Flash Report! Grandfield, OK! Wind and Chiggers!

[Fred]

     Plenty of wind, and few chiggers (too early for 'em, the locals said), and ten Appleseeders showed up from two locations, it seemed - DFW or Tulsa area - to immerse themselves in the AS pool of marksmanship and heritage.

     The usual results with the redcoat targets - everyone was at the right place, if the goal was to learn to shoot!

      We rode 'em pretty hard for nearly ten hours, including the two guys who showed up with Mosin-Nagant M1944 carbines, kicking like mules (the short barreled rifles, not the guys). In their honor, we had a second Ball and Dummy drill late in the PM, just before we shot the AQT.

     Didn't make any riflemen on Sat, but did push some people in the right direction, and on the final redcoats of the day, had a heart-breaking majority of them just barely miss qualifying at "300" - generally, small, tight groups, and one just barely off the target.

     Laid The Burden on them before they left: Go forth, and spread the word. Get more people to come with them to the next Appleseed...

[funfaler]

I sure hope you get those folks whipped in to shape enough to really give the steel a good ringing on that range!

I would love for all those shooters to go back to their homes and tell their buddies of that sweet sound to a rifleman's ear...steel plates meeting their fate at the whim of a master!

Nothing gets the red blood a flowing than hearing a steel plate calling back to you, as your lead meets with it, "Ouch!"

[Fred]

     Sunday dawned a repeat of Sat - cold in the AM, esp as the wind had picked up to a fairly steady 20-24 mph, with gusts up to 30-34 and like Sat, coming straight across the line from 3 o'clock.

     We started at 8:30 AM, slightly recovered from the events of the night before, which might go down in RWVA annals as "The Night of Fisticuffs at the Prairie Rose" - the latter being the only real eating spot in Grandfield.

    Your instructor crew was at the Official RWVA Instructor table, about to enjoy an expensive repast (there apparantly being no cheap repasts available in Grandfield ) when chairs were suddenly knocked over, cokes went flying, and there was a surging mob of individuals in motion. A fight! Oh boy! You don't get this at every Appleseed Tour Stop!

     The place was jammed with high schoolers - must've been 'school night' or something, as there were teachers and a possible principal there, also.

      Some of the 21st-century generation decided to let some of its positive self-esteem out in what turned out - for them - and luckily, as the RWVA instructors were somewhat ill-tempered at the thought of their food being delayed, and were ready to impose some 20th-century values on the barbarians - to be a brief skimish. Never found out whether it was over a girl, a slur, or body jewelry (yep, the motely bunch of students in Grandfield looks just like any motely bunch of students anywhere in this country - makes your chest swell with pride, for sure - and gives you a pang that your taxes aren't even higher, so that more money could be used to produce even better garbage [oops, sorry - didn't mean to express an opinion]). After the excitement was over, as the principal (?) waded in and took one of the perps out for a talking to, the waitresses came out and righted upturned chairs, mopped up spilled drinks, and generally restored order - and brought out the instructors' suppers, so all was right again in the world.

     Back on the firing line the next day, it became evident that a gusty 3 o'clock wind was not a kind environment for making rifleman, but we made one anyway, and had a couple more knocking on the door, including a guy with a 1941 Tokarev semi-auto. (In fact, he's a new member here - dmwmg08.)

    We were down to six Appleseeders, as four of the ten on the first day were "one-dayers", so we had to work extra-hard if we were gonna get any riflemen - it's easy to make riflemen when you have fifty on the line!

    We should have known to expect wind when we saw the portajon with wire cables anchoring it to the ground!

     The wind effect was little on the bullet - 25 meters doesn't give the wind much time to move the bullet - but heck on the shooters, as muzzles were pushed downwind, as well as the shooters themselves, as they swayed in the gusts. Even in prone, a sudden gust would move your muzzle.

     At lunch we lost three more, so we were down to 3 shooters (and five instructors!) and lost another just before the last two went up to the long-range portion. Here the range faced downwind so that, even if the wind seemed to picking up strength, it had little impact on the shooters.

