Citra FL, July 17 & 18, 2010

[RickB]

Guess what?  Florida summers are HOT!  OK, so that isn't news.  In spite of a heat index well over 100, 7 brave souls showed up for a weekend of heritage and marksmanship in Citra Florida.

ItsAnSKS and I each drove up on Friday afternoon to set up and to meet the property owner, William Wise.  This was to be the first Appleseed at this venue.
Will proved to be most gracious and helpful.  Not only did he donate the use of his property but he had already worked all day Thursday to make sure it was ready to go.  Douglas34474 also joined us to help set up.  ItsAnSKS brought a couple of 10'x20' canopies--a real life saver since the property didn't have a covered firing line.

Saturday morning dawned bright (very bright) and cool--I'll bet it didn't hit 80 degrees un till 8 AM!  The heat didn't seem to bother the roaming buffalo; they grazed quietly until too many cars arrived--then high-tailed it to parts unknown.

The shooters began arriving a little after 8:00.  The youngest was 7-year-old JoJo; several shooters were old enough to have stopped admitting their ages.  We started the day in the usual fashion--introductions, safety, line commands, and "The First Strike" to get the shooters "warmed up."  Then the Redcoat targets showed us what we already knew: more than half the shooters were complete novices.  That's what we like, so we got down to work.
Improvement was steady: squares, instruction, and more squares.  The shooters were all real troopers.  The firing line faced East and there was no relief from the blazing sun but they all persevered.  As always at a Florida summertime Appleseed, the most commonly heard "line command" was, "If you're not loading magazines you should be drinking water!"  Everyone was drenched with sweat.  Though there was there was no water on the property were well supplied with drinks.  Between them, the instructors and shooters had brought more than enough.

Lunch was a welcome break and ItsAnSKS treated us to a spirited rendition of "The Second Strike."
After lunch we had fun with transitions and magazine changes.  Equipment and vision problems plagued several shooters. It isn't easy to see when your face resembles a waterfall!  Fortunately the sun had now moved far enough that we were all in the shade.  We took a nice long "Third Strike" break before heading into a couple of the beloved AQTs.
No riflemen were revealed but everyone deserved congratulations for the improvements they made.

Sunday morning dawned bright (very bright) and...wait, I already said that!  Three of our shooters were Saturday-only and two others didn't return.  We only had two on the line.  They got lots of individual attention.
Bill had been obviously suffering from the heat on Saturday but he returned on Sunday.  In spite of his obvious discomfort he stuck it out all day, working hard to master all of the details of proper marksmanship.  He didn't turn in a rifleman's score but proved that he is a man with grit.  He has the heart of a rifleman and patriot.  I expect to see him again and see him awarded his rifleman patch. 
Sunday morning included review, more practice, and an AQT.  We took many hydration breaks and enjoyed "Dangerous Old Men and Brave Women" at lunch.  After lunch we did the Ball and Dummy drill.  Douglas brought out his Garand and entertained us with the sounds of WW2.  During the afternoon we introduced target detection, ranging, wind corrections, and Battle Sight Zero.  Of course we shot more AQTs!

Our other shooter was starting to doubt that he would ever be able to achieve a rifleman score when it all suddenly "clicked" for him.  A score of 220!  "Right, let's see if I can really do it again.  Just luck," he grumbled.  Next one, a 230.  Then another 220!  After that he was convinced.  It wasn't just luck.  Congratulations Martin!

Another successful Appleseed has come and gone.  I'd like to thank ItsAnSKS, Douglas34474, 9mm4545, and (on Saturday), BrownBess for making it easy on the shoot boss. 

A huge thank you and congratulations to the wonderful shooters we had on the line: Cecilia and Alex, Melissa and her sons JoJo and Dakota, Bill and Martin.  You all made it worthwhile.

A special thanks to Will for his generosity.  We were all excited about doing more shoots in Citra this year--in November and December when the weather cools down a little!

RickB

[ItsanSKS]

I'd like to second the comments made by RickB.  ALL of our shooters this past weekend proved that they were made of tough stuff, as the summer heat never relented, even for a moment. 

