This weekend, Coeur d'Alene saw a hearty group of 7 aspiring riflemen. The bulk of the students were relatively new to shooting as evidenced by the first Hits Count target scoring. Not to worry, a rifleman persists, and this is exactly what they did. I saw shooters frustrated to tears with equipment issues, while trying to learn. I was edified that those hearty shooters stuck with it and came out the other side with noticeably improved skills. Now that equipment issues and deficiencies have been identified by putting the rifle through its paces, those problems can be addressed before returning to a future Appleseed rifle clinic, ready to hit the ground running.
We encouraged dry practice to everyone on the line during the prep period. The sound of hammer falls once in position is music to my ears. So much learning happens in dry practice, and that with no need for carving out time to go to the range and the expense of ammo. It makes the time on the range that much more effective and efficient if preceded by dry practice at home.
The heat and some wildfire smoke were distractions and we had to consciously rehydrate regularly. I don't think anyone had issues that very easily could have happened under the circumstances.
Thanks to all the shooters that came with a teachable attitude. It made progress easy for the shooter and a joy to the instructors. Thank you all for coming. Check the Appleseed schedule on the website as well as the Fernan Rod & Gun Club schedule for upcoming events. I hope to see all of you again on an Appleseed firing line.
I'll echo Mr. Clean's comments about persistence and progress. As instructors, we want everyone to leave feeling like it was a positive experience, and we want everyone to feel good about shooting the rifle they brought with them. In some cases we were able to help get personal rifles working better on the line, and in others we offered advice about how to prepare the rifle for future use while providing loaner rifles for use in the short term. We were impressed with they way the participants "stuck with it", and in the end we saw significant improvement in technique as well as in scores.
I was also grateful for everyone's diligent attention to our safety rules throughout the event. Even when everyone was hot and tired, we had to make only a very, very few corrections on safe rifles, and only once or twice on the safety rules.
We hope to see everyone again at future events, perhaps bringing along your newly-acquired M1 Garand rifle from the Civilian Marksmanship Program!