This was our second shoot here at the Fresno Rifle and Pistol Club who are really great hosts with volunteers laying on hot dogs, chips and sodas for lunch both days, and making sure we were well supplied with ice and water. Thanks guys, its really appreciated.
We have around 30 shooters and used the main pistol range with 20+ and the smaller overflow range beside it for another 8 shooters. Cameron and the local and sacramento instructors took the main range, and I exercised shootboss prerogative and ran the smaller range with a couple of new instructors.
The weather was hot on Saturday once the cloud burnt off and was really hot on Sunday. Lots of water breaks! But all of our shooters persisted and kept going and came back on Sunday for more.
By the last AQT on Sunday the main range had half a dozen shooters in the 190/200 range but couldn't quite get it all together to produce rifleman scores. Similarly, on the small range we had four people who had never shot before who made tremendous progress and clearly demonstrated the skills on every stage but couldn't quite put all the stages together on a single AQT.
On Sunday I had a returning one day shooter, Steve, who had attended the previous Fresno AS. I told my line on Sunday on the first AQT that if they would all just shoot rifleman then we could go sit in the shade for the rest of the day and watch the main line! Well Steve did indeed shoot rifleman on the first AQT - and indeed every AQT he shot after that - and cleared the final Redcoat. Great shooting Steve. When asked to tell the crowd how he did it the usual Appleseed wisdom appeared. Dry fire practice at home two or three times a week for 10 or 15 minutes. Practice the positions, the transitions and the six steps. Just follow the instructions in the packets they give you. (The two and four year olds climbing on your back is evidently optional but doesn't appear to do any harm ^-^ )
The instructors did a great job sharing the heritage and history during lunch both days. That the attendees heard and took it to heart was evident by the determination and persistence shown Sat afternoon and the good return on Sunday.
I'm sure Cameron and the other instructors can chime in here and tell us more of the shooting on the main line. And shooters feel free to add your comments here.
Once again, it was an honor and a privilege to shared the Heritage and the Traditions of Marksmanship with another great bunch of folks.
Cheers
Phil
First off, thank you V and Cam for coming up and Green/Red hatting the shoot. Thank you also to BD, EagleScouter, and Dead Aye for making it to town and instructing. It is all appreciated.
We had a great group of people both days and many return shooters on Sunday. It's rare, outside of appleseed, to find like minded gun owners, both new and old, come together and have a great time. Saturday started the day off nice and cool, an oddity in Fresno at this time of the year. As the day progressed, the clouds rolled in and set a gorgeous back drop I've only seen in the high Sierras (I hope someone took pictures :)). Once the clouds cleared the sun beat down on us in the traditional Fresno fashion and did not relent on Sunday.
Our shooters were undaunted and persisted through the blaring heat. Not only did they fight mother nature, but they also fought man made obstacles. Joselyn, Colby, and Karen got showered with hot brass while shooting. Most, if not all three, came out of it with blisters, but they persisted. Hope to see you guys out there again. Karen, by the second day, got even and switched places with her husband and quickly repaid the debt.
Congratulations to Steve and getting rifleman!! The persistence of dry firing at home, practicing the positions, doing the transitions, getting in that rifleman's bubble with you kids jumping on you and following the six steps really paid off!!
It's always great to see whole families come out to share the heritage and traditions of marksmanship. Thank you for bringing your kids out and hope to see you guys again. Now we just need to practice that seventh step and spread the seed. Invite your friends and neighbors, new and old shooters, young and old people to the next appleseed.
I want to say it was a great shoot again at Fresno, as the range personnel were the best and made it a pleasure to be there. Thanks all you range folks!!!
We got off to a slow start as there were many new shooters on the big line, with equipment problems... No slings, swivels, one mag only, and almost half the line had new shooters that had maybe only shot a rifle once before...
