The weather could not have been more perfect for a December day in Virginia for our one day Marksmanship and History clinic in Wakefield. With COVID and weather wreacking absolute chaos on our 2020 schedule, several undaunted students lifted themselves from their couches and chose to spend a full day on the range, learning about basic rifle marksmanship fundamentals and hearing the story of April 19, 1775.
We started the morning with a thorough safety brief, followed by a morning diagnostic using the "Hits Count" target, more commonly known as the Redcoat. The results showed that while some students had come to us with the ability to engage targets out to a simulated 200 yards, there was room for improvement by all. Thankfully - and probably the best part of the entire day - everybody came with an open attitude and willingness to learn!
After the morning Redcoat, everybody focused on creating small groups by building a solid, prone shooting position, working through the Six Steps of Firing a Shot, and employing the concept of Natural Point of Aim (NPOA). Afterwards, the group focused on making adjustments to their sighting systems to make that "point of impact" small group and making it match the point of aim by applying the Inches-Minutes-Clicks (IMC) technique, followed by the application of Rifleman's Cadence.
During an extended lunch period, the students heard the story of April 19, 1775 - all Three Strikes - and learned of the sacrifices of thousands upon thousands of patriots that day. With such a broad age range of the group (70s to early to mid-20s), it was no surprise that some were familiar with the story, while others had a vague remembrance of some mention of it one day in class.
Rounding out the afternoon, the students learned to apply those skills learned during the morning's instruction in the prone position and apply it to both the sitting and standing positions. Layering in some position transitions from standing, magazine changes, and multiple targets, the afternoon proved to be as fast paced as the morning.
Closing with an afternoon Redcoat target, it was quite clear that all students gained a significant amount of skill, with improvement from all students across the board.
Thank you to both the students and instructor cadre that came out to make this event smooth, safe, and fun!
More pics, because :pics:
And a couple more.