Grants Pass, Oregon, June 4-5 AAR

[just.a.guy]

7 excellent shooters joined us for the September event in Grants Pass! Despite the forecast 100+ degree temperatures, and significant smoke from local forest fires, the students were excited to learn about rifle shooting. 2 returning shooters from June brought friends, and 2 wonderful young ladies from central California made the 7 hour drive to our range. They had the goal of finding cooler weather in Oregon, instead of visiting a range closer to home- Oh well!

We started with redcoats, and jumped right in to sling use, steady hold factors, and all 6 steps to firing a shot. Some students enjoyed the review, and were clearly hoping for a chance to become Riflemen. Some students were excited to learn how to prepare a magazine, operate the controls on their brand new rifles, and effectively fire in the direction of the target. Great fun was had by all!

Unfortunately, 2 shooters had to leave at lunch on Saturday, and missed out on the stories of the 3 strikes and the battles of Lexington and Concord. But, the remaining 5 persevered through the heat and smoke- great improvements in skill were made by everyone on the line. We chewed our way through more shooting positions, practiced reloading techniques, and hit the gas to shoot just a little bit faster. By the end of the day, everyone completed an AQT, and though no new Riflemen were discovered everyone promised to return for Sunday.

Day 2 was a review of the firehose from yesterday, as well as a deep dive into the finer points of marksmanship. New discoveries were made about trigger control, how to adjust scopes for proper eye relief, and how the sight picture on a Ruger 10/22 factory iron sight is supposed to look. With 4 instructors and 5 students, each of the shooters got exactly as much attention as they wanted. We took a break from the AQT grind in the afternoon for a quick lesson on long range shooting, ballistics, and a shallow deep dive on wind calls, range estimation, and unknown distance shooting. After filling the brains and emptying the bladders, we got back to the line and kept striving for that high score of 210. Despite many valiant attempts, we did not manage to hand out any new patches. However, I know several shooters were close, and given another chance (perhaps with weather conditions more suitable for humans) would certainly be able to achieve their goal!

On a personal note, this was also the first event I've participated in, that was staffed entirely by my own family. Working with my dad bobs, mom Rifles.n.Reeds, and my brother 700x32 made the whole weekend particularly delightful.

Thanks to all of the students who stuck it out through the weekend, thanks to the wonderful range for hosting us! We'll certainly be back again soon!