting the shingle again and Lucas and Leadslinger for hitting the shingle for their first time at a KD! They all earned a patch and some Cat Crap (you do have to wonder coming from me, but this was anti-fog lens cleaner)
We jumped right into sighters and our first AQT. The famous New Year's Line Boss - Eagle Keeper kept us on track and busy. By the end of the day, we shot 3 AQTs and 8 of the 10 shooters scored a rifleman score!!! Special_K qualified for the first time! I'm pretty sure her dad was prouder of that accomplishment than his own kind of respectable shooting (ho-hum, just a 50!!! then 45 as a lefty, then back to a 46 as a righty again). That family knows how to shoot!!!!!!
Cleveland missed a perfect score by just one lousy point - his minions must have been cheering him on. Leadslinger missed his own perfect score by about 1/4 inch on stage 4, giving him a 48! So that's 3 of the 8 with distinguished scores. Two more hit 47. Anything 40 and over is pretty awesome. Congratulations!!!
A huge thanks to John and Chris for shlepping us back and forth on the range and everyone for helping break down the shoot back into Wiley's trailer. We were all on the road again well before nightfall.
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One advantage to an all-Appleseed group of shooters is EVERYONE helps set up. I didn't get a lot of pictures of Booney Stomper. Here he is pounding in the stands for the 300 yard range. Notice that trailer the supervisors are talking next too (yeah, they helped out too, I just know how to time the pictures) - there's a reason people in the TN valley say "we have a Charles for that." Wileycoyote takes good care of all of us. He made all the stands and brings all the stuff we need for a lot of shoots. These guys are awesome to work with.
(https://i.imgur.com/SY8O0zw.jpg)
Maximum Ordinate teaching Battle Sight Zero - I'm a little disappointed there was no great artwork.
(https://i.imgur.com/WjVxHlJ.jpg)
Ramblin' Wreck is such a great story teller. Thanks for sharing the story of Ephraim Brank.
(https://i.imgur.com/bvtiJ7f.jpg)
Cleveland took a couple minutes to thank Maximum Ordinate, ArmyVet, and Ramblin' Wreck.
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Congratulations on shooting Morgan's Shingle at 250 Yards!!!
(https://i.imgur.com/WeIn2YC.jpg)
Congratulations on shooting Morgan's Shingle at 250 Yards!!!
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Cleveland, Google, and Maximum Ordinate shoot in prone.
(https://i.imgur.com/b71RwJK.jpg)
Line bossing like a boss. I think Eagle Keeper has offered to line boss all day every year I've come to New Year's shoots. Thanks!
(https://i.imgur.com/hw6q6YG.jpg)
Shooting stage 1 - What's a cluster of grey hats called? 5 are right here, plus Booney and Special_K - that's a lot of experience mixed in with just a tiny bit of smart aleck remarks all day.
(https://i.imgur.com/YojjPgX.jpg)
Special_K shoots in prone
(https://i.imgur.com/CxjQS7w.jpg)
Maximum Ordinate shoots in prone sporting his unique red hat - the Waffle House red hat. I wonder if he had to throw a chair for that?
(https://i.imgur.com/400VPgI.jpg)
Wileycoyote, Tellico, and Leadslinger held down the right side of the firing line.
(https://i.imgur.com/rSWdC00.jpg)
Leadslinger shoots standing
(https://i.imgur.com/MB24li4.jpg)
ArmyVet gives Special_K tips on shooting standing
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Special_K earned her KD patch!!!!! Congratulations!
(https://i.imgur.com/ROwG05d.jpg)
Tellico requalified, earning another KD patch. I was looking at previous New Year's shoots and saw that he volunteered at that first one in 2013.
(https://i.imgur.com/bJtHjc0.jpg)
Wiley requalified again!
(https://i.imgur.com/yDoJ33M.jpg)
Jeff requalified scoring a distinguished score (again)
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Leadslinger requalified with a distinguished score too!
(https://i.imgur.com/LmeLvu4.jpg)
Maximum Effort earned his distinguished patch with a PERFECT 50!!! Nice shooting!
(https://i.imgur.com/VYqhbvS.jpg)
What happens when you score 50 out of 50?
(https://i.imgur.com/H0vcexx.jpg)
You shoot with the opposite hand of course. He makes everything look easy - all these people do. This was a great shoot to watch.
(https://i.imgur.com/7WVyzxO.png)
I called Wiley up a couple of weeks ago and requested he wear this shirt to go along with my lunch time story. Thanks for obliging me. I told Hammer Armament's rendition of Washington crossing the Deleware. It doesn't quite have the detail that Roswell presented in this month's newsletter, but I hope it was entertaining and memorable. You can find it on YouTube. There's a single bad word at the end, so I can't post the link.
(https://i.imgur.com/FszCJkx.jpg)
What a great day and a beautiful sunset over the Sequatchie Valley on the way home. Have a great 2026!!!
Wow! This looks like an amazing event. I'm sorry I missed it. Good shooting everyone! Congratulations especially to the new KD qualifiers, new members of Morgan's Rifle Company, and Maximum Effort for a perfect score! :bow: