Summers in Washington are some of the most gorgeous around - warm but not hot, sunny but not so bad you'll get burned, and perfect for doing all manner of outdoor activities. You can do just about anything on a beautiful June weekend. That makes it all the more special that 17 shooters decided to spend their weekend with us at the Everett Sportsmans Club, learning about our shared history and heritage and picking up a few things about rifle marksmanship along the way.
At the start of this weekend, 9 of our shooters had never been to an Appleseed before! This is a great sign that our returning shooters had been doing a lot of 7th Stepping (and our host range has been relentlessly promoting these events). All of our shooters got a reminder of exactly why the British Colonists woke up on April 19th as British how they became Americans at Meriam's Corner by about 12:30pm that day.
At the start of this event, Hits Count scores were lower than I have become used to seeing. HALF of our shooters were unqualified at even the 100yd silhouette! Fortunately our instructor corps eats dirt and sweats bore solvent, and we got to work.
PNWCarrier taught our shooters the 6 Steps of Firing the Shot and NPOA. commissar_squid instructed our shooters in the Steady Hold Factors for Prone, and we all worked together to fit our shooters' rifles to them. Everyone clearly brought their teachable attitudes, because by the end of the day on Saturday we had about 80% of our shooters qualifying at the 200yd or smaller silhouettes on our Hits Count targets.
A few returning Riflemen showed the group they still know what they are about! Bryan posted a 226 on Saturday, and Matt M posted a 240 with optics, earning his second distinguished patch (he has already scored a 230 with irons)! Their example inspired shooters on Sunday.
Sunday morning we started with a reminder that the American tradition of marksmanship goes back well into the 1600s and persists to this day. Shooters took this to heart, and our afternoon AQTs netted us a few new Riflemen: Rob scored a 213, and Anjay scored a 217! HUZZAH!
We ended Sunday with a discussion about the Declaration of Independence and what it should mean to every American. This is our last event in Washington before the semiquincentennial of the signing of that document, and shooters were encouraged to read it, think about it, and do something on that day to help remind their fellow Americans how radical and important that document remains to this day.
Shooters, thank you for joining us for an excellent weekend of history, heritage, and marksmanship. I hope we see you again - in the meantime keep up that dry fire practice!
To Everett Sportsmans Club: Thank you for hosting us, and thanks especially to Will for being a great facilitator, 7th stepper, and grillmaster!
To my fellow instructors, commissar_squid, Tkdninja, PNWCarrier, Mike AKA Bandaid, and Iborche: Thank you for spending your weekends improving your fellow Americans and growing the Tree of Liberty. I am always thrilled to work alongside such excellent and dedicated Americans.
And now, pictures!
Mike AKA Bandaid covers the Hasty Sling while Tkdninja prepares to demonstrate the technique:
(https://i.imgur.com/e1r8iD6.jpeg)
Tkdninja calls the line!
(https://i.imgur.com/PR4usPR.jpeg)
CaptainRebop helps with rifle fit:
(https://i.imgur.com/zK68PTS.jpeg)
PNWCarrier discusses the Ball and Dummy Drill. Mike AKA Bandaid and commissar_squid demo the drill.
(https://i.imgur.com/IOPUKDz.jpeg)
Shooters engage Stage 4 of a Sunday AQT:
(https://i.imgur.com/JEsApLP.jpeg)
Brad works on the Carding the Sights drill with Jericho:
(https://i.imgur.com/1LVu6de.jpeg)
Bryan with his 226 AQT:
(https://i.imgur.com/G3Xch8M.jpeg)