This was one of the most enjoyable events I can remember. A glorious range with beautiful weather and a truly fantastic group of shooters being taught by an all-star bunch of instructors: what is not to like? This event was the first (but certainly not the last) event being held at Florida Sun Farms and I believe it was a rousing success. The shoot ran smoothly and the initial groups were most gratifying. We had shooters! The groups improved steadily as the positions were made more solid, the Six Steps were introduced, and finally, the secret sauce of NPOA was added to the mix. By lunchtime we had everyone dialed in and rifles tweaked for fit. With the First Strike our students learned that what they were taught in school about April 19th, 1775 was mostly myth and that the true story is far more interestingâ€"and relevant to today. The afternoon passed in a blur as other positions, transitions, and finally the fabled AQT made its first appearance. With several very respectable scores we knew it was just a matter of time before our first Rifleman appeared. Our Second Strike by Saltwater Shooter as excellent (as usual) and towards the end of the day "the rest of the story" was told as a fateful day in our shared American history was ended.
Sunday began after the passage of a cold front Saturday night and the air was downright chilly, at least for Florida. But, the jackets and hats helped keep the hot brass away and we continued to see serious improvements. As we got into the afternoon the weather had warmed up as did our shooters. Before long we were pleased to see our first Rifleman revealed. Congratulations to Patrick for leading the way! Not to be outdone, Benjamin, Patrick's son, also showed that he had what it takes and bested his father by more than 10 points! Great job, sir! Steven and Caleb traveled a long way to attend their second Appleseed and were both knocking on the door but could not quite kick it openâ€"yet. Stick to the fundamentals and practice dry fire daily and it will be yours next time. Young Mason at 9 years of age was a delight and by the end of the weekend was scoring remarkably well shooting off a rest. With a few more years that heavy rifle will become much lighter! Jason and Jackson, another father/son duo used borrowed rifles and both were making commendable progress despite having to miss better than half a day on Sunday morning. I do hope to see you both again soon as you were both doing extremely well. And finally Ann, our only lady shooter, was making great strides when her shoulder started giving her problems. It was great having you there and we really appreciated your family's hospitality at this wonderful range. You will be stronger than ever once your shoulder gets better.
Many many thanks to our excellent instructors: Kylemason, Saltwater Shooter, Rambo Granny, Falcon793, and Big Chris. You guys rock! A shoot boss could not ask for better! Photos to follow and we welcome your feedback.
This was a great event at a wonderful venue, many thanks to the land owners for allowing us to host a fantastic shoot. We all enjoyed seeing all the animals and the one week old ridiculously cute baby goats as the church barn / Sun Farms is a working farm. I know our friend Adobe Walls would have very much enjoyed seeing all the majestic horses. It was a unique experience for me as a suburbian dweller to work a shoot surrounded by bleating goats, mooing cows and frolicking happy ducks. Congratulations to our new riflemen, well done! All the other shooters showed much improvement and I hope to see you all again soon. As always the cadre of instructors did a bang up job of making it all happen like a well oiled machine. I learned a few new lessons and soaked up the wisdom of those who are much, much wiser than I at this event; for that my friends, I thank you. Congratulations also to Kyle the magnificent for your advancement to IIT2, you ran the line well and dealt out quality instruction the entire weekend. Also thanks to the Falcon for scoring almost all the AQT's during the grind, you sir are a hero in my humble opinion. Our shoot boss and RG are always a pleasure to see in action as they both are perfect examples of what it is to be RWVA instructors with passion and conviction. Lastly I have to give a proper recognition to the master chief, you sir are (as the kids say these days, do they still say this?) da bomb. Yes indeed. Enjoy the many pictures I took below:
Just a few more, wow - I know!
Ditto to everything :pics: Bruce & Chris said. Stunning event on gorgeous property. Our students were awesome with teachable attitudes in spades plus this group all seemed to have an amazing sense of wit & humor. I could have done without the cold front however. Will add a humorous pic of our all star instructors in their cold garb. Lol
Riflemen father & son first timers
Young patriots
Nine year old Mason did a great job of being safe & having fun on the rifle rest AND punched some impressive holes in the AQT. Huzzah. It will be fun to see what he can do as his muscle strength grows in the coming years! See pic above w score.