Seven shooters came Saturday morning, braving sustained winds nearing 20mph, and a wind chill of 39. Occasional snowflakes fluttered in the air as the shooters were instructed in marksmanship and history. We had a rare treat since the Boy Scouts were at the range, learning various shooting skills. They invited us for lunch, and gave us an opportunity to tell about Appleseed.
Our shooters included Ken, Tom and Rocky, experienced shooters, but not always to rifleman standard. They came to improve their skills. The other four were a family who is friends of Tom. They had less experience, but still were quite capable. The newest shooter, Sylvia, was a good sport about the weather, and was able to put some good groups on paper. Unfortunately, other commitments were to keep Chris, Sheila, Sam and Sylvia from returning for Sunday.
On Sunday, the weather was much improved with sunshine, and wind gusts to only about 10-15 mph. Our three more experienced shooters came back ready to shoot some AQTs.
Tom scored Rifleman with a 242. "It's the rifle, " said he. He showed it wasn't the rifle by acheiving a 233 on the next AQT.
Rocky boomed a .308 all weekend. It sure is great to see those big holes on the paper. Rocky is so close to rifleman, getting impressive groups, but being hampered by the transition stages.
Ken came to learn to shoot lefty, and he showed just needs to master the change in equipment since he is already a good shooter.
We ended the afternoon by taking the centerfire rifles to the 600 yard range to shoot some steel. Tom hit it again and again. The IITs got to shoot a bit, too. It isn't often my Garand gets a workout, and it was fun to know I hit steel at least once, too.
It ws a great weekend at a beautiful facility. Thanks to Tusco for being so supportive of Appleseed, and the Boy Scouts for the invitation to their meal.
Linda that was a great writeup for the weekend! You didn't leave me much to add. :)
It was great to spend the weekend with all of you! It was especially nice to hear and feel a group of centerfire rifles on the line.
One other thing should be told, which I left out was that Boy Scout interaction didn't end at lunch.
Edheler was able to camp out in a building near where some Boy Scouts were sitting around a campfire. Somehow, he ended up joining them at the fire. He asked if they wanted to hear a story, and proceeded to tell them about Samuel Wittemore. They were entranced! They began peppering him with all kinds of questions from all eras of history. That's a campfire they will not soon forget, and maybe hearing about Samuel will pique interest enough for them to come to an Appleseed to hear more.
Have we yet determined the best way for mike to make it up north? Id like to see him run a couple of Gibsonburg shoots.