Cecelia was forced to leave early Saturday afternoon, so that she might take care of her ailing mother, a Holocaust survivor.  Cecelia, and her son Alex, know very well the price paid for the freedoms that so many take for granted, and it was wonderful to have them both on the line.  Cecelia showed dramatic improvement, going from 'minute of target backer' to well-defined groups in just a few short hours- a true credit to her willingness to learn. 

Melissa, JoJo, and Dakota all arrived bright eyed and bushy tailed, yet were not sure what to expect; they had heard of the event from our host, and were 'ordered' to attend.  All three were quite thrilled with the class, and expressed a strong desire to return Sunday, though they weren't sure if schedules would permit.  They were sorely missed on Sunday, as the enthusiasm that JoJo and Dakota brought with them was quite infectious.  I expect that this will not be the last we see of these fine Americans, and I'll bet my Red Hat that Dakota will be the first Rifleman in the family, though his mother will surely give him a run for his money.

Struggling through every conceivable equipment malfunction known to man, Bill persevered through to grueling days of intense training, and was becoming quite adept at running his box-stock ruger 10/22.  From sticky magazines, difficult to use iron sights, Bill faced the whole gamut of failures throughout the weekend, yet took it all in stride.  Dutifully ignoring the scope on his rifle, Bill buckled down and determined that if he was going to make rifleman, it would be with iron sights, on HIS rifle.  Though he didn't 'make the grade', his persistence and dedication surely marked him as a man to be reckoned with.  Once he gets some of those equipment issues squared away, I'm sure his scores will improve dramatically. 

Last but not least, we have Martin.  Martin volunteered to become an Instructor at his very first event, back in October; health issues and scheduling conflicts kept him from attending his second Appleseed until now, but he was DETERMINED to shoot a Riflemans score, come hell or high water.  After spending Saturday struggling with the short sight radius and iron sights on his rifle, Martin acquiesced to the whims of his instructors, and tried a scoped 10/22 loaner for Sunday's class.  Instantly, his groups tightened, and he began beating down the door.  After a number of attempts were made, the disappointment could be seen written on his face.  After some words of encouragement, a reminder of the round counts for stage 4, and a good long break, he finally did it, and in high order!  A 220 is a most respectable rifleman score, indeed!  Welcome to the ranks of IIT, Martin, and I look forward to working the line with you very soon.  Keep track of the upcoming events, and start 'dry firing' the line commands and points of instruction at home.  We'll very shortly need all hands on deck, as this Fall/Winter season looks to be heating up here in FL!

I would like to remind everyone that attended this event that though shooting is fun, and learning how to do so better is a worthy goal, what this country needs are Americans well versed in the history and traditions of our founding generation.  If we are ever to return to the ideals that they fought and died for, it will be through one-on-one 7th stepping.  Get the word out- you now know about men such as Isaac Davis, John Parker, Samuel Whittemore, David Lamson and others; your friends, coworkers, family and neighbors do too!  Get them to an Appleseed; not for the shooting, but for the awakening to what it means to be an American- all the debt, the duty, and the responsibility that comes with living in the freest country on Earth.

I shall be back later with pictures, and I hope that in the interim, some of our fine attendees from this weekend will sally forth and share their experiences. 

In Liberty,

Eric "ItsanSKS"

[BrownBess]

Well, I can tell ya this, between the noseeums and the deer flies, I look like I was out in a hail storm with nothing on....more red welts than I can count......Everyone attending put up with some real hot and humid weather, but not one complaint was ever muttered.......There was an interesting echo coming off the truck tire barricade when a string of fire was happening.......looking forward to another day at this beautiful range.....

BrownBess

[marrandy]

Many thanks to Eric (itsansks), RickB, Bruce, Doug & Paul for all their hard work and dedication to both the project and the instruction.

I actually got a 220, 230, 230 see attached screengrabs.

But I hope to get some more with my .22LR scoped, then 5.56 scoped, and finally, getting off the glass and getting rifleman with iron sights.

Thanks again to everyone and look forward to meeting you again at the August 7/8th IBC and September Manatee/Myakka shoots.

Regards and best wishes...Martin