Project Appleseed

Overview, History, and Weather

We had a great pistol clinic at the Goin Firearms Range in Muenster, Texas! We had a little less than 10 students come out and learn pistol fundamentals. Without the great help from our instructors, ranging from Red to Silver Hats, this event was extremely successful. Every student learned and had a great time!

The three strikes, Sam and Sam, and the onion of self-defense were spread out at key points throughout both days. Good discussions about gear, pistol excellence, and general shooting were provided by the instructors. And excellent viewpoints were provided by instructors with differing experience.

The weather was perfect except for a little bit of wind which blew away targets. As necessary we cleared the line to ensure safe practices and reposted targets or backers as necessary.

With great instruction and practice we saw scores increase across the board from only a few shooters qualifying on the initial hits count target to a majority of shooters performing well on the afternoon hits count target on Sunday.

Because of a rare double booking on the range, we had to adapt with a new line. Thankfully Paul Goin, the range owner, assisted us greatly and a few hurried calls before the class ensured we had enough equipment to set up a new line. It would bode well for instructors in the future to have emergency equipment to set up a line as necessary in the event something like this happens again.

Lightbulb Moments

We had a lot of "lightbulb" moments with various shooters on the line. These were times when the students made their own discoveries of how applying good fundamentals with appropriate techniques will get great results. Here is a list of some of these lightbulb moments:

- One student kept shooting right. Adjusting his trigger position to not pull his pistol to the right and not pushing with his support hand thumb he was able to earn higher scores by pressing the trigger straight to the rear. By lending this student a revolver to dry fire and giving him the instructions to "pull the front sight through the rear sight" this helped to install correct trigger press.

- By adjusting one shooter's support hand to grip firmer, he experienced more repeatable recoil mitigation. Consistency allowed him to increase his scores into the distinguished area.

- During the controlled pairs phase, the students were having a hard time understanding the tempo/speed/cadence they were to fire their two rounds. One instructor demonstrated what rapid pairs should look like in this context and explained what explicitly he was doing to the trigger. This helped instill what this type of shooting should look like to the students.

Pistoleer™ Patches

As for the official scores we a majority of the class become new Pistoleer™s and a couple of instructors requalified!
Our own instructor Gus shot distinguished with irons! He came prepared and despite the wind delivered an awesome performance.

Conclusion

I want to thank all of our shooters and instructors for a safe and fun shoot. For all shooters seeking a patch or shooting excellent consistent dry practice will get you there. Come back to another clinic and bring a friend!

Thanks @mrakestraw and the other instructors for the awesome class! Far and away the best presentation of the three strikes I've ever heard, and the story of Sam Colt and Sam Walker had me waste a couple hours researching Walker revolver repros. (Haven't bought one yet, but I think I know which one I want. ) Over the course of the class it became very clear that y'all are highly proficient shooters as well as great teachers - something that isn't always the case, in my admittedly limited experience.

Sounds like a great shoot! Keep up the good work.

tk

Good Morning,

I would like to say thanks again to Mr. Makestraw, AF5US and ScottInTexas for stepping up and making this event happen.  All the instructors ran a very smooth and thorough two day's worth of instruction for shooters ranging from experienced to beginners: No Little Thing!

It was nice to see some of the guys I met last January at the IBC in Waco and to meet others for the first time.

I encourage everyone to attend a Pistol class. I never knew how to shoot quickly and accurately before going through this course. Now I do.

In Liberty,

Gus

It was great to have you and your son at the event!  I knew you were a good shot with a rifle after that frosty KD in January, but you're just as good with a pistol!  I enjoyed getting to socialize with you both after the day was done.  I'll have to head south to get to one of the events down your way.