AAR Afton, OK Oct 23-24

[Scarecrow]

I'm not seeing an AAR for this one yet so I'll start it.
Another great event for Oklahoma.
I should have a chance to post comments and pics tomorrow.
Anyone that was there may begin posting.

[dittos]

As one of the students, I first must commend the instructors... Top Quality, Unequaled Instruction, Friendly, Humorous when appropriate, Serious when warranted, And 100% Professional the entire time.

Students and content never makes a class great, the Instructors do and this one was GREAT.

The weather? Not so great on Day One. Wet, wind, and more wet! But Riflemen keep on shooting... and so do wanna-be Riflemen so that's what we did.

On the line were 2 ladies and the rest men, a blend of current military, former military, and nobodys like me who just want to stop being a cook. (If you've ever tasted my cooking, YOU would want me to stop being a cook too!)

I loved that one of the ladies was a girl who looked to be about 14 or so with her brother. Both home-educated so you know that they are smart and happy and future leaders of our country we can depend on. Both were eager to learn of course. But most all on the line seemed to be.

I came away thinking this: If I am ever in a situation of trouble, if any of the instructors or students I got to know were ever with me, I would move forward with confidence and without concern. These are RWVA people, American warriors, who one can trust to do the right thing.

Offered Sincerely,

Greg Perry

[Scarecrow]

Thanks Greg.
You were and are an inspiration to all of us with your great attitude and perseverance.
When you come back I know you will get those last 4 points for your Rifleman patch.

Nine great shooters - Three made 210 or better for their Rifleman patch.
One shot an exact 210 but backed it up with a higher score so was spared the dreaded dousing.
Others were knocking on the door.
All showed tremendous improvement.

[dittos]

Will, is Dale on this forum or does he have an email address?

[henschman]

Sorry I didn't get an AAR posted... I have been working late every night this week, and getting on the damn computer is the last thing I want to do for the hour or 2 I have for myself before I have to go to bed, lol.  I am actually in the office right now.  Good times. 

Thanks for the kind words, Greg.  I would let you get my back anytime, too.  It was good to have you on the line.  Sorry about all the difficulties you had with "crossfire"... it is never fun to have your score ruined that way.  I'd put money on you walking away with a patch next time.  Just remember that trigger control... especially FOLLOW THROUGH!  And BTW, dale's screen name on here is "dalesp."  And have fun with Mr. Puzikas!

Now for the AAR...

The event started cloudy, cool, and windy, with threatening skies.  Rain was in the forecast.  Having learned our lesson from Grandfield last April, all the instructors were decked out in rain gear.  I bought a full rubber rain suit and some rain boots the day before.  We had 10 shooters on the line (11 if you count Eppie, our IIT who always likes to shoot the first Redcoat).  We got the redcoat done, and I gave an intro to the history.  We then started in with the instruction.  The students took to it admirably, whether they were first-time ASers or "repeat offenders."  We got through IMC, and started practicing mag swaps and position transitions.  Somewhere in the middle of that, the rain started.  The wind had really picked up by this point, too.  We kept on driving until lunch time.  I let shooters stow their rifles through lunch if the wished, to keep them dry.  Fortunately, our great host, Mike Nelson, has a full service gun shop complete with a classroom that he teaches concealed carry classes in right next to the range.  We ate lunch and told history in his classroom.  Mike's wife had cooked up a pot of chili plus some hot dogs and buns, which she sold for a very nice price... I think it was 2 bucks for a dog with fixins, and 2 bucks for a bowl of chili.  Anyhow, I ended up with a chili dog and a bowl of chili for 4 bucks.  After grub time, Dale told the story of the "1st strike of the match."  The whole time we were eating lunch, the rain poured outside, and it poured on us the whole rest of the afternoon.  The shooters didn't let it phase them, and kept right on persisting.  We took another break later in the afternoon for my rendition of the second strike.  We ended up shooting 2 AQTs Saturday afternoon.  We shot a Redcoat, had a little talk about LIBERTY, and broke for the evening a little after 5 o'clock. 

