What a weekend! We started out cold and rainy on Saturday intermingled with just enough sun to fool us into thinking the rain was over. But it never did warm up, or stop raining. Sunday though, dawned cold but clear, clear and sunny and the temps rose fast to become that perfect fall day that only the midwest can provide.
Our students went through the instruction Saturday braving not just the rain but rifle problems as well, trouble with getting the lessons on IMC, minutes of angle, sight settings, and the rifleman's trajectory. But they persevered and good shooting was done by the end of the day.
Sunday was different, Sunday we saw students who understood the biggest accuracy improvement a rifleman can make is the use of the sling, and the second biggest improvement was the use of the notebook and pen. Shooting improved at an almost alarming rate, all the instructors were enthused with everyone's diligence in note taking, asking questions, and wanting feedback. It was in a word, impressive.
Everyone made huge strides in their ability to shoot well, by the numbers, and using their steady hold factors. The crew in the pits even noticed the improvement in scores. There was cheering in the pits as the shots for score came down.
Biggest improvement was hands down Lane who stayed with it until his groups went from dinner plate to quarter sized, and centered on the square! Huzzah! Michael followed closely with being the most persistent in learning exactly how IMC worked. Riflemen? Yea, we got em. John, Nathan, Miki, and Ben all brought home the score. John backing his up and getting his patch with a 39 out of 40 hits. Well done. Auntibellum remarked how the scores shot up Sunday with the average score more than doubled, doubled. Yea, doubled.
We didn't forget the history, the heritage that we all share and the reason we do more than just marksmanship instruction. Good history was told, and I saw plenty of attentive faces, and some laughter when dangerous old men and dangerous old women were told. We all hope you enjoyed hearing it as much as we enjoyed telling it. Remember the stories, remember the men, women, and children who made those choices for us, their posterity.
Was it cold? Yes.
Was it windy? Yes.
Was it rainy? Yes.
Was it sunny? Yes.
Was it worth it? Oh yea.
Thank you all for coming, and I hope to see each of you on the line with a Rifleman target in the future.
Yellowhousejake
PS. Pictures anyone?
KD. I love KD at Camp Atterbury. AS shoots at 25 meters are great, I love 'em. But KD...SWEEEEEEET!!!!! And it was great to see so many show up to check out what a KD AS was all about. Like YHJ said we had cold, rain, sun and warmth. But he forgot the low flying helicopter, the A-10s doing practice strafing runs in the distance, the sound of automatic gunfire nearby and 20+ army guys on the neighboring range opening up simultaneously to pour countless rounds into their targets in just a few seconds. (I still think our people shot better than they did but it did sound pretty cool.)
Congrats to our new riflemen. Thanks to Dragonfly and Miki for border raiding and giving us a big helping hand. You two are welcome back any time! And Lane. Lane! You stuck with it, persevered and ending up shooting great. You came a long way in a short time. Nicely done!
I saw several familiar faces in Jason, Jeff, Mark, John, Matt, Richard, Dan and Brandon. Good to see you all again. Keep at it, keep showing up to shoots.
Oh, is someone missing a shiny, almost new Midway USA shooting mat? Don't get me wrong, if you don't want it back I'll go ahead and keep it. I'll make the sacrifice and store it and use it but if it is yours shoot me a PM and we'll make arrangements to get it back to you.
Looking forward to next time!
C ya,
brian
Hmm... that might be my matt Brian. Mine was brand new and I let it ride back in the truck. I'm working out of town, I'll check when I get back.
-John
Thanks for making this honey badger feel at home :cool2:
CAMP ATTERBURY IN is Appleseed Tough -:)
D-fly Keeping the Faith
The dreary Sat morning safety briefing. Stay in the truck or get out and get it?
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8184/8119173497_2fb355fd6a_c.jpg)
Cheese Curds and Cream Soda? Why, I think those are the telltale signs of a Wisconsiner!
