AAR: New Smyrna Beach, FL

[ItsanSKS]

On Saturday morning, February 19th 2011, a bunch of Southern farmers, shopkeepers, electricians and mechanics mustered on the dew-soaked green of New Smyrna Beach. 

Intent on partaking in the Marksmanship heritage of our founding generation, eleven students gathered in the early morning light, cautiously optimistic- could *they* learn to shoot?  They had gathered at the urging of friends, family members and relatives.  They had come to experience what this whole "Appleseed" thing was all about, first hand.

As the Shoot Boss for this event, I can tell you that each student brought a teachable attitude, and a willingness to attempt the difficult tasks laid before them.  Discovering muscles never before utilized, each of our students worked through challenges both mental and physical. 

As the sun made its steady progress through the clear skies above, so too did our students make progress in mastering the fundamentals of Rifle Marksmanship.  From steady hold factors to Natural Point of Aim, each student showed great promise; shot group size seemed to shrink by leaps and bounds every time a new point of instruction was introduced. 

A few wry chuckles were heard as I introduced the concept of transitioning from standing to seated; even more incredulous looks were exchanged when it was discovered that they, too, were expected to perform this daunting task.  While these students were no spring chickens, they too, soon became proficient in the art of transitioning; aka "Rifleman's Calisthenics".  Each student performed admirably, especially in light of the challenges age and physical condition had wrought upon them.

While no-one scored rifleman at this particular event, the seed of marksmanship has been sown in fertile soil.  Three "Huzzah's" for the students!  Like your forefathers before you, you displayed a tremendous amount of grit, determination, and perseverance.  History hath shewn that men and women of your caliber can change the course of history in a single day; if we pool our strength, we can bring this country back to the ideals upon which it was founded in no time at all.  If you keep at it, practicing the positions, dry-firing at home, you, too, can achieve Rifleman status with your rifle.   

Thank you for all the hard work and effort you put in this weekend.  The smiles and hearty hand shakes of patriots like you make it all worth while. 

Brown Bess will be posting pictures soon, I'm sure.  If any of our students have any to share, you can send them to me via Email: RWVA@live.com and I'll get them posted up. 

Don't forget that 7th step!

-ItsanSKS

[BrownBess]

Hey Shooters, windy, foggy, beautiful,thanks to everyone for coming out and having a fun weekend........BrownBess

[BrownBess]

As Itsansks said, will be posting..so here we go again......................if you want big file sizes, email me and I can send a 28 megabyte image, suitable for framing as they say.....Best Wishes, Paul

[BrownBess]

Shooters, since I had line-boss duties on Sunday afternoon, I had to turn my trusty camera over to an unknown talent...Rambo Granny,
as a former advertising photographer with more than 30 years experience, I can never seem to get anyone to shoot photos as well I think they need to be, BOY WHAT A BIG SURPRISE,

All I can say is, that lady in one heck of a Shooter and one heck of a shooter [photo slang]

She shot the majority of the images you are seeing,  we need to give her a Big 3 Huzzahs.............

BrownBess

[9mm4545]

Thanks to everyone for coming out to soak in the Heritage and learn some fine marksmanship. Isaac Davis would be proud. It was a long couple of days but while I am tired and sore now, I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. This was my first event as a full fledged Red Hat and I feel it couldn't have been a better group of patriots to work with. The weather was glorious; not too hot and not too cold, although the wind on Sunday afternoon was a bit of a challenge in the standing stage. I got to see some rifles on the line that I had never before encountered so it was a learning experience for both the shooters and the instructors--as it always is! I can't wait to do it all over again.

[ptr91]

This was my first event, and honestly I wasn't sure what to expect. I ended up bring my wife (Saturday only) and my brother in law (both days) and all of us had a good time and learned tons. Since the event I have purchased a youth 10/22 for my wife to practice with, which seems to fit her much better than my full length model. We will definitely coming to another event, but with he weather getting hot here in Florida, it might not be until the fall.

In the meantime we will be practicing our technique at home and doing as much range work as we can fit in.

Thanks again to all the instructors for a great learning experience!

--Charles