AAR- Coeur d'Alene Idaho, May 25-26 2013, Fernan Rod & Gun Club

[eert]

What better way to celebrate Memorial Day than to have participated in an Appleseed Project Clinic!

It has a huge honor for me to have this shoot attended by so many of our fine veterans.  Thank you again for your service and allowing us the opportunity to promote marksmanship, heritage and the pursuit of liberty!

We had three youth shooters, THANK YOU PARENTS for allowing us the privilege to introduce (or reinforce) marksmanship tenets and the passion of our country's heritage in tomorrow's leaders!  All made progress and there's a RM patch for them in the future.  Madison, I loved watching you run that bolt!

We also had a couple of multi-generational family groups, which is always a special treat and indicative to me of the value of Appleseed's Program on both the marksmanship and heritage sides. 

Although Saturday looked like it could rain at any time, we escaped with only a drop or two.  With the eager students we had, I really don't think a downpour would have made much difference.  Everyone made progress on Saturday and was shooting considerably better by the afternoon Red Coat.  We even had a couple of repeat Rifleman Saturday afternoon. 

The three strikes Saturday were as good as I've even heard.  Earl started with the first, IIT1 Bald Since Birth bravely accepted the second and performed admirably, and Roland closed the day out with the third strike.   I may have to quit doing third strike as Roland's will be a tough act to follow. 

Sunday brought us even better weather, and I imagine there are a few sunburns to show for it today.  We gained shooters on Sunday, one who attended Saturday (LL) as a one day only, and one who was a guest of Kyle's (Morgan), who watched from the equipment line Saturday,  and joined us Sunday.  One can only infer we must be doing something right! 

Sunday's heritage had Bald Since Birth starting the Dangerous Old Men with David Lamson, Eert with Hezekiah Wyman, and EARL's outstanding Samuel Whitmore.  Roland closed the lunch break with the Wedding Portrait as Kyle was doubly occupied cooking up burgers for any that wanted. Three whitetails visited the line between the 200 and 300 yard targets right after lunch during the KD prep period.   I noticed several shooters mentally calculating bullet drop/holdover after Earl's KD session.

Sunday also brought us SIX NEW RIFLEMAN!  Several earned the patch by noon, but as I was observing steady improvement, they were not notified until the end of the day, whereupon they had earned multiple RM scores.  Congratulations to our new Rifleman:  Vince, Jeff, Kyle, LL, Darla, and Wayne.  Huzzah, Huzzah, Huzzah!  Beth and Bald Since Birth also earned repeat RM scores.  I went through a lot of patches on this shoot!

I encourage all of you to do Dry Fire Practice.  Refine your positions, smooth out those transitions, and quit dragging wood (or plastic as EARL says!). There is a great post on the Forum on Dry Fire--
http://appleseedinfo.org/smf/index.php?topic=34387.0

I had several inquires as to whether there was going to be a Ladyseed in Idaho this year. Sorry Hawkhavn, but I told them to PM you, and if there was sufficient interest, we'd see what we could do.

Lastly, I want to thank the instructors, especially the ones that traveled a 'fur piece':  Earl (Tacoma), Scoob (Boise by motorcycle), and BSB (Pullman).  Without the three of you, Roland, Mr. Clean and I would have been in a bind.  Thanks for the support, you make a Shoot Boss' life better!

I hope to see you all again on the Appleseed Trail.  Thanks for helping make this a memorable Memorial Day.

EERT

[Earl]

Just another day in paradise, this was fun, except for the long drives, but then they were safe drives and the Moon was with me on Friday evening. I had the best time just helping a bit, talking way too long but with my personal passion for the stories of yesteryear and the start of this nation. I left with a well wrung out tired from the pace - and I wasn't shooting against the clock and my fears like some of our shooters - they must have gone home exhausted. I remembered too many of the names, many of the smiles and all of the adjustments that could have improved performance - do dry fire - if you won't drop the hammer on an empty chamber to save the firing pin, just talk yourself through the six steps. See you and your family and friends on the range in the future, or at the library studying the ideas worth fighting for... on April 19, 1775.

http://youtu.be/uwNO7rFhvRg

[Roland]

All,

Another great shoot down in the books at Fernan.

I would like to bring special attention to the fact that this shoot occurred on Memorial Day weekend. Let us never forget all that has been sacrificed for our freedom, from April 19th, 1775, up to today.

Also, we had more then a few veterans on both sides of our line, shooters AND instructors. Thank you for your service!

