AAR: Dalton, NH, June 23-24, 2011

[Firewall99]

Range:  The Dalton Gang, hosted by Don and Nan Mooney, who are the only ones in the state who do not charge a range fee to Appleseed shooters.  Thank you both.

Weather: Cool & cloudy with intermittent rain.  Very comfortable.

Shooters:  10, mostly Freestaters, the shoot being held during the annual Porcupine Freedom Festival (Porcfest) in nearby Lancaster, NH.  Even with events going on at 5 PM back at the campground, these shooters stayed right up until dusk.  A remarkable group.

Riflemen:  2, both from the same family, ex-Marine John and his son, Turner.  (Henry, the younger son, came mighty close.)  This family of three drove all the way from Florida!

We had another remarkable shooter, Melinda, who most certainly would have made Rifleman but for her sister's wedding that she had to leave early for on Sunday.  Melinda cleaned the redcoat both mornings, claiming that she had shot a rifle only once before. 

She was consistently in the black during the squares target, which we use to teach the fundamentals.  Then a strange thing happened on the way to Rifleman--that being the AQT.  Melinda kept running out of time.

The AQT is a wonderful test.  Not only does one need to be a good shot, one needs to multitask at least 20 tasks: Steady Hold Factors, the Six Steps to Firing the Shot, Natural Point of Aim, and firing at multiple targets in the Rifleman's Cadence.  All in a limited amount of time while executing swift and flawless mag changes.  Sometimes it's not enough to be a competitive or "natural" shooter to be a Rifleman.

This is why we put so many rounds downrange each day.  One needs a lot of repetitions before all the pieces fall into place, and muscle memory takes over.

Melinda will be back, I'll bet.

Dangerous Old Woman did a marvelous job instructing and telling the history, especially creating the vision of the array of battle for the North Bridge.  She gets the audience to close their eyes and imagine the scene as Issac Davis and his Acton Militia march down the hill toward the bridge in perfect military discipline to fife and drum, shocking the Regulars.  Then she pulls out her penny whistle and plays the White Cockade, then explaining the meaning of the song that was not lost on the King's Foot.  She doesn't do many shoots, but when she does, it's a gem.

[FLJohn]

Thank you Firewall and Dangerous Old Woman for hosting an amazing shoot.  And, thanks to Laird for his generosity, lending Henry a rifle.  We had our share of equipment challenges and the whole group of shooters and instructors were very kind and generous.  We could not have gotten through the course without everyone's help.

We especially enjoyed the fine New Hampshire weather ; it was probably a nicer shooting environment that we would have endured at home this time of year!  http://appleseedinfo.org/smf/index.php?topic=23632.0

We are looking forward to getting Henry "on the board" at an upcoming Appleseed shoot in Florida, and then his sister, then mom...

And, I am taking the call to action to heart and will be getting more involved politically in the upcoming election cycle. I signed up to help with Veterans for Ron Paul 2012.