AAR: Columbia, ME 4-5 Dec 2010 (WinterSeed!

[The Old Guide]

It did snow in Columbia, Maine for our Winterseed, Crak awarded two very cool looking Winterseed patches to Matt and Greg. I don't know their handles on the boards. Matt's lady friend came close on Sunday afternoon, but we ran out of daylight. She will be back. The guy with the tube magazine will be back too. It was cold. The person who stapled his finger to the target remain nameless. It's cold when you turn to walk away before you realize your finger is attached to the backer.

We fired KD targets which surprised and delighted the .22 shooters.  I believe that every shooter fully understands IMC because of shooting KD and good instruction. Dick, our volunteer gunsmith adjusted a couple of 10-22 magazines to tighten up the springs. I didn't know that was possible. It was a very good shoot with all shooters improving significantly over the two days.

After the Third Strike I mentioned something that happened at Valley Forge. George Washington was walking among the troops on Christmas Eve and saw one soldier off to the side with two tiny flames under a piece of canvas to protect them from the wind. General Washington approached the man and asked what he was doing. The man replied; "I am a Jew. I am celebrating Hanukkah as my people have for thousands of years. We celebrate the time when we fought a much larger army and with Divine Providence we defeated them and earned our freedom. I believe with Divine Providence we will again earn our freedom."

General Washington thanked the soldier and carried that inspiration with him. Historic documents record that General Washington repeated that story many times as he told about the choices his troops made. When I speak about why they made those choices at Concord Bridge I say that those patriots of old did it for US.

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah from Maine. The company that produces 22,000 wreaths for Arlington and Veteran cemeteries in every state is just five miles from the range at Columbia. The truck left Maine for Arlington at the same time we were leaving.

-break-

I found the link for 10-22 Mag repairs.

http://www.tacticalimageguys.com/CleanRuger1022RMag.pdf

[SeanO]

First of all, although we had snow, rain, sleet and raw mist, this shoot continued the tradition of No Whining under Adverse Circumstances.  In all the shoots I've been to, I've never heard anyone complain about weather conditions.  And that includes the 'Seed at a Vermont dairy farm that featured cow turds that were, uh, let's say, greatly activated when it rained.  Talk about your hardy New Englanders....

Nor did anyone complain about being tired, even though they probably weren't prepared for two days of the kind of the continual physical demands made by an Appleseed clinic.  Becca looked cold and frazzled, but wouldn't acknowledge that at all, focused as she was on pursuing a Rifleman patch.  I'm sure she'll get it next time.  

Matt, too, soldiered on.  He was shooting a Moisin-Nagant.  Left-handed.  That requires a lot of energy.  A lot of reassuming NPOA.  Once again, no complaint about the handicap or the conditions. Toward the end, we finally talked him into switching over to a Ruger with which he shot his Rifleman score.

Greg, too, shot Rifleman, after switching from some lousy Economy Pack ammo to some good stuff.  He was the poster boy for coming dressed for the weather.  

Mel started with the handicap of missing Saturday, and trying to play catch-up on Sunday.  He'll do just fine when he comes back for both days of the Patriots Day shoot.

Both Robin and Boreas were working their first shoots as Instructors in Training.  I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised that both did so well.  It's great to see the new guys passing on the stuff they learned so well.  And they discovered that they learned even more by helping and correcting others.

The Old Guide is coming along, too, as an IIT.  As a student, he shot Rifleman scores in the 220's, not just with a scope, but with iron sights.  Not bad for a young fella with old eyes.  He'll do well with the history, too, because he loves a good story.

And thanks to Dick Hill for again acting as gunsmith.  It's a huge relief to have him around with his 50-plus years of experience.  And he knows how I like my hot dogs assembled....

And finally, we were lucky enough to have Crak drive all the way up here to do his thing.  One of the original Appleseed guys, he's done clinics all over the country and knows an incredible amount of stuff, both the shooting part and the history.  The best thing is that he passes it on in a conversational tone that both entertains and inspires confidence in the students that they can learn it, too.  Even God is aware of Crak's fine work because it was obvious that, on Monday evening, God rewarded him by abundantly showering His choicest blessings on Crak's beloved New England Patriots in their romp over the New York Jets.  

Amen.

[Boreas]

Another great shoot, thanks to the crew who travelled from kind of far and real far to make it happen. A SeanO pointed out, my first time as an IIT. Almost as much of an education as being a shooter on the line. I was very happy to see my good friend Greg make Rifleman. The following morning saw a foot of snow on the ground, we got under the wire on this one!