What a great day for our Patriots Day event in Parma, ID. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, the shooters were awesome, the Rifleman Patches were flying and Hearts and Minds were being won.
While the event only had six students, they were all very attentive and focused students. Some shooters showed up who already knew what they were all about, while others focused on the instruction and demonstrated the skills they learned. It is always enjoyable to watch the students smiling faces when their shot groups keep get smaller and then when they are presented their Rifleman match.
The students and instructors put on a fine display of marksmanship this weekend. Congratulations to Mike, Adrielle and Sarah for earning their Rifleman patches. Congratulations to Ron, Curt, Tony, and Tim for requalifying as Rifleman. The only shooter that did not shoot a Rifleman score was our 15 year old student. However, she showed great perseverance working through some equipment issues. At the end of Sunday, she was repeatedly shooting dime size groups which is well within the Appleseed standard. On the last AQT of Sunday, she still had not shot a Rifleman score, but she did post her high score of the weekend. With a little more perfect practice, she should be able to earn it her next event.
Adrielle had not shot in a decade. She did well on the first Hits Count target on Saturday morning. As she adopted the marksmanship techniques, her groups started to open up. She was coached to keep practicing the techniques being taught, and that by focusing on each step, her groups would come back together. Adrielle ended shooting the high score of the weekend with a 225. Huzzah!
We discussed that dry practice is the best way to improve your marksmanship skills. Rifleman use dry practice to both maintain and perfect their shooting skills.
I look forward to seeing everyone at the Rimfire KD event on October 3/4 at the Parma range.