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AAR: Castro Valley, CA - August 20-21/2011

Started by Camljr, August 22, 2011, 10:41:29 AM

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Camljr

August 22, 2011, 10:41:29 AM Last Edit: August 23, 2011, 12:26:45 AM by Camljr
Castro valley was a HUGE success! 41 on Saturday, 33 on Sunday.

SIX NEW RIFLEMEN, AND 3 new IIT's to boot!

First thing Saturday Morning, I presented orange hat to YTDoug, who had stepped up to help after a PM from me with a shameless bribe... See, it seems that Doug was going to drive he and his friend Ray 2 hours east, to Sacramento, CA to attend an Appleseed there, since the Castro Valley shoot was sold out! When I PM'd him to step up and help out, he told me of their plans... (here is where the shameless bribe comes in) I told Doug, that if he came and helped out at Castro Valley, I would find a spot on the line for his friend, Ray. Doug said OK! saved him a two hour trip both ways! He was in!

Sorry, BaldDragn... I stole one of your pre-regged attendees.... I will repent my sins later... >:D

First redcoat Saturday showed we had some pretty good shooters already, but had to work on some others.

Saturday

           AM     PM
400       3        2
300       2        8
200       5        8
100      11      11
HS        5         4
clear     0         0

Slow start on Saturday with first shots downrange about 10am.
Equipment problems everywhere... nonexistent slings, nowhere to attach loaners, the usual stuff, but we had 40+shooters with over half to fix up.

Ball and Dummy done after lunch and we got 1 AQT in at the end of the day, as they shut down firing on the range at 5pm due to local noise ordinance.

One rifleman emerges from the dust.... Dennis M. shoots a 212!   O0 O0

Dennis also stepped up and helped out on Sunday! Shows he has grit and is a welcome addition to the IIT Cadre!

Others were already knocking on the door saturday.

Wade     198
Albert    192
John H.  190
Jeff Li     183
Bruce K   179
Jeff K.     172
JUlian    170
Roland    169

Sunday went off without a hitch, folks were ready to go Sunday morning despite the new sore muscles they were sporting... ~~:)

Sunday redcoat tally.

           AM     PM
400       5        5
300       6        4
200       5        8
100       7        4
HS        9        3
clear     0        0

Sunday ended out with some so close they could taste it...

John H.   209
Mike Wu  208  twice!

We had 5 more riflemen made Sunday!  O0

Albert    218
Wade     220 
Matthew 211
Rex        230
Doug T   213

Add to that Dennis Murray (212) from Saturday that makes 6 new California riflemen!!!! :bow: :bow: ^:)^ @@)

Folks also took advantage of the Rifleman Opportunity Cards.. 14 memberships sold and tagged ROC!  Now I know Castro Valley will be sold out every shoot!!!

Thanks to the crew that made the shoot the great experience that it was by backing me up and doing most of the work!!!   ~~:)   Tim, Ken, Pat (thank you!), Brian, Doug, and Murray too!  And to all the new IIT's, I hope to be working with you all again very soon to make the program in Castro Valley, an event to remember for everyone, every time!!! :~ :~ :~

And to all the AMERICANS that came out this weekend... I will stand shoulder to shoulder with each and every one of you.... ANYTIME....

But remember, We can make sure we won't have to...

Educate yourselves, vote, and be involved!!! AND  share your heritage!

Learn from our history, so we won't have to repeat it!


96 SHOOTS SO FAR!

WSMR Instructor 03/10  -  SAPPER STEEL!

�The real man smiles in trouble, gathers strength from distress, and grows brave by reflection�   Thomas Paine

Proverbs 22:3  -  A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.

"Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even when checkered by failure... than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy, nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory or defeat".
Theodore Roosevelt

Nero

#1
August 22, 2011, 03:54:47 PM Last Edit: August 23, 2011, 12:17:23 AM by Nero
While waiting for Cam to finish earning his daily bread and then fill in the message above, I'll get the ball rolling with some pix of the AWESOME  ^:)^ CV shoot.

(I saw a lot of other cameras out there, so for those shooters who find their way here, please share your pix if you are willing.  There are two ways - you can attach to your post using the 'attachments and other options' item at the bottom of the "Post reply" screen, in which case the Forum will automatically generated thumbnail images linked to full scale shots.  Or, upload your images to the your favorite photosharing site, and then embed full scale shots right in your post by typing {img}http://photosharesite.com/mypix/whatever.jpg{/img}.  When you enter it, replace the curly braces with square brackets, and the bogus URL with one that points directly to the image you want to include (not the album or other page in which it's embedded.)