There were a lot of brand new rifles on the line that had not been sighted in yet, so we had to make quite a few sight adjustments. Also had about 5-6 that did not even bring a rifle with them. We got them all handled with loaners, installed sling swivels, and slings, and went over the basics. :-\
If you were there and are a experienced shooter, thanks for your patience. Remember, we need to start with the basics for the new shooters, and safety is a prime concern especially with brand new shooters and kids. Also, the children are the future of our sport, and with out them, it may not be carried on through the generations. :~ :~ :~
As far as improvement throughout the day, it was amazing to see many shooters doing well by the end of Saturday. A few first time shooters, Sara and Ellie, both in their early teens, said they had only shot a rifle for the first time a week ago in prep for this Appleseed. By Sunday afternoon, both were consistently scoring in the 125-135 range, and Sara once shot a 147 Sunday! :) Good going! Brian P. did well with a 179, and the "three Musketeers" Bryan, Brandon and Chuck, were all shooting in the mid 170's Sunday. Pretty good shooting guys!! David and Jocelyn, were doing pretty good untill the "hot brass branding incident" But I think they had fun despite the burns. :'(
Dale and Jim both traveled over 650 miles from Oregon to attend this shoot. Now that is dedication!!! they both had a great time, and shot in the 150-160 range. Cliff "ALMOST" made rifleman with a high score of 206. :o Cliff and his wife Karen, both were braving the heat, and the up and down transitions, yet were persevering through it all. Then I found out at the end of the day, that Cliff had both ACL's reconstructed!!! was still doing the transitions, AND barely missed rifleman! Cliff, you have the determination to make it, and you know very well what you are made of. Karen had some scope adjustment issues, and still shot a 176! pretty good for your first appleseed, Karen.
Ken brought his family, and had a great time, and said he will be traveling up to the Sacramento shoot in two weeks! Another dedicated father who knows how important the heritage is to share with his 3 children. Look forward to seeing you and the kids in Sacramento!
Anyway, I had a terrific time meeting every attendee there, and wish I had more time to speak with every one between instruction sessions... But practice at your range, take someone else shooting and teach them what you learned, and bring them back to an Appleseed so we can reach their hearts as Americans, with the heritage and history of this country... it is something that needs to be told and remembered and handed down to OUR posterity (children) so our forefathers efforts back then to preserve our freedoms shall not be in vain, nor forgotten......
I will download some pictures in the next post....
Thanks to V for shootbossing this one, and to all the instructors, you did a great job and I will work with you all again, anytime...
Cameron
here are some pictures...
here are some more pictures
Thanks to BaldDragn for putting together a "COOL MISTER TENT"
It really cooled folks off who used it!!!
Quote from: Camljr on June 03, 2009, 04:09:45 AM
Thanks to BaldDragn for putting together a "COOL MISTER TENT"
It really cooled folks off who used it!!!
Here's Camljr enjoying the mist.
Quote from: Double D on June 02, 2009, 01:18:30 PM
As the day progressed, the clouds rolled in and set a gorgeous back drop I've only seen in the high Sierras (I hope someone took pictures :)).
I just happened to catch some of Sunday's clouds while getting a pic of our larger firing line.
And the ones Jules caught.
Here's one of my favorites.
We have Romeo's Hero doing demo of the SHF for sitting, Double D giving instruction, and Camljr watching over.
And finally a shot of our recumbent Shoot Boss V, giving the fresh IITs a chance to run the line under his watchful eye.
It's good to be king!
just to clarify, them cloud shots were taken by the one and only, Sklar. My ego prohibits me from abstaining from commenting...
edit: several cloud pics were taken in Fresno at the range. which shots were posted of which times are unknown to me. And as most clouds tend to look the same to me unless specific references are given, I may be mistaken as to whom took said pictures... 'muh-buh'
Sklar,
Thanks for the pics of the thunder boomers, but you could have left out the one of me cooling myself under the misters.
I look entirely way too happy in that photo.... :D :D come to think of it, I was.... it was HOT!
That was a great Idea BaldDragn had for that mister setup...
He is very ingenious. I enjoyed it a lot!
Quote from: Camljr on June 05, 2009, 09:35:33 PM
That was a great Idea BaldDragn had for that mister setup...
He is very ingenious. I enjoyed it a lot!
I would love to say I labored over the design and solved some difficult problems but it worked out very smoothly for very little labor.
It's basically just a new two gallon yard sprayer (never had Round-up in it)
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=303984-1306-190254
attached to a mister setup http://mistymate.com/shop/component/page,shop.product_details/flypage,shop.flypage/product_id,35/category_id,16/manufacturer_id,0/option,com_virtuemart/Itemid,26/.
Add a couple gallons of water and pump up the sprayer. I was lucky that once the spray handle had been removed from the sprayer the hose of the mister kit fit perfectly inside the sprayer's hose. A bit of gorilla glue and the two were one. They will use up about a gallon of water each per hour if kept up, or twice that if you have the time to top them off after every round of an AQT (it was HOT out there).
I found all the parts at Lowe's but when I went back for more they had sold out of the small mister with attaching clips (I found a source for the small mister after a search online). I think the larger mister set up will work if you use a barbed connector to join it to the sprayer.
Modified to add links