Abq NM 18-19 Oct 2008

[SamD]

We had a great shoot this weekend at Abq's shooting Range Park.
Attendance was not very high with only 10, but they were a great bunch and by the last AQT on Sunday,
6 were off KP and on the line as new Riflemen.

My thanks to AZGrommet, AZRedhawk44 and ashrn03 for their dedication and persistence. It showed in the level of training and performance.

We were visited briefly by 2 congressional candidates, a positive experience for all parties. I'm looking forward to Appleseed having a friend in congress next session. It never hurts of have friends in Congress.
Both were well received by the shooters and left with a positive impression. Win, win, win for all.

Sam

[twh731]

Thanks Sam again for your hard work and helping to make the AS a great program.  Sam achieved his Rifleman patch right out of the box on Saturday along with 2 other people.  On Sunday, all tired and stiff we had another 3 take the cloth on Sunday.  The weather held out to be beautiful both days.  If success is gauged by the percentage of Rifleman patches earned I think we are close to a record with this AS.  We achieved a 60% level of Riflemen.  If success is gauged by the number of people in attendance we need to do some work, but then again there is ALWAYS room for improvement in that area.  It was a ray of sunshine to see a couple politicos come by and show us support.  Republican or Democrat, it doesn't matter as long as they vote sympathetic to the cause of Liberty!  Talk is cheap but votes count.  I believe that they saw how impassioned we RWVA people are about Lady Liberty and will take the memory of it to their respective assemblies.  The Albuquerque Range Park was a wonderful city owned facility and it one of the few in the country which actually makes money for the city.  Rick Vernon, the Range Master, made sure we had everything we needed and the range prep was complete and tidy.  Although somewhat cramped for time, (range hours are actually 0900 until 1700), we were able to complete the instruction.  AZGromit and Redhawk and ashrn03 were very efficient and concise which made the whole weekend flow along smoothly.  I believe this was AZGromit's first opportunity to be Shoot Boss.  He did an outstanding job and seemed to be a natural.  Thanks to their planning and explicit instruction we were able to finish the complete program despite the time constraints.  I love working with instructors "who know what they are about".  I think the word is going to spread here in NM.  Thanks guys for making our SW program a hit.  Tom

[AZRedhawk44]

Folks, let it never be said that New Mexicans do not know what they are about!  These people can shoot.

We had six Riflemen.  Out of a very tight-knit and intimate shoot consisting of 10 shooters.  Round count reports vary, but it's looking like we burned through in excess of 700 rounds a piece.

And these Riflemen persisted!  Equipment failures plagued the line.  A Marlin 60 suffered a broken trigger group.  A Ceiner-converted AR fell offline.  Another AR got itself a stuck case.  A couple of 10/22's dropped off as well.  Folks ran out of ammo and switched to other rifles, sighted in on squares using IMC lickety-split and got to shooting AQT's again with precision that would have made Isaac Davis proud, and had the shooter fitting in wonderfully at the range behind Davis's shop.  One gentleman, our last Rifleman of the weekend, could taste that achievement on the tip of his tongue but not quite reach it... 205, 209, 207, just out of reach until the last AQT of the day.  He saved himself from a ditchwater baptism by one point, shooting a 211 for the final AQT.  

Appleseed gained itself a new IIT Orange Hat with SamD, and we're glad to have him.  Here's to hoping that the other 5 Riflemen (Did I mention there were SIX of them?) heed the call and step up to the plate.

By the latter half of the day, the familiarity (and marskmanship!) of the group began to feel less like a formalized course and more like a group of friends at the range together, honing skills as a team.

ETA:  Pictures to come later as I have time to upload them.

[1886lebel]

I attended the Appleseed here and was quite impressed with the instructors, AZ Grommet, Redhawk and ashrn03n, they showed fantastic professionalism, attitude and excellent teaching methods. They took thier time to come from out of state to come and get everyone including myself involved in the program. I was very, very skeptical at first of the program as I had been exposed to a previous person who tried to make the program a militia type thing and it left me with a bad feeling with the program. To make a long story short and not going into details in this post I went to this shoot and it did change my mind on the program.
Everyone involved in the shoot was great, I meet a dedicated bunch of Rifleman and I hope that they will continue to bring more and more people to the program here in NM. I will pass the word myself about the program to others and have them contact Tom and Sam for the up-coming events planned.
I personally had a great time as I was able to practise shooting with and without my military equipment including with my gas mask on which is challenging. I used the shoot to hone my skills for real world situations I could be facing again in the future.
Patrick

[ashrn03]