OK, on with the show.  Day 1 first.

The instructor crew arrives early to set up.  Whatever Ken was saying with that turkey call, the ladies weren't having it.


An awesome start to the day, and we haven't even started shooting.  Previous rifleman YTDoug returns to take the orange hat, and gets right to work.  Thank you for stepping up!  :bow:


Shoot boss Cam (Camljr) and red hat Ken (asminuteman) get the 'fire hose' of instruction rolling with prone steady hold factors.


IIT Brian (AnotherZebra) calls the line as shooters set up their slings and get to working on those SHFs


Yours truly teaches sitting SHF, while model Doug goes through all the myriad variations.


What an awesome punctuation to the telling of the strikes!


After lunch and heritage, it's on to standing, transitions and timed fire.   :---


The first AQT of the weekend, and our first rifleman is found.   ^:)^ Dennis (BoxesOfLiberty) has been here before, practiced and persevered, and sets the example for the rest of the shooters to follow.  He generously gives up his space on the line on Sunday to help us run the shoot.   O0


Our two full-day youth participants received their Luther Blanchard patches.   Soon one of them will have a patch of another color.  (That's called foreshadowing.  **) )


The full album, with a lot more shots, is at:
https://picasaweb.google.com/114208333789247233986/CastroValley811
"Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters." —Frederick Douglass

Freeman

#2
August 22, 2011, 05:14:27 PM
Congratulations Doug as well as everyone else!
Freeman
n.
1. A person not in slavery or serfdom.
2. One who possesses the rights or privileges of a citizen.

"Liberty is not a means to a political end. It is itself the highest political end." – Lord Acton

Appleseed: The only program endorsed by the Founding Fathers and GSG9.
.

cobbzilla

#3
August 22, 2011, 05:19:50 PM
This was my first Appleseed event and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Though I did not achieve Rifleman, the spark has been lit. I learned a whole lot about marksmanship fundamentals that I will continue to practice. I also enjoyed the focus on the history of our great nation, and the stories of "regular folks" coming together to defend each others' freedom. It's truly inspiring; I am happy to be part of that tradition.

And a HUGE thanks to all the Appleseed volunteers -- super friendly, great attitude, full of knowledge and wisdom to share. Sincerely, THANK YOU.

Nero

#4
August 22, 2011, 05:29:03 PM
Day 2:

Considering they had a bull moose on the loose the Coeur d'Alene shoot this weekend
(seriously!):  http://appleseedinfo.org/smf/index.php?topic=24652.msg190026#msg190026
we think we'll stick with our turkeys for range wildlife:


And we'll take bull session over bull moose as well


The morning redcoats took a pounding - watch that dust fly!


Even instructors get instructed - asminuteman & YTDoug


The morning showed that shooters had retained a lot overnight.  We reviewed slings and SHF, perfected sight zeros, tweaked positions and refined our six steps.


And somehow we were ahead of schedule.  That never happens!  :D  So on into the AQTs, taking our time learning from what the targets had to tell.


And the riflemen began to emerge.  Rex with a no-mistake-about-it 230 score, then Albert, and Doug (the young man in the Luther Blanchard photo above).  A break for some lunch and stories of Dangerous Old Men and Determined Dames, and then into the Grind.   ~~:)


Shooters were getting pooped, but still they kept coming:  Matthew and Wade both joined
the Corps of Riflemen, and others were knocking on the door.


Awesome!


We just love giving out these patches, particularly in this quantity.  Here's Albert - way to persevere man!  Heart of a rifleman.


Rex joins his friend Dennis in the ranks of riflemen, with his weekend-high 230 score.


Matthew came all the way from New Zealand to shoot rifleman with us fellow former colonists.  One for the Kiwis!


Doug gets 'er done!  Way to persevere, young man!  There's one birthday present you earned for yourself.


Oh, did I mention that Doug is the son of IIT Brian (AnotherZebra)? Doug takes the orange hat to become Appleseed's first youth instructor in the Bay Area.  Eight father/son teams stood on Lexington Green on that day in April 1775; now we have such a pair here! 


Two buddies who practiced together, make rifleman together, and now take the orange hat together.  Could there be a lesson here?  Thank you for stepping up, gentlemen!   :bow:


Wade's family bent their schedule out of shape so he could spend the weekend with us, and he repaid their efforts by shooting rifleman on his first Appleseed!  We may see him on the high power range here in the future.


^:)^ ^:)^ HUZZAH!  HUZZAH!  HUZZAH!  ^:)^ ^:)^


(And, BTW, Cam left a couple of extra orange hats with me.  It'd be a shame for them to go to waste.  :cool2: )

The full photo album is here:
https://picasaweb.google.com/114208333789247233986/CastroValley811
Some of the pix are obviously out of sequence; we were shooting on two cameras and turns out their clocks were out of sync...  :wb:




"Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters." —Frederick Douglass

Nero

#5
August 22, 2011, 07:46:22 PM
Many other shooters are right at the edge of Rifleman.  Mike was SOOOO close with 208 twice over.  Jeff would have had it, but for a frustrating crossfire.  There were several others who peaked north of 200 or 190.  You've got all the pieces - dry fire, hit the range and practice, and it will all come together.  You'll have that patch next time!

And while I'm at it:  The most frequent problem spotted on the line this time was failing to follow-through on the trigger (aka 'jumping off the trigger').  This is easy to get into in the timed stages, since it can feel like you're speeding things up.  Then it becomes a bad habit that transfers into stage 1 and 4.

In fact, jumping off the trigger doesn't speed up your breathing, which is what paces the cadence.  The cycle ought to be:
- exhale 
- pause  (your sight picture should be on your NPOA now)
- squeeze, and hold the trigger
- begin inhaling
- while inhaling, let off the trigger until you feel the 'click' of the reset (on a semiauto)
- complete the inhale
If you need to speed up, make the breaths more shallow and quicker, rather than hurrying the shot.  A good practice at the range is to prep a mag of ten, get into sitting or prone, and go through them in cadence at a single target, while mentally counting out these steps for each cycle.  Don't fuss the shots, trust the NPOA.  Have a buddy time you as you do this, and you'll find that you'll both speed up, and the groups will get smaller, as you make the cadence cycle smoother.
"Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters." —Frederick Douglass

Nero

#6
August 22, 2011, 08:51:37 PM
For those who want to practice at the Chabot range, there's information about the public lines and my AS-friendly class, plus the 'zombie triangle' targets available over here:
http://appleseedinfo.org/smf/index.php?topic=23542.0

That's a standing post in the California state board, so while you're at it, poke around and see what else is going on with Appleseed in Cali.
"Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters." —Frederick Douglass

YTDoug

#7
August 22, 2011, 11:01:07 PM
Thanks Freeman! It was a totally different perspective working the shoot as opposed to actually shooting in it.   Seeing the improvement of the shooters as they progressed was very rewarding. Here's a handful of my images of the day. (disregard the datestamp ;D)

First up, is Support team Pat doing check in.


Cam and Ken demonstrating prone position, then the shooters putting theory into practice. Tim is either teaching MOA or steady hold factors.





And the infamous, "I left my safety off again" Crystal, getting some one on one with Cam. ;D I guarantee she won't ever do that again after all the ribbing i gave her.


Cam and Ken if full period dress, the second shot of the black powder rifle firing, I actually timed it pretty good and you can see the ball and wadding a couple feet out of the barrel.



All in all a great experience!

Nero

#8
August 23, 2011, 12:14:57 AM
I particularly like Cam's Revolutionary-era shades.   **)
"Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters." —Frederick Douglass

Camljr

#9
August 23, 2011, 12:37:04 AM
Quote from: Nero on August 23, 2011, 12:14:57 AM
I particularly like Cam's Revolutionary-era shades.   **)

Don't forget the blue molded ear plugs (Used to keep you from hearing the screams when you bayonetted a redcoat) and the black jeans (worn so blood could not be seen).
96 SHOOTS SO FAR!

WSMR Instructor 03/10  -  SAPPER STEEL!

�The real man smiles in trouble, gathers strength from distress, and grows brave by reflection�   Thomas Paine

Proverbs 22:3  -  A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.

"Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even when checkered by failure... than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy, nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory or defeat".
Theodore Roosevelt
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