AAR - Pistol Clinic in Annapolis, MD October 15-16, 2022

[Catch-10-22]

A PERFECT weekend for shooting at Anne Arundel Fish and Game in Annapolis, MD saw a great group of shooters come out to learn pistol marksmanship and American History. It was a sold out shoot, twice expanded to accommodate friends and rescheduled folks, with a great mix of shooter experience. While mornings started a little cool, by mid day weather was sunny and in the 70s.

The first red coat of Saturday showed that folks came with some skill - not only did Matt G clean it on his first try, earning his Immortal 400 patch (again), but half the shooters got all 4 hits at 60-100 yards. We then started work on stance and grip, the 6 steps, trigger control, and several drills focused on making precise shots without time pressure through a mix of dry and live fire exercises. Everyone showed improvement and talked about breakthroughs in specific aspects of the instruction. At lunch time, Lycos presented the first strike and gave folks a much needed break. We then worked through smooth reloads, controlled pairs, rapid fire, and target transitions before kicking off our first two PQTs of the weekend.

Chris re-qualified twice and set a very high standard for the weekend with a 238! Chris scored Pistoleer™ on every single PQT but one due to some malfunctions, but was consistently in the 220s and 230s. HUZZAH!!! Jeff also finally broke through at his second Pistol Clinic to score a 217 - he would back that up with a 211 on day two. Congrats! We then posted the final Red Coat of the day and while some were close, there were no perfect targets. But never fear, dear readers, this was only the FIRST day of action.

Mark started his perfect Sunday by cleaning the Red Coat with the cold bore button challenge as well (hit it with your first shot and clean it). But that was only the beginning. This is Mark's 3rd pistol clinic and he has been frustratingly close at both events, topping out at 205 so many times he wanted to have hats made for "Mr. 205." Thanks goodness he didn't because he broke through on the first PQT of the day with a 219 - HUZZAH! With that monkey off his back, he requalified at lest 4 more times for the weekend, topping out at 226.

Rob made a LONG drive to find a Pistol Clinic to attend and has been waiting a LONG time (and had one cancelled on him) but he showed he knew what he was about. He was in the high 190s and low 200s on Saturday but struggled through equipment issues and slower reloads that would blow certain stages. But on the second to last PQT of the weekend he put it altogether and clocked a 219 to earn his Pistoleer™ patch.

While other folks did not qualify, everyone was putting together great groups at different times. Some can tantalizingly close - Matt G had a 203 and a 205 and there were a lot of 180s and 190s out there as well. We talked a lot about dry and live fire practice and I know folks are excited to try again and continue to improve. This course is tough but that is what makes earning Pistoleer™ so special!

The final Red Coat of the weekend was the strongest, with 3 folks cleaning the target - Lycos did it for the first time in his Appleseed career (rifle or pistol), Chris cleaned it with the button as his first hit, and Mark had a perfect target as well.

We had interspersed the Onion of Self Defense, Second and Third Strikes by Off_paper, Sam & Sam, and the holster demo throughout the day to break up the PQT grind so we wrapped up at a good time and with all of our participants helping with clean-up. After the benediction, we said farewell for now but hope to see everyone again at a future clinic. Thank you to MDShooter, Off_paper, Lycos, and Phoebe for all your work this weekend and dedication to the cause of liberty. We couldn't do it without you. And thank again to AAFG for being such a great host.

Pictures are available on Google Drive here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1nFXpF3Dg3smQET7tCILp-bnpWOwXljzQ