Just a few short weeks after we celebrated the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, 11 fine Washingtonians joined us at WCW Shooting Sports in Bothell, WA for a weekend of history, heritage, and marksmanship.
Frequently in WA, I write about how our shooters brave the elements to be outside with us all weekend. In this case, our shooters enjoyed the weather on one of our best weekends of the summer - and they chose to spend it with us!
We had a good mix of new and returning shooters at this event, and our Hits Count scores showed that our returning shooters had kept up their skills while our new shooters came ready to learn. Our instructor corps got to work turning potential into well-placed shots, and these shooters took our instruction to heart: we were talking about IMC after only 3 sighter squares!!!
Our new shooters improved a ton over the weekend. By Sunday afternoon, most of our shooters were successfully scoring 3 well-placed shots on the 300 yd silhouette of the Hits Count target, and I suspect several of them will be going home with Rifleman patches at their next event.
We had 4 returning Rifleman requalify! Michael (211), Alex (210), Matthew (211), and Dan (240) all showed that they have maintained their level of skill. Dan cleared every single Hits Count target this weekend - a testament to his mastery of the 6 Steps of Firing the Shot, the Steady Hold Factors, and NPOA!
We had a bit of special interactive history at this event. Doc Sporseen is well known among Appleseeders for his detailed and animated account of the oldest and most dangerous combatant on April 19th: Samuel Whittemore. Unbeknownst to Doc, we arranged for him to fire a black powder long gun and his brace of black powder pistols at a Redcoat target. We then discovered there was another Redcoat within bayonet range! Doc dispatched our target quickly (with the demo rifle), and discovered that the Redcoat was in possession of a cavalry saber. Of course, he no longer had need of the saber, and now Doc has a story to tell of how he encountered the saber's previous owner only once, but the owner died suddenly and left the saber to Doc. Happy 50th event, Doc!
Thanks all for a fantastic event! A special thank you to all the instructors who came out for this event: kRosHairs, Doc Sporseen, PNWCarrier, Iborche, and USSRanger!
And now: Pictures!
CaptainRebop welcomes shooters to the range:
(https://i.imgur.com/na4emvQ.jpeg)
Doc Sporseen covers the arcane art of IMC:
(https://i.imgur.com/pj72o3G.jpeg)
Michael shows his mastery of the Steady Hold Factors for Prone (this is actually a video):
(https://i.imgur.com/QhpBH3x.jpeg)
Matthew deep in the Rifleman's Bubble:
(https://i.imgur.com/QdFfisz.jpeg)
Samantha prepares to engage the Hits Count target:
(https://i.imgur.com/HtuWx7g.jpeg)
Doc firing a "musket" (technically a rifle):
(https://i.imgur.com/egoEwn2.jpeg)
Doc firing one of his black powder pistols:
(https://i.imgur.com/AB4Vr4u.jpeg)
Our "Redcoat" in bayonet range!
(https://i.imgur.com/rPhmHUw.jpeg)
Doc engages the Redcoat!
(https://i.imgur.com/Cl5IzUu.jpeg)
I like reading these reports from all around the country, getting to see places I'll never get to go, often learning of new places I didn't know existed. For a few milliseconds at first look I thought this clinic was held in Brothel WA. and thought it very interesting a place would be named Brothel. :) And I learned we can shoot Appleseed with a flintlock too. :)