Clearwater, FL 07/15/2017

[PHenry]

Muggy? Yes, yes it was. Hot? Only if you come from up yonder. OK, maybe it was a tad on the warm side. However, it was also another great weekend of marksmanship and history with a fine group of Americans. From 8YO Ryan to AJ who made score - it was great meeting and working with all of you - instructors included. We even got a cameo from a Gainesville shoot boss - Minutemom!

Hope to see all of you "on the trail" again. Huzaaah!
In Liberty,
PHenry

[AJ Gonzales]

Trey and everyone,

First I'd like to thank you all for an outstanding weekend. I've been shooting since I was 5 years old in the back yard with my dad, time on a varsity rifle team, and eventually in the Army. I learned more in these two days than I had in the past 25 years. Excellent course!

You guys did ask for feedback and I believe that feedback is a gift. Both negative and positive. I want to share some of my thoughts with you.

Course hand out materials are fantastic. The sheet about diagnosing shooting errors is somethin' else. Really helped me out and something I think I'll continue to reference. The talk about wind and distance adjustments makes me want to sign up for a KD event asap!

On those same lines I thought it was very beneficial to shoot, go downrange, evaluate, and correct. At one point an instructor looked at my target and was like "move your elbow in a little". Instant change to my grouping! Yes! Things like this went on all through day 1 and I loved it. My buddy Brian experienced the same thing. Seriously good stuff!

Day two was a little more shaky. That day 1 model of shoot, evaluate, adjust faded away.  Day two seemed to move away from that to shoot, adjust while you're shooting without referencing the target (results), and then go downrange to look. I found this to be less than ideal compared to what we did on day one. You'd end up with one 5rnd group with the shooter focusing on *something* mid-group. Hard to tell if the change had an impact.

I also appreciated one day one how two instructors seemed to focus on one side of the firing line and another two focused on helping the other side. Day two felt like too many cooks were in the kitchen. Instead of working on one correction per shooting session I found myself working on three of four things (all good points, all from different instructors), but in reality not being able to focus of any of them.

This extended into the AQT sessions during the day. We'd shoot with no real feedback. We'd look at the targets, but the scores were a secret. Was I weak at sitting? Standing? Prone rapid? I changed something, did it make a difference this go-around?I didn't really know. I understand that "rifleman" is a journey not a destination, but seeing progress is motivating! Some indication would be helpful. Maybe not numerical score, perhaps something more generalized. I also recognize that there might be a method to this that I'm unaware of as a total Appleseed newbie

Last thing was having a moment for rifle maintenance. I goofed HARD and didn't clean my rifle at the end of day 1. Totally my fault! My whole world fell apart on the latter half of day two and my shooting (and motivation) took a hit. My buddy's rifle also had an issue that required some tools to correct. I would have appreciated time to take my rifle off the line and go over it to see what the deal was. Turns out that I had a ton of fouling under the extractor and my firing pin spring retainer had loosened. The two resulted in frequent FTEs and FTFs. To top it off my rear sight came loose! I learned a lot about my rifle this weekend and I'm thankful for that! 

None of this is a dig at the instructors. They were fantastic. I learned so much and I can't recommend the program enough! The talks on Revolutionary War history were really good, too. Not a huge history guy but I enjoyed the talks a lot and I even want to learn more now after hearing those stories. I'm writing this because I want it to be even better. Trey, as a fellow overhead environment diver, knows I come from a world that's heavy on feedback and without it we'll never improve. This is by far the best marksmanship clinic I've ever experienced and I'm amazed at the quality of instruction and value the program offers! You guys (and gals!) are absolutely awesome!

Thanks again for an amazing weekend. You guys rock and thank you for doing this! You've made a difference for me and I'm sure there are countless others who feel the same way.

AJ Gonzales

[PHenry]

AJ,
Awesome feedback - wish more shooters would offer same. Otherwise we have to "shadow box" and hope for the best.

What we really needed on Sunday were more shooters to keep the instructors busy. Years ago I modified my program of instruction to allow going down range only on the first AQT in order to get more AQTs in, but maybe I should re-think that and add a second with trips DR. I takes about 20 minutes to run  an AQT without going DR and about 40 if we go down between every stage. A pair of binocs would help and I do carry a little monocular should anyone wish to see their hits from the firing line.

As to rifle maintenance - sorry I failed to offer assistance. I carry plenty of cleaning gear. If you come out again, please do not hesitate to ask to use it or for an instructor to assist. We can always take a rifle off the line for cleaning / repair. Every shoot boss worth his / her salt carries a lot of gear - including bore snakes, rods and CLP, etc.

Hope to see you again sir.
Many thanks,
PH

PS: also - many thinks for visitng our FB page and rating us!

[Minutemom]

Wasn't able to be there long, but I did manage to snap a few pictures!

[Minutemom]

Almost forgot to post the picture of our rifleman!!  Congratulations AJ, and thanks for the awesome feedback!