The GMSA Range in Toccoa GA had a full house this weekend! Many thanks to the fine Americans who came out to learn more about marksmanship and the history of our Founders for these two, beautiful days. Looking at the information about the 38 pre-regs showed us that we had 15 shooters under the age of 16 and a majority of all of the shooters had never been to an Appleseed before! I was so thankful to have as many IITs as were signed up to help out with the efforts of guiding so many young and first time Appleseeders down the path of becoming Riflemen.
Because of a special event happening at the GMSA Range on Sunday it became clear that we would be limited to the main line on that day, no pistol pits. :-\ Thankfully, having just attended the RBC at Ramseur the previous week, Red Niva and I had an intro into doubling the capacity of a firing line by shooting relays. I believe that I can declare that relay shooting works! Thank you to the shooters for bearing with me as we refined the process and worked some of the kinks out. Your patience was noted and appreciated.
Saturday started off with a beautifully pleasant sunny morning. After our morning briefing and Safety module the first Redcoat target of the day was tackled. Goose then presented the First Strike of the Match which would have made any ASer proud. We then proceeded to build our steady hold factors in the prone position, learned about NPOA and the Six Steps a Rifleman uses to fire the shot. Obviously, the relay shooting did slow down the pace of progress a bit so our lunch break was abbreviated but it was long enough to hear the Second Strike of the Match from Roswell. (well done sir!) O0 As the afternoon continued we completed the course of instruction, heard the Third Strike of the Match (again, well done by Roswell) and just squeezed in an AQT before the last Redcoat and Benediction. Some welcome news was announced that Don G. shot a 229 on that lone AQT! Huzzah!!
A side note about our shooters, it was certainly a joy to see one family show up with three generations shooting on our line! Their ages were from 12 years old to 79!! I can only hope that this event is one that they will look upon for many years with great satisfaction, a "bookmark" if you will.
Sunday dawned exactly as the previous day. Beautiful! The 24 returning shooters found those Redcoats staring them down again and then the review of Saturday's instruction quickly proceeded with quite a bit of input from these sharp shooters. We took an early lunch break, hoping to avoid trying to hear about Dangerous Old Men and Valiant Women and Children over the din of a bunch of security guards rapid firing their .45 autos into killzone targets in the nearby pistol pits. Yeah, that wasn't the best timing. Although Roswell and Goose did manage to get the stories out between the clamor in the pistol bays. Well done, gentlemen. After Ball and Dummy we started the AQTs and then DrJohn took some shooters to the long distance range so that they could confirm first-hand that what works at 25y also works at 100y. Then those shooters were rewarded with ringing steel targets at 100, 200 and 300 yards. During the AQT Grind this afternoon, two more riflemen emerged from the dust. Kenny W. scored a 215 and Bryan F. received his patch (with the baptism of North Bridge water) with his score of 210! O0 Huzzah!!
I would also like to congratulate a returning Rifleman and 5 time AS attendee Stacy D. (Hotbrass on the forum) for stepping up and taking an Orange Hat! :bow: Thank you, sir! Our country would do well with more liberty loving Americans like you.
I will admit, this shoot was a bit more stressful than most for me at first, but the fine shooters and instructors really settled my anxieties and I left the range with a smile on both days. Thank you all, for your time and attendance. You give me hope that we actually can save the sinking ship of Liberty. I hope to see you all again soon on the AS Trail.
May Liberty Increase!
Morpheus
It was a great weekend for sure. It was cool to see so many shooters, and lots of women, several of whom were shooting centerfire. Yeah! As a shooter doing the relay for the first time, I enjoyed the break between rounds to grab water, load mags, watch and learn from the other shooters on the second relay.
It also helped us to meet one another as we sort of paired up and shared knowledge and skills. Best of all it allowed a little more room to avoid hot brass in the ear, down the shirt, etc. which with as full a line as we had was a challenge! Kudos for everyone working to keep muzzles in a safe direction while doing the hot brass dance!
I got to partner with Kenny (yeah rifleman!) who was also shooting a centerfire AR with iron sights, so we were able to compare notes. This was my first AS with a centerfire and with iron sights, but with his help I was able to really mark a great grouping during the ball and dummy exercise.
Learned a lot about managing a centerfire and relying on the iron sights. When you do it right, it works every time. My challenge next week in Summerville is to try and put the couple flashes of good shooting I had together into one single AQT run, and to overcome some of the physical challenges that presented obstacles for me shooting on an AR platform, mainly cheek weld. Once I recover from this weekend and can move my arms and legs again, I plan to do lots of dry firing and transitions.
Thanks very much to Red Niva and others for helping me with the issues I was dealing with on Sunday. It made for a much more pleasant and productive day and your professionalism was greatly appreciated!