I was again the designated photographer for this shoot. Due to some failure to communicate about the photo release, not very many pictures were taken Saturday, but I got a few Sunday. Hey, all Appleseeds at Fernan basically look the same anyways, right?

Earl and eert running the morning briefing:




Scoob teaching proper sling use while BaldSinceBrith demos. I'm proud to say both of our pretty much brand new IIT's did absolutely fantastic, and are some of the best additions to the instructor corps I've yet seen. Both of you guys are welcome back up here any time. In fact we might even request it 

Scoob, you in particular make a FANTASTIC line boss. Careful, if you're too good, it might just become your permanent assignment.



Earl teaching Talking Targets. We confess to assigning as much instruction to Earl as we can simply so we can watch and take notes on a true master of teaching marksmanship! Earl, it's a great pleasure to run a line with you, as I learn something new about marksmanship, history, and indeed myself every time. You are an inspiration to us all, and indeed the primary reason behind me becoming an instructor in the first place.



Mr. Clean teaching... something which I've forgotten, while eert looks on.



The line Saturday morning. It's great to see that we're starting to get a decent crowd out at our shoots again! I hope all of our shooters will continue on 7th stepping to everyone that will listen, leaving brochures places, etc. We need your help to keep these shoots running, guys. Most of all we need shooters.



Earl telling First Strike, setting the bar pretty high for us to follow with the remainder of the history for the weekend.



Which BaldSinceBirth managed to reach, with  a very impressive Second Strike, even without taking into account the fact he hasn't been doing this very long. John, I have no doubt you will become one of the best Storytellers we have around here.



Sunday afternoon, shooters experimenting with a wide variety of sitting positions.



Earl teaching Standing (not offhand! ) while BSB demoes this time



Yours truly told the Third Strike, the aftermath, and relayed some quotes to wrap up Day One. I can only hope I did good enough to live up to the bar set, and convey our message. I attempted to get this on video... The following is all that was recovered:



Oops. Technology hates me...

Starting off Day Two with fantastic weather once again!



Look, I finally got a picture of Shoot Boss eert where he looks fairly happy!



The line in Prone on Sunday



Jeff  shot very well, and also volunteered to help me out with promotions locally, for which I am very grateful! I also see an orange hat in his future, hint hint. He picked up a  patch quite handily on Day two, with two qualifying scores.



Vince comes from a SERE program at a local Air Force base, and shot extremely well. I might point out that he's using a tube feed with old model Tech Sites because his .22 AR with a red dot was "too easy". He wasn't even sure his targets were close enough to Rifleman to turn in... Don't think he shot below 220 on Day Two!



Kyle came up from down south a ways, for his second Appleseed, and shot rifleman on the very last AQT of the day! Cutting it a bit close, aren't we? He also was our only shooter to bring out the "real man's gun" of a .308.



Now, my favorite picture of the weekend, and probably the best shot I've personally taken.



That'd be BaldSinceBirth shooting with his .300BLK AR. (An instructor shooting? No! Not possible!)Now, look forward of the ejection port.

Still don't see it?

Look closer.



OK, I'm done now. I'm just really proud of that picture. And I will be very disappointed if one of those doesn't become BSB's new avatar.

Moving on, Ron and Lisa B., some of our returnees, doing Ball and Dummy. Great to see you guys back again!



Sarah, Alex, and Joe, another family on the line. Special mention should be given to Sarah, who had never touched a rifle before Saturday Morning. She was shooting 180's by the end of Sunday! That's truly remarkable improvement, there, and I dare say some natural talent? Alex also showed massive improvement, despite dealing with his fair share of equipment issues. Joe, I'm glad we finally got it so prone, if not necessarily comfortable, was at least tolerable!



Toby and Darla were more returning shooters. They were able to spend time polishing their skills, and showed that they had both come a long way, despite yet more equipment issues. Darla also shot rifleman quite handily!




Morgan observed on Sunday, but was able to be convinced to shoot on Sunday. Despite being a very new shooter, she did very well, and I have no doubt we will see her back at shoots again!



Emily was very, very close to shooting rifleman. She's also a blue hat (sorry, didn't catch you're forum name!) Remember, practice and focus is everything in this game!

(Also note the lowest scope rings I think I've ever seen...)



Obligatory Butterfly-on-a-rifle shot



Shooters shooting KD on Sunday, the AR platform was definitely prevalent this time around :






BSB decided to take pity on the rest of us and keep things a bit more quiet...



