Thirteen shooters, many familiar faces and a few new friends joined us for our first event of the year in Washington, WCW hosting us on their fantastic range 1. It's been a few months since we've done a class, but I couldn't tell watching the quality of instruction from the volunteer crew.
With such an experienced line, hits count scores started out much better than typical and only got better with each subsequent attempt. We covered all the instruction we needed to on Saturday, and had four Rifleman AQTs right off the bat from first time Appleseeder Matthew (210), Robert at his third event (217), Christian requalified with a 219 and was incapable of scoring any less than that all weekend. IIT Jamison joinined us as a student also requalified with a 213 on the first AQT.
Coming back to an equality beautiful day Sunday, we did a bit of review and started hitting AQTs after lunch (which included homemade cobbler and grilled cheeses made by Jenni for all).
Matthew and Christian continued to shoot Rifleman scores consistently. Bill, showing how persistent a Rifleman can be, shot a 212 and his efforts to practice outside of the event was evident to all of us who've worked with him before.
Usually around AQT #5 for the weekend I'll see scores drop rapidly from the weekend's effort wearing on shooters, but they talked me into running just one more and I'm very glad they did. First time Appleseeder Bryan got to go home a Rifleman with a score of 219! First timer Brenna was so close with a 207, and as disappointing it is to not find those last couple points on the target when scoring, her patch is waiting for next time.
Instructor BirdDog joined as a student this time and seemed to be having a great time shooting, trying fun rifles, motivating those around him, and shooting the high score of the weekend with a 233. Celebrating her awesome work on the IIT3 progress check, Gunsmoke Music also got to shoot the final AQT, requalifying with a 222 and proving her instruction works when put into practice.
Shooters, WCW, volunteers, thanks for making this kick-off event for 2026 a success. We're looking forward to the year ahead celebrating 250 years of American Independence and welcoming you all back again.