Saturday at the gun range brought forth an eager group of students and an excited group of instructors. Combine the two and you have the makings of a fantastic weekend. With a chilly start the initial shots showed that there was much room for improvement. The fire hose of instruction was turned loose and the process of making marksmen began. From learning how to build a solid prone position, to learning how to get sights on target and trigger the shot without disturbing the sight picture, to learning how the "natural point of aim" was so vitally important to precision marksmanshipâ€"the teaching points gradually took root and the group sizes began to shrink. Sights were adjusted using Appleseed's "inches-minutes-clicks" method and rifles were fitted to their shooters with foam, vet wrap, and the tweaking of scope placement. The morning flew by and soon it was time for lunch and the telling of the first part of the events of April 19th, 1775. The story of how we became an independent country and freed ourselves from the shackles of a overbearing government was brought to life as people long dead were rememberedâ€"and honored. With the afternoon came new positions, rapid fire shooting, multiple targets, transitions and reloads, and the ever present corrections and admonitions. By the end of the day, folks were cold, wind burnt, and perhaps a bit tired but the enthusiasm did not flag. We ended with the promise of more to come on Sunday.
Sunday was warmer and much less windy making it almost ideal for an outdoor shooting event. The major points of instruction were quickly reviewed and a few new drills were practiced in preparation for the AQT. A ball and dummy session let our students become instructors and helped reinforce the essential elements of shooting a rifle accurately. Before lunch we had shot our first AQT, but certainly not the last! At lunch we heard some stories about men like Samuel Whittemore and Timothy Murphy. Our newest Blue Hat, Summer, told of another young lady named Elizabeth Zane who did a brave thing and saved the lives of many. A brief exploration of "Freedom and Liberty" finished our lunchtime break and then it was back to shooting. By the end of the day we had learned about range estimation, trajectory and the effects of gravity and wind on a bullets flight, and target detection. Sunday afternoon also revealed our newest Rifleman, Bryan, who shot a very solid score on the fabled AQT. Congratulations, Sir! The instructors got richly paid as everyone improved in a remarkable fashion with the phrase "knocking on the door" used more than once. Dry fire, practicing perfectly, and persistence will be the keys to success. Thank you all for coming out to join us.
Thanks to all our fine instructors for making this a great event. Pete, Glenn, Tom, Janet, Chris, and Ken: you guys rock! We will return to Flagler Gun Club.
If you have photos, let's see them! Inquiring minds want to know...
Good times had by all, especially this instructor! Congratulations to our newest Florida Rifleman and our newest blue hat! Waaaaaaaay to go! See the few pictures I took below:
What a great weekend! It was truly impressive to watch the scores get better as the days progressed. We had a great group of folks come out and spend their weekend with us at this great facility to learn marksmanship skills and history. Congratulations to Bryan for earning the Rifleman status! HUZZAH! and Congratulations to Summer for picking up the blue hat. Way to go! Thank you to everyone who came out and I hope so see you at future events.