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8190/8119181792_0f5e2234de_c.jpg)
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8472/8119169171_43778c61c8_c.jpg)
Sunday was a day for shootin and larnin.
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8050/8119167231_624fb25ca5_c.jpg)
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8050/8119167231_624fb25ca5_c.jpg)
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8329/8119171615_73cffb441d_c.jpg)
Vortex Optics and Project Appleseed is a match made in Appleseed Toughness
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8471/8119182736_eb34fb2642_c.jpg)
"What did you do this weekend?"
"Went shooting with my Grandpa."
"What did you do, go pickle off a few rounds in the backyard?"
"Uhhh...Not exactly."
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8475/8119178382_5ca92505f0_c.jpg)
"Only what you need and nothing you won't use" is Indiana's motto for Atterbury. Here a Rifleman shows us how it is done. He has a proven rifle, eyes and ears, a notebook, a writing utensil, a modicum of tools, and a teachable attitude (water and ammo are behind the equipment line). You will even notice a good jacket doubles as a shooting mat. HUZZAH!
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8183/8119172355_6a3aedfbc5_c.jpg)
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8464/8119175194_368571afc9_c.jpg)
Now for the Riflemen!
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8325/8119162391_6780cedc84_c.jpg)
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8195/8119174188_94da0a6bd0_c.jpg)
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8328/8119173458_be2b031e29_c.jpg)
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8466/8119173106_e2d2ff975e_c.jpg)
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8473/8119160465_3406de7d98_c.jpg)
I didn't add it here but this particular shooter had not heard of getting dunked for the 80% prize. the next picture in this series has him turning to Brown with a look that is unmistakably irritated. Since I know the guy I couldn't help but laugh. He left smiling of course.
If you didn't watch this young man you missed out. He ran that AR like a pro. I just really like this picture, two different generations, one generation apart. Both rifle and Rifleman. That's America.
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8475/8119178382_5ca92505f0_c.jpg)
Yellowhousejake
Did we have one more rifleman? i think i am missing a picture.
Quote from: SPQR on October 24, 2012, 02:40:50 PM
Did we have one more rifleman? i think i am missing a picture.
Miki did a requal, she was in the pits helping to clean up.
YHJ
Awesome. Just awesome.
I'm just glad I didn't get the watering on Saturday cause it was cooold!
Many props to everyone for sticking it out through Saturdays weather.
Now time to regroup, get my rifle repaired and get back on the line.
What a great weekend!
MOAR PICTURES!!!
Wild Deuce gets right to work by taking his orange hat Saturday morning.
(http://i747.photobucket.com/albums/xx115/AuntieBellum/WildDeuceOH.jpg)
And now, a look into the deep, dark, mysterious workings of the pits...
Targets up and ready to go.
(http://i747.photobucket.com/albums/xx115/AuntieBellum/BackerReady.jpg)
Targets as far as the eye can see.
(http://i747.photobucket.com/albums/xx115/AuntieBellum/Backersinaline.jpg)
SPQR leads a discussion on how to teach KD.
(http://i747.photobucket.com/albums/xx115/AuntieBellum/HowtoTeachKD.jpg)
Your Saturday pit crew.
(http://i747.photobucket.com/albums/xx115/AuntieBellum/Satpitcrew.jpg)
Slow2Speak scores a target.
(http://i747.photobucket.com/albums/xx115/AuntieBellum/S2Sscoring.jpg)
And HQ scores another.
(http://i747.photobucket.com/albums/xx115/AuntieBellum/HQscoring.jpg)
Always a good time at Atterbury. Hope to see you all next time!
Somebody do something about HQ. All she ever does when I have something important to say is start knitting.
Great photos!
Quote from: SPQR on October 26, 2012, 04:02:24 PM
Somebody do something about HQ. All she ever does when I have something important to say is start knitting.
I was quilting. And learned more in this lecture than probably 15 others combined! It was very good - and anyone that has questions about how KD should be taught, SPQR has a very good primer/lecture on it.