Here are some pictures from Saturday:
The shooters were greeted Saturday morning by a formidable force of Redcoats
(http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/tt156/RoswellC/Toccoa%20GA%20AS%20Sep%207and8%202013/IMG_1589.jpg) (http://s607.photobucket.com/user/RoswellC/media/Toccoa%20GA%20AS%20Sep%207and8%202013/IMG_1589.jpg.html)
The Redcoats didn't stand a chance though
(http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/tt156/RoswellC/Toccoa%20GA%20AS%20Sep%207and8%202013/IMG_1595.jpg) (http://s607.photobucket.com/user/RoswellC/media/Toccoa%20GA%20AS%20Sep%207and8%202013/IMG_1595.jpg.html)
DrJohn and Big Joe teaching the prone position and steady hold factors
(http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/tt156/RoswellC/Toccoa%20GA%20AS%20Sep%207and8%202013/IMG_1596.jpg) (http://s607.photobucket.com/user/RoswellC/media/Toccoa%20GA%20AS%20Sep%207and8%202013/IMG_1596.jpg.html)
The students attentively listened to DrJohn explain IMC
(http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/tt156/RoswellC/Toccoa%20GA%20AS%20Sep%207and8%202013/IMG_1598.jpg) (http://s607.photobucket.com/user/RoswellC/media/Toccoa%20GA%20AS%20Sep%207and8%202013/IMG_1598.jpg.html)
Shooters in prep for Stage 2 of the AQT
(http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/tt156/RoswellC/Toccoa%20GA%20AS%20Sep%207and8%202013/IMG_1599.jpg) (http://s607.photobucket.com/user/RoswellC/media/Toccoa%20GA%20AS%20Sep%207and8%202013/IMG_1599.jpg.html)
We were delighted to have quite a few future shoot bosses join us ;D
(http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/tt156/RoswellC/Toccoa%20GA%20AS%20Sep%207and8%202013/IMG_1603.jpg) (http://s607.photobucket.com/user/RoswellC/media/Toccoa%20GA%20AS%20Sep%207and8%202013/IMG_1603.jpg.html)
(http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/tt156/RoswellC/Toccoa%20GA%20AS%20Sep%207and8%202013/IMG_1604.jpg) (http://s607.photobucket.com/user/RoswellC/media/Toccoa%20GA%20AS%20Sep%207and8%202013/IMG_1604.jpg.html)
Don G. received his well earned Rifleman patch from DrJohn
(http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/tt156/RoswellC/Toccoa%20GA%20AS%20Sep%207and8%202013/IMG_1607.jpg) (http://s607.photobucket.com/user/RoswellC/media/Toccoa%20GA%20AS%20Sep%207and8%202013/IMG_1607.jpg.html)
(http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/tt156/RoswellC/Toccoa%20GA%20AS%20Sep%207and8%202013/4d215556-5ec2-4063-b5e8-ccdb60df27b8.jpg) (http://s607.photobucket.com/user/RoswellC/media/Toccoa%20GA%20AS%20Sep%207and8%202013/4d215556-5ec2-4063-b5e8-ccdb60df27b8.jpg.html)
Hotbrass doesn't look happy having to give up his Georgia hat
(http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/tt156/RoswellC/Toccoa%20GA%20AS%20Sep%207and8%202013/IMG_1609.jpg) (http://s607.photobucket.com/user/RoswellC/media/Toccoa%20GA%20AS%20Sep%207and8%202013/IMG_1609.jpg.html)
Looks like he got over it pretty quickly, when handed that Orange hat
(http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/tt156/RoswellC/Toccoa%20GA%20AS%20Sep%207and8%202013/IMG_1610.jpg) (http://s607.photobucket.com/user/RoswellC/media/Toccoa%20GA%20AS%20Sep%207and8%202013/IMG_1610.jpg.html)
Sunday:
Sorry, I didn't get as many pictures this day. I was up at the smaller rifle range helping with the AQTs so, I didn't get any pictures of the shooters ringing steel, but we could hear it, and it was BEAUTIFUL. ^:)^ Also, sorry Kenny W. had to leave early and I didn't get a picture of him getting his patch, but well done sir!
I did get a couple of Bryan F. getting his North Bridge baptism ;D
(http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/tt156/RoswellC/Toccoa%20GA%20AS%20Sep%207and8%202013/IMG_1616.jpg) (http://s607.photobucket.com/user/RoswellC/media/Toccoa%20GA%20AS%20Sep%207and8%202013/IMG_1616.jpg.html)
(http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/tt156/RoswellC/Toccoa%20GA%20AS%20Sep%207and8%202013/IMG_1618.jpg) (http://s607.photobucket.com/user/RoswellC/media/Toccoa%20GA%20AS%20Sep%207and8%202013/IMG_1618.jpg.html)
We are always learning and improving!
Great pics there, Roswell!--You have some fine talent for working a story into them. That really is an impressive Red Coat assault line.
Thank you Morpheus on the First Strike comments, as I think you already have that "channeling" thing down pretty good yourself! O0
Shannon won't be long in the pursuit of a 5.56 AQT, then, it's on to the KD!
-goose!