Tonopah, AZ after action report from a Tonopah Host

[Cycletrash]

From the perspective of a "host" at Tonopah:

With the help of two other "can do" brothers (much thanks to Wayne Conrad and AzGrommit), we scratched out a firing line in a patch of raw desert down in a wash, just in time...Like, the day before the shoot! Using ingenuity, brains and brawn, and teamwork a line was set up to accommodate 20 shooters. It wasn't pretty, it wasn't comfortable but it was done and it worked!

It seems everyone was able to find their way there Saturday morning and mostly on time. (One poor latecomer probably anchored the most learning because Tread kept choosing him as a "volunteer" to recite knowledge items when no other volunteers were forthcoming).

What was amazing was that a group of people who didn't know each other showed up, started intermingling, helped get things in order and set up without a lot of standing around or being directed. Things came together rapidly starting with a safety brief, going into history, and then shoot, shoot, shoot. And the same thing happened on Sunday for clean up. Everyone policed up their own gear, helped break down the site, and policed up the brass.

As Wayne stated in a post you took breaks on the run using the pristine facilities (slit trench and bucket). We did have an orange flag to indicate the privy was in use; you stuck it in the ground squirrel hole when you went in and laid it back on the ground when you came out.

Everyone appeared to keep hydrated. The weather was beautiful. Saturday started with high clouds and overcast which kept things relatively cool. The wind came up a little but nothing too horrendous as nothing got blown over or away. Sunday was clear so it was a bit hotter with some wind again but nothing major.

As everyone was leaving on Sunday, we had to perform one rescue mission. The desert out Tonopah way has a tendency to go to what I term as "moon dust".  You dig a hole to plant a tree and you don't have enough to fill it back in. It acts like corn starch, being light and fluffy, and acts like dry quick sand. After all the traffic on the desert floor and being dry and hot, there were places on the road that were rutted with moon dust. One of the participants, being conscientious about the property, though he should stay on the road and ended up almost to the rear axles and no forward movement. Everyone pitched in, one with an extremely nice long stretchy tow rope and another with a 4wd ¾ ton pickup and in short order the stuck truck was rescued. Everyone was told they could and should go around the ruts and there was no further excitement from stuck vehicles.

From a personal perspective, I finally learned how to shoot with a sling, started with an LTR on Saturday, went to my real rifle on Sunday, M1A, but the ejector broke off the bolt towards the end of the day, second to last string. I switched to my Daewoo (223) and finished up adjusting sites and "learning" that rifle using a sling. I learned much, albeit through the fire hose. I need to practice, practice, and practice so I can go from sharpshooter to where I should be, rifleman.

Without the help of the following people we wouldn't have had an Appleseed 19/20April2008:

Thanks go to Funfaler for clamping on and not letting go of my initial offer of "wanting to kinda sorta see about setting up an Appleseed in Tonopah".  He was tenacious, encouraging, cajoling, and pushed with the right about of persuasion and persistence. Redhawk44 did an initial site evaluation. His recommendations made gave me insight into what it was going to take to turn the site into a firing line. Had many offers of help for a couple of week-ends prior to 19April80 but I couldn't get away from work to do so. I managed to meet with AzGrommit on the Saturday before and we scoped out what we needed to do. We agreed that we thought it would only take a day to "fix-er" up. As stated previously, AzGrommit, Wayne Conrad and I were able to clear some brush and trees, install t-posts, attach 4x8 sheets of plywood, and there appeared a shooting range. Without their help I couldn't have done it alone. And finally thanks to the instructors who did an excellent job of teaching us our heritage through history, how to fire the shot, what to do to become Riflemen and what our responsibility is to our children and grandchildren so that they can enjoy the freedoms our ancestors died for in order to provide what many of us now take for granted. Thanks very much to TreadCarefully, the shoot boss and instructor trainees, AzGrommit and Redhawk44.  All three of them did an excellent job of sharing the history, teaching us how to shoot, and ensuring the safety of the firing line.

And finally to Fred, Thank-You!

We will do this again!

Cycletrash

[Wayne Conrad]

Well said, CycleTrash.

I stuck my report over here.  Shooting on the wrong target, so to speak.   .