This was a fantastic event in spite of the low attendance; 3 shooters. One had been to previous Appleseeds and shot the Rifleman Score, but it was several years ago. The other two were first time ASers but had prepared themselves well. They had ordered targets to practice on and also ordered slings from our store. They all proceeded through the instruction, absorbing it well. One of the newcomers, Michael, shot the Score on the second AQT and the other one, Justin shot it on the following one. David succeeded on the 4th AQT. It surprised me that we were able to get 4 AQTs in so easily on the first day, and it resulted in 100% Riflemen.
Sunday began with more history and a KD lesson. Following that we proceeded to the 400 yard range with their 22s. The shooters were instructed to come up 5 MOA from their 25m zero to begin shooting at 100 yards. They used IMC to fine tune their zero at that range and shot consistent 4 MOA groups. Then they were told to come up and additional 19 MOA from their 100 yard zeros for 200 yards. I asked one shooter how many clicks he had gone up and he replied that he didn't count them, but being a musician, he had simply counted as 1-e-an-da, 2-e-an-da, etc. Being a musician myself, I understood completely and had a good laugh over it. They shot a number of times at 200 yards and were surprised at how easy it was. And their group sizes varied from 1 MOA to 4 MOA.
Finally they made use of two 12 inch square metal targets at 100 yards and one at 200 yards, each of them concentrating on only one target. They fired sequentially at these targets in succession - bang, bang, bang; clang, clang, clang, etc. It was quite a display of marksmanship and discipline.
Following this they wanted to shoot more AQTs. And finally the heat got to them and they decided it was enough. It was a fine weekend and I salute them all.
We could not have been more impressed with the instruction this weekend. Everyone showed up with an open mind and it truly showed during our AQT's. It's amazing the difference the proper technique makes. We were inspired by the passion don and his wife showed when speaking of the history and sacrifices brave men and women faced to make this country what it is. I can't thank you two enough.