Harvard 8-29-09
Dwarven1 - SB
Crak - Instructor
JJ-22 - IIT
ninsho - IIT
DoesItComeInBlack - IIT
CortJestir - IIT
Smithy - IIT
IIT Promotions
Ninsho - Instructor
JJ-22 - IIT3
DoesItComeInBlack - IIT3
CortJestir - IIT2
Smithy - IIT3
Weather
Saturday - Tropical Storm Danny - several inches of RAIN and 60 degrees.
Sunday - Sunny and 61 -> 85 degrees (Hey, it's New England! If you don't like the weather, wait a minute.)
Pre-reg count - 32 - actual total shooters - 27
Sat actual = 16 out of 22
Sun actual - 23 out of 31
Most of the no-shows were free shooters. No kids under 12, 6 Riflemen, 6 new IITs, MANY LTRs loaned out - probably at least 6-7
Round count: (for the experienced shooter side of the line - we put all the real new shooters on another line so Crak could work his magic on them)
Saturday - 471 (10 AQTs)
Sunday - 811
Total: 1282. (I understand that the other line was somewhere between 1100 and 1200 rounds for the weekend.)
Saturday we got SERIOUSLY rained on - we were shooting in a tropical storm. We had shelters behind the line we could use, but the shooters were very willing and kept shooting even in the rain. We were VERY careful with the position transitions and warned the shooters specifically against getting mud in their muzzles.
Sunday we dried out and got to shoot in sun. The shooters settled into a routine - we pushed them along and kept them shooting. They had to start digging out the sunblock after noon, though.
Bad items: We all discovered any problems in our rain gear, and one shooter discovered why he shouldn't have bought a $5 scope... it lasted less than 30 minutes in the rain. A scoped loaner LTR was provided.
One shooter had issues transitioning from one position to another. She had REAL muzzle control problems. We finally had her just shoot the practice AQTs from prone only, since she needed to work on her group sizes.
Some shooters ran out of ammo. Need to start telling them to bring more ammo for New England shoots.
Good things: We got ALL our Riflemen to volunteer to become IITs - what a GREAT thing for all of them to step up! I think I will keep using the phrase "Rifleman ponzi scheme - except we pay off in better Americans" in the future.
We got some corrugated cardboard for our backers; those will likely last a season or two. They also don't melt in the rain like cardboard would have. Using thumbtacks instead of staplers seems to work well, but clear tacks are NOT a good idea.
IIT Smithy is a gunsmith and brings his bench, tools and parts to the shoots - this is a HUGE help. He can convert rifles to LTRs or do rough sighting-in with his bore-sight laser.
Conclusions: New Englanders are NUTS. So far this year, we've had shoots here in New England in a foot and a half of snow, we've had a shoot in a tropical storm... and they're still out there shooting. We got some great Americans up here... and they're waking up.
Here are some pictures that I got off of my cell phone.
Early in the day on Saturday... before the line got REALLY wet.
(http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a29/canthsrider/Appleseed%20Shoot%20Harvard%20MA%2%3Cbr%20/%3E%3Cbr%20/%3E08-29-09/Photo_082909_001.jpg)
Rifleman Chris
(http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a29/canthsrider/Appleseed%20Shoot%20Harvard%20MA%2%3Cbr%20/%3E%3Cbr%20/%3E08-29-09/Photo_083009_001.jpg)
Who is now Instructor In Training Chris!
(http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a29/canthsrider/Appleseed%20Shoot%20Harvard%20MA%2%3Cbr%20/%3E%3Cbr%20/%3E08-29-09/Photo_083009_002.jpg)
Rifleman Mike - a Rifleman persists, and Mike finally got that Rifleman on Sunday! Note the spiffy new orange hat!! Yup, another IIT.
(http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a29/canthsrider/Appleseed%20Shoot%20Harvard%20MA%2%3Cbr%20/%3E%3Cbr%20/%3E08-29-09/Photo_083009_003.jpg)
Rifleman Charles - last Rifleman of the weekend... who'll have to wait for his orange hat since I ran out of them!! I had 5 orange hats with me and we had SIX Rifleman take up the challenge and become IITs!!
(http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a29/canthsrider/Appleseed%20Shoot%20Harvard%20MA%2%3Cbr%20/%3E%3Cbr%20/%3E08-29-09/Photo_083009_004.jpg)
Rifleman Matt (sorry for the photo, but you guys moved before my Palm Centro had recorded the handshake!) Wasn't wearing his orange hat, though...
(http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a29/canthsrider/Appleseed%20Shoot%20Harvard%20MA%2%3Cbr%20/%3E%3Cbr%20/%3E08-29-09/Photo_083009_005.jpg)
Nuts is right!
:D
My kinda nuts.
Yup, not much gets them down.
And, the worse the weather, the more they shoot.
Go figure.
Oh, yes, one other thing:
LOST AND FOUND!!!
Someone left a tool box on the longer range on Saturday. PM me and mention a few of the things in it and we can meet up to get it back where it belongs.
Hey there.
In your first pic, second shooter in. Is he shooting a GSG5? How'd it work out for him? What did he use for a sling, do you recall?
A friend's son has one, and would like to use it at a shoot.
No sling.
But there's nothing wrong with that rifle. Andy in NH wanted to try one on the line, at Pelham, and put a 5 round group in a 1 inch square the first time he tried.
Quote from: crak on September 19, 2009, 10:55:20 PM
No sling.
But there's nothing wrong with that rifle. Andy in NH wanted to try one on the line, at Pelham, and put a 5 round group in a 1 inch square the first time he tried.
I have to correct you crak, stick to the shooters who were on your line ;).
He did have a sling, it was some sort of tactical sling hybrid I think. He was using some sort of side mount sling swivel/adapter. The rifle seemed fine for the most part, but it seemed to take the bad weather worse than the rest. He had lots of malfunctions, especially rounds stuck in the chamber and mags jamming up. I think we got him a loaner Sunday afternoon because even after a deep cleaning Saturday night it was still functioning poorly despite the weather being much nicer. I've seen them do well, unfortunately not a rifleman with one yet.... I think AndyInNH proved that the rifle is capable of it in Pelham, you just need a shooter who is prepared and possibly dry. O0
Sorry, I read that on my phone and there was no pic.
I had one with a GSG5 too, and he had no sling.
Nice going guys, job well done. O0