Jonesboro, AR AAR - Nov 2-3 2024

[Guns&Hoses]

What a great weekend!! We had 10 shooters on the line at the Jonesboro Shooting Sports Complex, which may be the biggest Appleseed event at this range yet! Almost half of the shooters were under 18, which is always encouraging..I love to see young people wanting to learn about our heritage, and I love even more seeing parents who know how important it is that they do. Speaking of parents, the support that was evident from the families of these young people was just amazing. Some even came to shoot alongside their kids, and some realized their kids might be better shots than they were! The Arkansas Instructor Cadre came through as always. With Captain, Bright1, SwiftonGal, Papasi, Jayhawker, and Guns & Hoses available, the student to instructor ratio was very comfortable, and they were up and down on the mats with the shooters all day long. Papasi, SwiftonGal, and Jayhawker delivered the Three Strikes of the Match to help reignite that love of Liberty in everyone, and we found time for some additional history as well, with SwiftonGal telling one of her favorite stories of Elizabeth Zane, and Bright1 giving an inspiring history of Paul Revere. I think several people weren't aware just how interesting of a man he was, outside of that midnight ride. Speaking of interesting men, we got Captain to tell us the story of Dr Joseph Warren, including the tale of his amazingly courageous Boston Massacre oration. As for the marksmanship, (the OTHER "Most Important Thing") we started out Saturday morning with the Hits Count target after introducing the 4 Safety Rules, how to make a Safe Rifle, ammunition malfunctions, and the line commands shooters would be hearing, and right out of the gate had one shooter clear the target, and 4 shooters make hits on the shingle! We moved into the course of fire, working on positions, sling use, NPOA, and the 6 steps of Firing the Shot, among all the other Most Important Things. By the end of Saturday, we had shot one AQT, with one requalification score and 40% of line line shooting triple digit scores. At the end of the day Hits Count target, THREE shooters cleared the target and 4 shingle shots were made! Guns & Hoses delivered the call to action along with a recommendation to maybe take some ibuprofen for the next morning. Sunday morning came with the usual stiffness from stretching unfamiliar muscles, but not a complaint was heard from the 7 students who returned. After reviewing the things we learned from the day before, another Hits Count target was posted, and 3 shingles were hit, but nobody cleared it this time. We continued instruction with a ball and dummy drill as well as carding the sights, which is always an eye opener. Scores on the AQT continued to improve, even with an unusually strong wind, with everyone breaking into triple digits, Kevin "knocking on the door" of a Rifleman patch with a 204, and Randy knocking it out of the park with a 222! We posted the final Hits Count target as weather was starting to move in, and had to score them inside as the sky opened up just as we finished shooting. One target was cleared, and two shingles were hit this time, but the AQT scores were what really made the day. As always, we were grateful to the City of Jonesboro and the staff of the Jonesboro Shooting Sports Complex for their support of Project Appleseed, their wonderful facility, and their gracious decision to continue to waive range fees for Project Appleseed.