On Sunday, all but one of the shooters returned.  We were missing floydf, one of our IITs, as well... one of the shooters who knew him informed me that his first grandbaby was just born early that morning.  Congratulations floyd!  So I never heard... is it a boy or a girl?  Weather was much better on Sunday... MUCH better.  The day started cool and windy, with everyone wearing jackets, and got warmer throughout the morning until it reached a high around 80.  Perfect!  There was no rain, though there was a little mud left from yesterday.  Well, we started right in with the good old AQT grind, and after Saturday's watering, we started producing a healthy crop of Riflemen!  Our first Rifleman was a gentleman who hit it right on the nose with a 210.  He was a fellow with a strong shooting background but no systematic training, and he soaked our instruction up just like I told him he would.  Not at all a surprise that he was our first Rifleman.  As Scarecrow said, he backed his score up with multiple other Rifleman scores on later AQTs, all olf which were a higher score, so did not get doused.  I figured he had enough dousing the day before, anyway.  Our first Rifleman was quickly followed by a gentleman who had been struggling the day before with a tube-feed rifle with non-ideal sights.  He traded it out for his AR-15 on Sunday, and was a Rifleman before he knew it.  We always say that it is all about software rather than hardware, but boy, it sure does help to have some halfway decent hardware to plug that Rifleman programming into.  Our next Rifleman came in short order, shooting a scoped Marlin 795 that was borrowed from IIT dalesp.  After he got his patch, he went back to plugging away with his Tech-sighted SKS, but was plagued with mag-related feeding issues and didn't end up shooting Expert with that rifle. 

Dale regaled us with the 3rd strike over lunch, and I told some stories about some "dangerous old men and women" over an afternoon break.  We shot another Redcoat and turned them loose.  We made 3 Riflemen out of 9 shooters... which happens to be the highest Rifleman to Cook ratio I have ever experienced on the trail.  To put things in perspective, this is actually higher than the Rifleman ratio when we taught the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division up at Fort Drum in New York.  This was definitely a skilled and persistent bunch.  For everyone who shot Rifleman, there was another shooter who was very close.  We had 3 people shooting over 200.  One of them was a repeat Appleseeder named Garrett who lives in the "gun free zone" of the University of Tulsa, so was shooting with Dale's tech sighted Marlin 795.  He had some FTE difficulty on Sunday, or he probably would have got it.  One other near-Rifleman was Ms. Lawless, the little sister of our SKS-wielding Rifleman.  She would probably have gotten there if she didn't keep mis-counting her rounds!  Another gentleman who was SO close was Greg (screen name "dittos").  He kept getting cross-fire on his target, which is all that kept him from his patch.  Greg was born with not quite as optimal of a set of booger-hooks as most of us, and he only has one leg as well.  However, I would never use the word "disabled" to describe him, because he handled his rifle as "ably" as just about anybody I've seen, and a whole lot better than most who don't have any excuses.  He never made any by the way.  Definitely the type of stuff Riflemen are made of.

By the way, if you are in the Tulsa/NE Oklahoma area, you need to go check out Mike's shop and range.  It is called Excalibur Sporting Goods, and he's got some deals out there.  His range is definitely one of them... pay $10 and you can shoot all day.  That's rifle, pistol, or shotgun.  If you're into clay pigeon shooting, he's got an awesome wobble trap setup out there.  That's a clay pidgeon launcher all set up with servos and a joystick, and it can shoot those things in every which direction however fast you want.  Its a lot of fun... you should go out and try it.  A 400 yard rifle range is in the works, and will hopefully be up and running in time for our next Appleseed at that location, so we can shoot the full distance AQT.  Thanks for everything, Mike!

Oh, and if anybody needs a good Liberty Training Rifle, set up all Rifleman-style, Mike has two of them; a Marlin 795 and a Ruger 10/22.  Both with Tech Sights, sling swivels, and a GI web sling.  The price is about what you'd have to pay yourself to set them up that way, so if you've been thinking about an LTR, save yourself the trouble and get them from him.  Mike goes by "Excalibur1" on this forum, so hit him up if interested.

See you all in Grandfield!
 

[dalesp]

Here's the redcoat scores.


23-24 -OCT-2010

Red Coats
9 Shooters   Sat AM   Sat PM
100              4              5
200              5              6
300             1              3
400             1              1
HS             2              2
8 shooters   Sun AM   Sun PM
100              6              5
200              4              6
300              2              3
400              2              1
HS              1              2