Port Townsend, WA - AAR - 13-14 July 2024

[CaptainRebop]

Hot off the heels of their Independence Day celebrations, 12 patriots joined us at the Jefferson County Sportsmens Association - intent on bettering themselves, and thereby bettering all Americans.

It was one of those rare blue-sky weekends here in WA, and Saturday was HOT (at least for us).  Not quite hot enough for a CalienteSeed, but hot enough that we were all glad to have pop-up shelters and ice water.  Our shooters persisted through this heat all weekend, pausing only to learn about the history of April 19th, 1775.  Shooters and instructors alike listened as we made history come alive and made the case that marksmanship has always been an important skill for Americans.

We saw vast improvements in marksmanship this weekend.  Our first Hits Count target showed that half of our shooters were only able to place 3 hits in our 100-yard silhouette.  By the end of the weekend, most of our shooters were now scoring 3 hits at 200 yards and beyond.  This was one of the most attentive (and safe!) groups of shooters I have ever had the privilege to work with, and it showed in the scores on their AQTs.

I am very pleased to accounce we have 2 new Riflemen!  Congrats Chris and Matt B for earning Rifleman scores this weekend.  This was an effort of persistence - a key quality for every marksman and every American.  Even more exciting, one of our new Riflemen volunteered to take an Orange Hat!  Stay tuned to this thread for an introduction...

We had one returning Rifleman who was knocking at the door of a Distinguished patch all weekend.  Ryan scored above 230 on every AQT this weekend with his scoped, bolt-action rifle.  Ryan's high score was 239, just one point shy of our Distinguished qualification.  Despite this, he did walk away with one of our (rare!) Washington State patches for clearing every single Hits Count target of the weekend. 

I want to particularly thank Zephyr for his enthusiasm, attentiveness, and safe conduct - youth shooters of his caliber are few and far between.  I hope we'll see you again at another event.

To all of our shooters this weekend:  Thank you for making this such a successful event.  I know you all walked away with new insights about how to improve your marksmanship.  Dry fire is an excellent way to practice at home (ensure there is no ammo in the room with you!).  Remember that when you move to live fire practice at a range - listen to what your target is telling you!  Share what you learned about marksmanship and history with your friends and neighbors, and bring them with you when you join us at a future event.  Remember that Riflemen (and Americans) persist in achieving their goals.

A special thank you to Jefferson County Sportsmens Association for hosting us this weekend.  Shooters, if you're local to the Port Townsend area, please consider a membership with their facility.  They are one of our most supportive ranges in Washington, and without their members and range staff we couldn't have brought this event to you.  If you enjoyed our event this weekend, please let them know by sending an email to info@jeffersoncountysportsmen.org.

To BirdDog, Iborche, tionico, ultragtr, and WaterTaxi:  You were an awesome instructor team.  Don't take my word for it, just look at the impact we made this weekend!  Thank you for your efficiency, your excellent judgement, your expertise, and most importantly - your time. 

Pictures below.  Thanks to ultragtr for being our photographer!

CaptainRebop sets the stage for the First Strike of the Match:


ultragtr and WaterTaxi cover the steady hold factors for prone:


TPI (Total Participant Involvement) in action as IBorche reviews Talking Targets with shooters:


Our shooters in action:


Our Sunday morning safety briefing:


Ryan is awarded another Rifleman patch:


Chris earns Rifleman with a score of 220!:


Matt B earns a Rifleman patch with a score of 212!:


Bonus #1:  Shoot Boss loses his cool because he is so damn proud of the persistence of his fellow Americans


Bonus #2: One of our shooters does a Hits Count with 13 magazines of 1 round each!  Another shooter hand-fed each round!

[BirdDog]

What a great group of patriots!  Saw some awesome improvement and some rifleman patches earned!

[JustKim]

So finally, someone uses 13 magazines with one round.  We always give that as an option when someone asks, how to prep their magazines.