Joe trying out an unusual Kneeling position that was nevertheless quite effective



There's so much time in Stage Four, Jeff and Vince decided there was plenty of time for a nap!



Madison, one of our youngest shooters, ran a bolt action like a champ!



Centerfires back on the rack once we're back into the AQT grind... And one errant 10/22, somehow?




And, last but not least, the rifleman pictures!

(FYI, two of our new riflemen, Lloyd and Wayne, requested no pictures be taken.)

So, I'll go ahead and talk about them anyways.

Wayne, fantastic job! You came a long ways from barely hitting paper on Saturday AM to shooting rifleman Sunday PM! I look forward to seeing you and Gus back on our line again.

Lloyd, congratulations! It's great to see a shooter come back. Means we must be doing something right! And it's especially great to see said returnee have, say, perfect trigger control after you harped on them for the entire last shoot! 

Now the pictures:

Jeff (NEW!)



Vince (NEW!)



Kyle (NEW!)



Darla (NEW!)



BSB/John (REPEAT, OBVIOUSLY!))



Beth (REPEAT!)



Alright, that's all I got for now.

Oh wait, one more thing. Thanks again to our IIT's for dragging shooters along with them! You picked up my slack. All of the friends I asked were busy with this thing called... Prom. Huh.

Roland, over and out.

[eert]

Kyle may have been shooing a "real man's" gun, but it still didn't have any soul due to it's plastic stock, right Earl?

[George Hacker]

Emily has a unique forum name:  armed and hormonal

[TruTenacity]

Great AAR!

Having worked with Darla in the past I knew a rifleman's patch was in her future.  Congratulations!

[scoob]

What could I possibly add?
400 miles (each way) in the rain, on a motorcycle...  and it was WELL worth it!   

[SERE Vince]

Just want to say thanks to all of the staff! You guys did a great job!



I could not have done it with out you!

Cheers

Vince

[Mark Davis]

Wow! you guys got Scoob!
Kinda nice up at Frenan rod and gun club, maybe he will come back.

[Niskibum]

Thanks to all the instructors, I learned far more than I can retain in one weekend. I'll be trying to work out the bugs before the next shoot. Special thanks to Earl for the help on the leather sling, I'm convinced leather is the way to go now, and picked up another one the next day. Now to get rid of that wood stock and find a ballistically perfect plastic one...

Scoob didn't mention the most dangerous part of his trip, having to eat my Moose Chili and Cornbread, but he managed to suffer through it and show up both days. Thanks bud.

Jeff

[scoob]

Wow! you guys got Scoob!
Kinda nice up at Frenan rod and club, maybe he will come back.

It helps to have really good friends in CdA.  Now I can say I have a couple more! 

[scoob]

As Fred says:  "Once could be luck, twice could be coincidence, but three times is skill".

I failed to mention that Jeff sandbagged his best AQT on us.  He officially shot two Rifleman AQTs, so it still could've been a coincidence as far as we all knew.  When we got home, he pulled out his targets for review...  showed me the AQT that he, uhmm...  'blew it' on and didn't turn in for a score.  I said "Wait a minute... let's score that one right now."  Even without invoking .30 cal rule, let's just say that it turns out he may just know what he's doing!   

[Roland]

Special thanks to Earl for the help on the leather sling, I'm convinced leather is the way to go now, and picked up another one the next day.

Leather is indeed the way to go... but if you want a similar sling that's way easier to adjust, check this out (the sling I mentioned to you at some point)

http://artoftherifle.blogspot.com/p/store.html



Roland

[peterlandsiedel]

I'll chime in to vouch for a Riflecraft sling. I've had one for a few months now and I don't think I'll ever go back to a standard USGI sling... or anything else.

Apart from that, looks like the fine folks in ID are doing a fantastic job instructing. 6 rifleman? Keep up the good work!

[Niskibum]

That just goes to show how much information I had to process last weekend, I forgot you mentioning those slings Roland.

If anyone is interested in the leather one I have, and it's ok for me to mention a brand here, I picked it up at Cabelas for about $21. It is the Triple K brand 64A style military sling. They are made in USA and come in 1" and 1 1/4" sizes and have solid brass hardware. I had looked at other brands on line, but they were pretty expensive.

[tdow]

Don't mean to hijack the thread, well I must if I am, but I'll try to keep it brief.

EERT,

I got your PM, but I don't have the ability to send one to reply.  I'd love to help, but I don't know about the "expert" part.  Can you send me another PM with your email?

Back to your regularly scheduled programming...