AAR New Philadelphia Ohio November 11&12, 2017

[Corvette]

Oh My Gosh, what an amazing KD Appleseed we just had at the Tusco Rifle Range near New Philadelphia, Ohio this weekend. We had 16 shooters and 2 instructors on the line to start the Known Distance event and mother nature decided to offer us a challenge.  Saturday dawned clear and crisp with the temp in the high teens.  The sun finally came out but the temps never made it out of the 30's on Saturday.  This didn't faze our shooters. We started our day in the main club house with a welcome, the typical safety briefing and a review of the basics of IMC, distance come-ups and strategies for shooting a KD event.

From there, we bundled up and moved to the line.  Saturday morning was spent zeroing rifles at the four distances (100-400) that we will be shooting this weekend. As the range required us to have a moving firing line, we did a lot of walking Saturday morning shooting the zero groups, checking them and shooitng confirmation groups.  But this time investment paid off in spades. 

We broke for lunch in the club house to both warm up and enjoy a great lunch buffet presented by the club.  Joe Forte, one of our shooters who is a Rev War re-enactor shared with us a great presentation on the weapons used by the Contental Army and how it was the work of Von Stuben at Valley Forge that turned the troops into professionals that could stand up to the British. We returned to theline to finish our zero confirmations and ended the day with our first of five full distance AQTs.  In all my time with Appleseed, I have never had a group of shooters as skilled as our group this weekend.

Of 16 shooters, we had 7 earn their Long Distance patch on the very first AQT. This was just a taste of what was to come. 

Sunday dawned just as cold as Saturday, which made the event a Winterseed as well as a KD, and we were back on the line.  Sunday was just an extension of the amazing shooting we saw Saturday afternoon.  There are so many details, I just can not share them all but here are some overall stats that should show what an amazing weekend we had.

Of 18 total shooters, 13 qualified. 
We had two shooters who qualifed on all 5 AQTs (Mike and Craig)
7 of the 13 qualifying shooters had multiple qualifying scores
Our top shooter (Mike) had a total of 190 out of a possible 200 hits.
Our second shooter (Craig) has a total of 182 out of 200
We had 11 new KD qualified shooters
One shooter qualified on open sightes

At lunch on Sunday, we shared details on the life and accomplishments of Paul Revere and returned to the line to complete a target detection and range estimation exercise.  The day ended with a team challenge with steel targets set at 600 yrds. 

After a call to action, we ended one amazing Appleseed.  Pictures to follow.  My thanks to EZ3 from PA and all the instructors/IITs that helped with this event.  It had its challenges but to spend two days with shooters of this quality was a real pleasure for me. 

More to follow. 

Corvette

[Texas T]

Sounds like it was, indeed, a great event. Sorry that I had to miss it. Catch you all down the trail next year. 

[Ironman762]

I'll be the first to say it.  Without photos, it didn't happen. 

Please post pics!

[EZ3]

I'll be the first to say it.  Without photos, it didn't happen. 

Please post pics!

You mean I was just IMAGINING that I froze my tush off?   

[cr0sswind]

Had a frosty but fantastic time this Veteran's Day weekend shooting with so many amazing shooters from so many different places and backgrounds! The comradery among shooters is hard to beat. So proud to consider myself to not only be with such a talented group, but to actually belong.

I've learned so much from the instructors, IITs, and fellow shooters on and off the range. The elements were some pretty good teachers this weekend as well, seeing the effect on my rifle's dope. My data book is happy! Still not entirely sure how I got mud on top of my head! 

I do not know the online handles of all of the volunteers who brought this event together, but a HUGE thank you to all who were on hand!

God bless our veterans whom have made all of this possible, and may we all do our part to help KEEP all of this possible!

cr0sswind

[Corvette]

More info on an amazing shoot.

We had 30 total qualifying scores.  Congrats to all our LD Riflemen.

Robert           34, 36, 33
Craig             37, 36, 40, 35, 34
Matt (IIT)      36  (Matt only qualified once as he worked the line all day Sunday)
Lee (SB)        36  (Lee is a PA SB, he ran the line all day Sunday so he only shot one time. He is probably
                           the only person in AS to shoot LD both right handed and left handed)
Calvin           34, 35, 37, 37 (Requal)
Mike L          39, 36, 39, 37, 39
Dave R         36, 34 (Requal)
Mike E          36 (On open sights)
Joe F            32, 33, 35
Frank           32, 33
Jonathan      36  (Jonathan is joining the Army in a few months, we expect him to shoot Expert)
Bill W           32
Jeff              32  (Sir, we thank you for your service)

I want to thank everyone for a safe and amazing shoot.  Great work all.

[Corvette]

Come on shooters, I know there are more pictures to post. 



Corvette

[Birdman]

Dang it! Boy did I miss a good shoot.
Thanks to Corvette, Lee, Ron, and Dom for leading this one. This KD takes the cake and raises the bar. What great shooters! What a great bunch of Americans!
I am still on crutches for a few more days, but doing well.

[JustaShooter]

What a great weekend!  Corvette started things off with a safety briefing (wouldn't be an Appleseed without one, would it?) and then went into a review of IMC:

[EZ3]

Dang it! Boy did I miss a good shoot.
Thanks to Corvette, Lee, Ron, and Dom for leading this one. This KD takes the cake and raises the bar. What great shooters! What a great bunch of Americans!
I am still on crutches for a few more days, but doing well.

We missed you, Birdman!  Get well soon!

[JustaShooter]

Armed (no pun intended) with our review of IMCs, we headed out to the range - at a balmy 18 degrees!