When AZRedhawk44 posts the pictures, they should be interesting.  I'm wondering if 1886Lebel shooting an AQT in his web gear and gas mask is an AS first?  As promised SamD brought a Marlin 22 he's described elsewhere on the Forum and shot some very good groups: I hope he posts his own report on the rifle's performance.  Incidentally, SamD shoots the 200m sitting/kneeling stage kneeling and shoots it well, something I've never been able to do.  I suspect he's been practicing: at Raton in August he was miffed he couldn't make Rifleman.  Now he's annoyed a 237 AQT wasn't a 240.  Maybe with more practice . . .

twh731 made Rifleman (!).  This is personally satisfying because I knew he could shoot a Rifleman score, but has had an unending series of equipment problems.  At the Raton in August his 22 imploded (2nd time) and the groups from his M1 kept getting larger the more he shot.  This time a borrowed LTR (which I brought  started stove-piping, and we found his eagerly-awaited, brand-new (brand-name!) AR wasn't throated long enough to chamber a round without sticking the bullet into the rifling!  He told me later he'd tried 8 different rifles in three AS's before one of AZGrommit's LTR's let him show what he could do.  Then he did it again with the M1 that let him down at Raton: he'd had the barrel counterbored in September and it grouped much better.

One of the 6 new Rifleman was a gentleman in his 70's who didn't look much taller than his M1, but his equipment showed use and he definitely "knew what he was about."  Probably a "Dangerous Old Man" story here somewhere.  Another attendee said he'd never shot that much before the AS, but he'd applied himself and improved steadily as the day went on, but hadn't quite made Rifleman by the end of the Saturday session.  In response to a "Tomorrow for sure!" encouragement, he said he could only attend one day - a new wife and things to do at home.  Bummer.  We encouraged him to return if possible ("Take her out to dinner tomorrow night!").  To our delight, he was back Sunday morning ("This is really going to cost me - she has a credit card and is going shopping") and earned his Rifleman patch.

The covered firing line at the Albuquerque Shooting Park let us make the most of the beautiful days.  In sunny high-altitude New Mexico a day of shooting can be hard on the shooters - lots of sunscreen and water are vital.  As mentioned in other posts the Park staff were very helpful.  We had a lot of "lookers" watching the AS from across the parking lot.  We distributed literature to all we could - seeds planted.  It's another great venue for future AS.

It was a good group of attendees; their teachable attitudes were evident from the their improving scores and the number of new Riflemen.  It was a great AS staff to work with too: I'd like to work with AZGrommet and AZRedhawk44 again and I'm pretty sure I'll work with twh731 and SamD in the near future.           
 

[Objekt]

That was one of the most fun, if difficult, things I've ever done.  I wasn't aware that was AZ Grommet's first time as shoot boss - could've fooled me!  Thanks to everyone involved for taking the time to make it happen.

It was amazing what I could do once I had proper equipment.  I was the guy who started with the Ciener-converted AR that turned out not to be worth a darn.  I borrowed one of Grommet's Liberty Training Rifles on Sunday, and immediately went from feeling as if I forgot everything I learned on Saturday, to feeling that the Rifleman patch was within reach.  And, it was!

I look forward to trying the techniques I learned last weekend with my "big boy" milsurp rifles.  I now have a pretty good idea how to get my Garand, or any rifle with adjustable sights, dialed in.  Who needs a bench, except perhaps for checking out a new-to-me rifle?

We have GOT to have an Appleseed at Zia Rifle & Pistol Club.  Appleseed is exactly the kind of thing that Zia is supposed to be about.

[funfaler]

Congrats to ALL!

6 more Rifleman patches finding homes......makes one tear up  , thinking about them being welcomed into their new homes with love and honor   

NM sure seems to have the ingredients to be stirred up into a great pot of Rifleman stew!

I look forward to hearing about the seeds planted there at the last two Appleseeds, blossoming into new Appleseed locations and more Riflemen!

Good work NM crew, twh731 chief among them, and the AZ crew for demonstrating how "neighbor states" can really help each other!

[SamD]

WestTx told me that 3 more of ours made the grade down there and want to take the orange.
We could pretty near justify an IBC right here. 

I'll have to take turn up to Capitan and visit with them. Some of them boys are are old style hard holders and they have got a sweet range that I understand just became available to AS

Sam

[AZRedhawk44]

Pics available here: 
http://s124.photobucket.com/albums/p17/azredhawk44/Albuquerque%20AS%2010-18-08/

Here's a few interesting ones.

Targets downrange:


The firing line:


SamD Orange-hatting with an aide to a Congressional hopeful who stopped by to shoot:


Pat, our Air National Guardsman, getting trigger time with some of his issue gear:

Including gas mask:




I was intrigued by the heavy cant necessary due to the inability to cheek-weld in a mask.

This gent, Doug I think was his name, is a man who knew what he was about.



Ball and dummy teams:


Gromit with some history:


Checking targets: