A.A.R. THROOP, NY 10-11 SEP 2011

[sgtrock]

Throop, NY

It may not be one of the more glamorous ranges that we have here in NY, or the most attended, However, it is a range that attracts Great Patriotic Americans, and produces Riflemen of Outstanding Quality,,,,
   We had on our line this weekend, April, Dave, and Jim,,,
April being an Appleseed alumni, showed great improvement on Saturday, and a determination that is to be admired,,,, Every bit of instruction was absorbed and implemented with a great attitude, and she is very at home on a rifle range,,, I hope to see her back soon,,, Is Burlington Flats in your plans 08-09-Oct??,,, a spot is waiting for you there, Thanks for being a great student, I hope to see you soon,,, Unfortunately she could not return on Sunday,,,
   
For the firing line being only 10 yds from a swamp, the bugs weren't bad this trip, and it usually rains, but that didn't happen either,,, until when we were picking things up today (sun), then it showered a little,, but that was all,,, after the floods of biblical proportions this past week here in the east, this place was pretty much untouched compared to were I live,,, a little detour was made getting here, but only of about 20 miles, not bad, considering that everything is spread out quite a ways in these parts, and a lot of roads were still closed at the time I left for this shoot on Friday afternoon..

Sunday was a day for students an instructors alike, We had the remaining two students come back on Sunday, for the completion of the weekend,,,
   But first let me back up to Sat. for a full play by play action, on these men,,, Dave and Jim not having shot in quite awhile, with Jim being 20 yrs or more away from the rifle and not having a lot of experience,,, Started out with Zero Hits on the first square, When I looked at his target down range, I said that will improve, more instruction ensued and the next square there was 1 (one Hole in the paper), 3rd square he had approx. 20 min group, by the time he had finished on the first sheet of squares he was knocking out, 8 and 10 min groups, Just an outstanding example of a Teachable individual, by the end of the day on Saturday we shot 2 stage by stage AQT's and he posted scores 199 and 197, it was a nice feeling that we have students that grasped instruction so quickly,,, we knew he would do well,,, and he did, Sunday, we started out with 2 Stage x Stage again and he and Dave performed well, It was decided that we were going to Rapid Fire AQT's, and wouldn't you know, he knocked out a 215 score just that quick,,,,

Well then there is Dave, being a joy to have on the line as well, is making great progress at the same pace, only a couple of targets later, knocks out a 217 score, analyzing the targets we knew that it was fussing the shot that was holding these men back,, Rapid fire AQT's don't allow for any fussing, and here in the east it is a staple on the menu at some point in the weekend, they are introduced when I think it is warrented and in this case the timing was perfect.
Dave and I did a couple of modifications to his rifle, bolt realease mod. and a new extractor, which stopped the failure to extracts, that way he did not have to worry about things that are very frustrating and that takes away from the mission at hand, now he was able to focus on all the other things that really matter...
    I do hope that they come back for another event,,, Dave had done a bit of research about Project Appleseed prior to the shoot, where as Jim had not, Jim was told by a friend of his, that lives in Arizona, that he should get himself to an Appleseed event in NY, and that they were everywhere, so he came and listened and applied and became a Rifleman,,, These two men made it look easy and made our job really fun, (not to say that it isn't fun regardless)

Sunday afternoon I gave a very quick KD class, and with Dave only having brought an .22RF, took that to 100yds, and saw that IMC works, and that it is not difficult to do great shooting at longer distances with a 22 rimfire, and he had 100% of rounds on target with his 10/22 at 100yds. shooting at the 100yd AQT target,,, Great Shooting Dave,,,

Jim having brought his Brandy New AR15, with not a round fired yet, and having Iron sights that did not match up properly on the same plane, but, however, I was able to get the sights screwed down on the front (bottomed out) and the rear with windage pretty much tapped out to the right, he did a 3 shot hasty zero (3shot) at 25 yds got one hit in the black square, 2ND hit 2 mins low left, and with only having brought 20Rd's total with him, I said take it to 300yds, and he did without hesitation, and hit 75% on target, seeing that he had to come left for his long range zero the dope was put on the rifle, and he then confirmed his long range zero with 100% of Rd's on target, I then brought him back to zero settings and the 100yd target, fired and confirmed hits again, IMC,and fine tune 100 yd zero, with ammo that had been given to him by KodyJaret, the were M855's and he printed again 100% on target,,, when he gets the sights worked out that have better adjustment capability he will be a force to be reckoned with on the firing line,,, This was a great shoot to be at, and to be in the presence of April, Dave and Jim, An Honor,  Hope to see you all soon,,,

To the Instructor Corp of Arizona,,,, Thank You for providing a Great Service to the people of your state, that enabled one of your students to tell his friend on the east coast about this program, that, would have not been possible had you folks not done a Great Job at what you do,,, Word of mouth travels far and wide, this is what it is all about, making Friends and Riflemen from coast to coast

I will get the pictures up in the morning, its late,,,

sgtrock   

[R1SGx2]

April, Dave and Jim - Nice job, your journey HAS begone. You were with good people this weekend,
Again, Sgt Rock - nice work.   

[sgtrock]

Our shoot on Saturday 10 Sep

Left to right
Dave,, April,, Jim,,, Developing great form and safe transitions,



Bob (vibbit) Watching over the line on Saturday,,, Thank you for coming and lending a hand at this shoot,,, Bob called the line all day on Sunday, He is a Great asset to the instructor corps of NY, and a man I can count on to be there,,,







Sunday  11 Sep

Dave and Jim

The making of riflemen, application of instruction








Net end result,,,

Two Proud Riflemen, 





Great Job everyone,,  I hope to see you again in the near future,,,

sgtrock

[KodyJaret]

Very successful clinic,,,two thirds of the participants made rifleman.
Vibbit & Rock ,,,= Good Job........

[arm2008]

Had a great day Saturday. I really appreciate how the shoot bosses I've been exposed to here in NY work hard to keep politics out of the event.

I was glad to see Bob again, and it seems like his instructor hat is fitting even better than it did at the beginning of the summer when I first ran into him at Throop.

It was really enjoyable to shoot on Saturday with Dave and Jim - they were there to shoot and learn and they did that. It was really fun to watch Jim go from not hitting the paper to punching out 199 on the AQT by the end of Saturday! I know from past experience that as I focus on learning something new my shooting goes to pot, so my best shooting of the day was the first red coat where I hit the 400 yd qualification and the head shot. The learning from this weekend will show up the next time I shoot - I have to remind myself that patience is a virtue.

Unfortunately Burlington Flats is out for October - my sister is getting married that Saturday. At least it's not a church wedding and we will be out in the middle of the woods for it.

[The Mrs.]

Great Job Everyone.

To the shooters - hats off to all three of you.  Patience and perseverance make fine Riflemen. 

Instuctors - what can be said about you guys!!  It is an honor to know and work with you.