Undeterred by the cold, we headed down to the 100 yard line to confirm zeroes and determine the effects of the cold on our equipment and ammo.  After two strings of five shots each, and any needed sight adjustments, almost everyone was all set.  However, the instructor cadre needed to spend a bit of additional time working with one of the shooters to get him squared away.

Once we were all ready, we moved back to the 200 yard line to check come-ups and hold-overs and note any adjustments, then lather, rinse, repeat for 300 and 400 yards.  With the exercise complete, we were ready to test our skills on an AQT.

However, word came from the Tusco Club House that lunch was ready - and indeed, the volunteers from Tusco Rifle Club had put together a meal of hotdogs and hamburgers, baked beans, chips, and cookies! Huzzah!  We eagerly took a break from the frigid temperatures and sat down to a nice meal in the heated club house.

After lunch, we were treated to a great presentation on the weapons used by the Continental Army  by Joe Forte, one of our shooters:

[JustaShooter]

Joe brought not one, but two replicas of period rifles to show us!

[JustaShooter]

After Joe's presentation we headed back out to the range to complete the first of 5 AQTs that would be shot over the course of the weekend.   Because of the terrain, the 300 and 400 yard stages had to be shot in two flights so that everyone could see their targets (the next day, we would shoot the 200 yard stage in flights as well to avoid the mug bog and swamp the developed as the ground thawed slightly).

And what a fantastic group of shooters we had on the line!  Great attitudes across the board, and such confidence in their skills and preparation, and it showed - of the 18 shooters that day, 8 earned their Long Distance patch on their very first AQT, one with a 39 of 40!

With temperatures still in the mid 30s and dusk fast approaching we called it a day - but eager to return the next day to continue the journey!

[JustaShooter]

View from the 400 yard line - the targets are down there, somewhere...

Only half of the shooters were able to shoot at a time due to the terrain.

[JustaShooter]

View from the 300 yard line.

Again, only half of the shooters were able to shoot at a time due to the terrain.

[JustaShooter]

200 yard line - gap in the line to avoid the mud bog...

[JustaShooter]

100 yard line...  With 10 rounds... Load!

[JustaShooter]

Targets, targets everywhere!

[JustaShooter]

Shooters, your preparation time begins NOW!

[PatriotDoc]

What a great group we had this weekend.  I was honored to be out there with all of you.  There were some very skilled and accomplished Riflemen out there, and I watched and learned, and asked questions.  Everyone I asked, both shooter and instructor, was always willing to answer my questions.

Still relatively new to rifle shooting, this was a real learning experience for me.  I haven't shot very much at these distances, so the opportunity was tremendous.
I cannot overstate how pleased I was with the entire weekend.

The hot lunches were also an unexpected pleasure.
My heartfelt thanks to the Shoot Boss (outstanding), and the instructors.

I am proud to have countrymen like you men.

By the way, are there any more pictures of the "other" qualifying Riflemen (beyond the first seven qualifiers)?  If someone has those pictures, it would be greatly appreciated if they were posted.

[cwcdl79]

A couple of shots (punny, I know) of some of the great shots of the weekend!

[PaRifle1777]

Awesome! The only word I can use to describe this past weekend at New Philadelphia.  It was truly a most enjoyable time.  The entire weekend program was conducted in a most professional manner.

The instruction, outstanding as usual.  "Thank You" to all the instructors who gave up their weekend and trigger time to help us.

"Thank You" to all of you who posted pictures. 

"Thank You" to all of my fellow shooters who offered advice and support.  It was a pleasure to be on the range with you all.

[Corvette]

Doc, I think Dom posted a pic of your patch award. You should be able to download. If you have any problem, let me know. Great to meet you this past weekend, see you next year.

Corvette

[JustaShooter]

By the way, are there any more pictures of the "other" qualifying Riflemen (beyond the first seven qualifiers)?  If someone has those pictures, it would be greatly appreciated if they were posted.

BTW, Corvette's "first seven qualifiers" was actually the second group that qualified on the initial AQT Sunday morning.  cwcdl79 posted the pic of the group of eight shooters that qualified on the first AQT Saturday after lunch.

I'm still sorting through everything and hope to be able to post some more pictures soon.

[wetsight]

Wow, what a great weekend! Some skilled shooters showed up to a great range, enjoyed beautiful weather, and ended Saturday with goooood barbeque. The adjectives don't do justice to the weekend. Instruction from Corvette and the other instructors was just what was needed, which is demonstrated by the scores and the number of Long Range patches earned.
And no AAR or New Philly is complete without a photo of Hog Heaven!

[Ironman762]

Thanks for putting on this great event.

I think adding the 5 shot sighters on Saturday was helpful for most and helped confirm (for me) that our rifles were adjusted for the various ranges.   That, I think, was key to the success of the day.   Most shooters just don't have access to a range like the excellent Tusco Rifle Club to confirm come ups at 400yds.

[Corvette]

Ironman762

I agree. The sighters and the zero work at all four ranges while time consuming, was important to the success so many shooters had over the rest of the weekend. 

I was really pleased with the performance of all the shooters. It was an amazing event.

Corvette

[Charles McKinley]

A few observations:

Another great shoot at Tusco

JustaShooter is on his way to Shootboss and can handle AAR reporting

A great group of instructors and shooters worked together for a great weekend.

I have to manage my overtime to make the next shoot.

[JustaShooter]

Hey, the Winterseed patches are starting to arrive!  Got mine in the mail today!

[Corvette]

JustAShooter,

Glad the Winterseed patch showed up in one piece.  Wear it with pride, it was a pleasure to see you again and brave the cold for two great days of shooting and heritage.

Corvette