Newark, OH Dillon Sportsman Center, June 1 & 2

[Corvette]

What a great first Appleseed at Dillon Sportsman Center.  We had 11 intrepid shooters participate in our first shoot at Dillon.  We had a wide cross section of people on the line.  Most impressive was that about half of the line were youth shooters there with their mom (Julie), grandfather (Ray), or uncle (James).  We even had the two daughters of the range manager.  The range was looking smart with Rev War flags hanging at the back of the shooting line and all the shooters were excited to get started Saturday morning.

Unsettled weather was threatening the entire weekend but we were lucky in that we had two basically dry days with what little rain we did get falling in the evenings after we were done for the day.  Saturday started with the welcome and safety briefing and before we knew it, we were on the line shooting our first Red Coat.  Instruction followed on the positions, steady hold factors, six steps to firing a shot, NPOA, and much more and our shooters drank from the fire hose of information like troopers.  We had a wide variety of rifles on the line including a Remington Nylon 66 (the rifle I coveted as a youngster -- guess I am dating myself), a centerfire bolt ranch rifle in .223, another tube feed Winchester (I think), a Savage bolt .17 HMR, and two Mosin Nagant bolt guns.  One full size one carbine. 

On Saturday, instructions proceeded, the first two strikes were told and by mid afternoon we completed our practice AQT.  Many thanks to EZ3, our official shoot boss, for working with all the special instructions for all the tube and bolt gun users.  Trying to shoot an AQT with a Mosin's five round internal magazine and no stripper clips is a challenge. The humidity on Saturday took it toll on everyone but, we worked our way through it.  We ended the day with a live AQT and the third strike was presented after breaking down the line.

Sunday dawned much cooler and much less humid.  With the Sunday safety and instruction review behind us, we started the day at the line with our morning Red Coat.  Bob showed that he was paying attention on Saturday by shooting the only clean Red Coat of the weekend. (Will post pictures soon).  He followed with a perfect squares target on our NPOA shift drill Sunday morning with one shot in each of the black sighter squares.  My bet is Bob will be joining the list of Ohio Riflemen at his next AS (which he says will be at Salem later this summer). 

We had a special guest spend some time with us on Sunday.  The range was hosting a Ms Sofie Kesteleyn from Amsterdam.  Sofie is a free lance photo journalist from Amsterdam who is in America researching our firearms heritage and how especially we introduce our youth into the shooting sports.  She spent some time Sunday taking photo's of the event and our young shooters both on the line and during our instructional sessions.  Hopefully she will share some of the photos with us in a followup post.

We didn't make any Riflemen or Riflewomen this time but everyone worked hard on their skills and improvement was had by all.  To break up the AQT grind, we did a total yardage team shoot with our shooters in teams of three.  Each shooter had ten rounds and we posted one Green Coat for each team.   Any hit in any of the targets scored points based on the yardage of the target.  So a hit in a 100 target got 100 points.  A hit in a 300 yard target got 300 points.  Each shooter was required to evaluate their skill level and select the targets they had confidence that they could hit.  Most total points (yards) wins.  Well in the tradition of our Dangerous Old Men, our senior team won with 4,600 total yards.  They only had three non-scoring shots.  (Photo to follow). 

The day ended with a final AQT and a poorly delivered benediction by yours truely (the Ode to a Rifleman always chokes me up, I need to work on that  ) and our first shoot at Dillon came to a close.  BIG thanks to EZ3 for boarder raiding from Penn.  It is always a treat to work with and learn from a pro like Lee.  My thanks to you sir.  Much appreciated.  We look forward to our next shoot at Dillon, see you all there.

Corvette

[Charles McKinley]

Glad it was a successful first shoot!  Dillon is a great range.  I hope to make it out later this year.

[Corvette]

During the weekend, I mentioned the 86 year old WWII sniper by the name of Ted Gundy.  Ted was made an honorary member of the US Army Rifle Marksmanship team in honor of his service.  He was also given a replica of the 1903A4 sniper rifle that he had used in the Battle of the Bulge in Europe by Gibbs Arms (Navy Arms).  The video below shows the award and shows that even at 86, Ted still has what it takes to be a rifleman.
Check it out, what Ted does is really impressive. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVdqxkHd2RQ

Corvette

[Corvette]

Oh, something I forgot to mention in the AAR.  During lunch on Sunday while all our shooters were in the clubhouse eating lunch, we gave Sofie, our photo journalist from Amsterdam, some quick instructions on the six steps and steady hold factors in prone and she spent some time on the line.  It was the first time she ever shot a rifle and she showed that she is both naturally skilled and learns quickly.  If she can find the time during her visit to the states to sign up for a shoot somewhere, my bet is she shoots Riflewomen before the weekend is done. 

Well done Sofie.  (Pictures to follow as soon as I can get them off my phone.)

Corvette

[Corvette]

Here are some photos from the shoot. 

The line Sat morning
EZ3 doing the KD lecture
Our sharpshooter Bob showing good offhand form
... and shooting a clean Red Coat
America's future is in good hands
Our version of Team Dangerous Ole folks
Sofie the natural ...

We encourage anybody else who has photos from last weekend to post them.

Corvette

Sorry, original photos sized too small, will replace as soon as I can resend all the photos to myself) C

[Mutti]

What a beautiful range and the photos are so inspiring!

[Corvette]

Mutti, thanks for visiting our AAR from Newark.  I encourage you to visit the link above on Ted Gundy. He is a modern day DOM.  Well worth eight minutes of your time.

Corvette

[Miss Kitty]

Is the Dillon (OH) Appleseed schedule for the rest of 2013 posted anywhere?  I can't seem to find it by clicking on the map at the Appleseed website.

[Corvette]

Miss Kitty,

The future shoots at Dillon are on the schedule.  There is one late Aug and one early Nov.  Go to the schedule and look for Newark on the schedule.  You should be able to sign up for either of them. We look forward to seeing you on the line later this year.

Corvette