     We zeroed at 300 (first shots for the Appleseeders at any distance other than 25!), then fired Stage 3 rapid-fire, followed by a Stage 1 Standing, and a Stage 2 RF Sitting - having to hunt for dry spots - or maybe "dryer" spots, as a recent spate of heavy rain was reflected in numerous puddles in every direction, particularly on the long range (which went out, I think, to 1000 yards).

    As like all Appleseeds, it was a good one, despite the disappointing turnout - not a single walk-on. The location is in rural OK, but only three hours from DFW and four from Tulsa, if anyone other than the ten pre-regs had been interested enough to come....

    Badlands Tactical provided dorm space for instructors and students alike. If we can get the word out that you can avoid motel expense (there was camping, also) at this location, maybe the next one (yep, we were invited back) will be better attended.

    One thing I can tell you. Grandview, OK, after hours is about as quiet and peaceful a place as you will find - provided you stay out of the Prairie Rose on school night!

[socalserf]

Oh boy!
Fred in a Cage Match! I always bet on experiance and trearchry.
3-1 odds on Fred and crew versus whippersnapper posse.

Seriously, Nice work in OK. Attendance will grow with word of mouth.

[Bravo]

Fred, I feel that some of this is my fault...... should have told you before.

The Rose is OK, but the real 'trick' is getting a strombole from the General Store. The recipie isn't like any other strombole recipie I've seen, but it's good! Good, and the size of a medium pizza folded in thirds  Their sandwiches are tops too - hot, good, and cheap. About the 2nd or 3rd strombole I brought back, one of the cadre noted "you like them things, don'tcha" - yeah.

But as far as 'social problems' that county is a bunch better off than many out there, as far as the world goes. The guy who loaned the range set up a massive (well, the biggest in the history of the county) dope bust not long ago. Multiple sites, bunches of warrants, all coordinated perfectly and pulled off simultaneously. Everyone went home that night without extra holes. Maybe it just takes a bit to filter down to the kids  That's a real "law and order" county.

Glad you got out on the steel too! That clay is some interesting stuff - you stick with clay when it's dry, the clay will stick with you when it's wet! I know several guys - me included - that haven't gotten it completely off our gear yet LOL! But yeah, the KD range with the iron maidens is 1000 yards.

I was hoping to have you another one there, his heart was in it for sure. Wouldn't have been his first dance on that range, but when I "administered the Appleseed info", he was good-to-go. His boss wasn't so energetic about letting him off for the weekend it turns out....... 

[Flyboy]

Bratch fires the last round from his new M1:




Oh, and congratulate him--he made Rifleman this weekend!

[Dad]

   You know I wouldn't think of disagreeing with Fred, but the weather was only breezy- 20's to 30's, temperature 60's, - and the students did a great job of coping with it. A Rifleman Persists! And to Bratch for shooting a Rifleman score, then breaking out his new CMP Garand. 

  And many thanks to our host who made us feel welcome and invited us back. I'm looking forward to another AS in Oklahoma.   

[wcmartin1]

Bratch,

Congratulations, Rifleman!

[KodyJaret]

As has been pointed out,,,this facility is only a few hours from at least a couple major population areas,,,it offers extensive range facilities and free camping/accomodations and it drew a total of ten partcipants (?)

I don't think full page ads in the Sunday paper and  swimsuit models (qualified as instructors ofcourse) in bikinis as range officers will motivate the average gun owner.

Heck,,,I'd like to just see a one thousand yard range !

[K98Al]

This was mine and my son's first Appleseed, he went from putting shotgun blast patterns on Sat. to shooting a 110 on Sun. We are headed out today with some one inch squares and the .22. He seems to have caught on, and we are going to work on this until we both make "Rifleman", although I may have to leave the K98 at home.....This was a great shoot, and I am encouraging everyone I talk to to come to the next one!

