Muenster TX December 13th Trail Life 25m Event

[ScottInTX]

You never quite know what the weather is going to be like in North Texas in December, and Saturday was no different.  It started off at the freezing mark but warmed up to be a pretty nice day to spend on the range.

We had a pretty full line of Trailmen and a few dads had the opportunity to take part in the event.  The day commenced with LittleMissE teaching safety rules, safe rifle, and ammo malfunctions.  The first shots of the day were fired at the Hits Count target, results were tallied, and the instruction began.

A new concept was introduced to the class, that being Eye Dominance.  The class performed an exercise, and a new record was set, 3 of the shooters on the line learned that they were cross eye dominant.  I have to give recognition to these shooters, who in addition to learning new material, also were trying to implement these new concepts with their non dominant hands.  These students did well with the coaching from the instructor core.

As in the case with 1 day events, there was a lot of material to cover, and not as much time as we would like to cover it.  The class was the instructed on the 6 steps to firing a shot, NPOA, and Steady Hold factors.  Some exercises ensued, and then the class moved on to some live fire.  All in all, some very nice groups were achieved, especially considering that there were a number of first time shooters on the line.

Over lunch, the class heard the First and Second strikes, and got to enjoy some cake (thanks AF5US!) to celebrate a special occasion.  Steck and AF5US hit the 100 event milestone at this event!  Is this a first for Appleseed?

After lunch the instruction and practice continued.  AF5US taught the class about what the targets tell us, and then about Inches-Minutes-Clicks.  Sights were adjusted, squares were shot to verify, and the class proceeded forward.  The first transition phase was taught, along with magazine changes, and the class practiced that.

While the class took a water break, Steck delivered a lively Third strike.  The class came back and rolled right into shooting for points.  Stage 3 was fired, and the class learned about the seated positions, they were practiced, and then Stage 2 was fired.  Standing position and Hasty sling usage was the next point of instruction.  The class then practiced that, and we rolled into firing Stage 1.  The class then fired Stage 4 of the AQT.

Scores were tallied and the class had produced some solid scores.  Quite a few of the students had produced very solid standing and seated scores, which impressed the instructors as the class really didn't have the opportunity to live practice these stages.  In my opinion, had there been a second day to the class, there would have been some rifleman scores fired.

I'd like to recognize Clayton for firing the best score of the day, I certainly hope he will return for another event.

The Hits Count target was posted and shot, the class demonstrated marked improvement from the beginning of the day.

Thank you to the Trail Life dads who had their students to the class bright and early, allowing us to get everyone signed in and the line set up before our early start time.  Thank you to all the instructors who were also there for our earlier than normal start time.