[funfaler]

Hey K98,

While it is not unusual, sadly , that the first shoot at a new location has poor turn out (not always the case, Myakka City, FL had over 40!), we expect those that attended to get the word out for the next one! 

There is no reason that this location can not draw nearly 100 shooters, they have the room, the folks that own the range are willing and it is rather cheap!

Chiggers aside, this location offers some purdy fine shootin, and it is made for Appleseeding! 

So do stir up some interest.  We will be coming back, perhaps later in 2008, and we really need the Boots on the Ground to help in local promotions!

I hope you teamed up with a couple of fellow shooters to work as a team, in the promotions of the Appleseed Project as well as this location in the future.

The future of Appleseed depends upon good folks like yourself stepping up and doing what it takes to get others to the range! 

Look forward to seeing you and your son on the trail soon!

[TapRackBang]

Well at least now I know why I am itching. I didn't realize that
chiggers were that bad up in OK.

I am one of the guys who brought a Mosin Nagant to the shoot.
It was my first Appleseed shoot and I am definitely going to another one
this summer. I was so stoked that I took my pastor out to a range and had
him fire my Mini 14 and M44.
He wants to attend an Appleseed real soon. Hopefully I will be bringing
a whole group of guys to Davila.
Good job Bryce on your qual! And that's a nice photo shot of your M1.

"Plan on qualifying as Rifleman and maybe becoming an instructor."

[dwmmg08]

This was my first Appleseed, and I really enjoyed it. I was the guy shooting the SVT40. I had a great time, and cleaned the rust off my skills, I did come up 50 points on Sun. This is a good spot, and the sheriff's range is great! It was great to get to meet all of the participants. I would say part of the reason for the turnout is that related to promotion; I'm interested, and I almost missed that it was happening at all. I have not heard one single person talking about it this week, save the sheriff when I saw him Monday, and I don't think anyone knew it was happening, really. For the next time, I'll see if we can help fix that. 

I did manage to get some good photos, thanks to Fred, and the Instructors there!

IF you missed it, you missed a good time. Try next time!

[voortrekker]

Thanks for the AAR!

Those pics are great.





Congratulations Bratch!

Welcome to the other side.


It's a heck of alot harder to shoot "Rifleman" when the .30 cal is bucking.

Wear that revered patch with pride!   


Brett out.

[davecampperry]

I was born and raised in OK, but shot on the TXARNG team for several years. The first time I got on the line, Don Tryce told me to put on a "good, no-wind zero". I asked, "What the h*ll is that?" Cheers, dave

[Bravo]

3 more days and then wheels-up. Gonna enjoy all the fun Grandfield has to offer for yet another week.

The down side is paying UPS to send out the 2000+ rounds of ammo 

[Will]

Bobby and Zee are good people. Have taken a class there-now too long ago! Wonderful facilities and you'll not find better folks anywhere. Glad they are part of the program.

[brennan]

Is there an Appleseed at Granfield this weekend?

[Bravo]

No, but there is a course being run. It started out as a basic SWAT course, but got changed to be more of a "custom instruction block" based on the fact that none of the people attending will be LE 

Sent out the ammo today, and yeah, that hurt. Packed up the Pelican case this evening - I got a feeling that's going to hurt just as much. Almost cost as much to send ammo out there, and a round-trip ticket for the weapons locker, as it will for my flight 

[colycat]

Flyboy,

Pictures do not get any better than the one of Batch, last round.  Good Job.  And concrates to Batch.

Coly

[oldgrunt]

Well here we go for round two of BADLANDS!!!!!!!!!!!!

THATS RIGHT APRIL 19 2009 ITS ALL OURS SO WHO'S UP FOR SOME GOOD OKLAHOMA TRAINING?

I GUESS I GET TO SEE HOW TO MAKE FLYERS NOW ...LOL CAN I USE MY CARYONS AND BIG MARKERS TOO

LOOK FOR A UPDATE ON THIS REAL SOON......