KD: New Braunfels, TX Mar 17-18 2018

[Ghostring]

Some After Action Reports are memos, some are mere recollection.  This, my friends, is a little more...

Some fifty-two times a year, a weekend brings us a brief respite from the norm and a break from our everyday lives. 
Occasionally, one of those weekends will stand out as superior to all the others.  This was that weekend!   

Armed with formidable welding equipment, and a Texas-size helping of grit and Appleseed know-how, our crew spent Friday evening welding supports on the target line for the first Texas-run KD Appleseed Event at the CTSA range -- hopeful that the weather would hold and our shooters could enjoy the fruits of our labor. 

Well, friends, the fruits were good...and the shooters were not disappointed! 

Saturday broke overcast, the sun trying in vain to pierce the low-hanging clouds.  A cool misty breeze blew gently from the 500 meter berm as our nine stalwart shooters amassed to try their hand at becoming Known Distance Riflemen.  Our shooters included Sophia, an established 3-gun shooter anxious to try long range marksmanship.  Bill H, who brought his lovely wife (and later his daughter, Mary) and his eagle-eye to the line.  Rob P and Chad were both determined to shoot the course with iron sights, Rob having earned his patch last year with optics.  Calvin brought forth a .308 Ruger scout bolt-action rifle to the mix, and instructors Roger, Paul, and Kirby stood with their AR-pattern rifles determined to make the grade.

That morning a textbook-perfect KD "sight-in" AQT was run on a difficult-to-find set of full-size D targets, thoughtfully provided by Roger, and we were able to present patches to new KD riflemen!  Kirby was able to throw the KD monkey off his back, shooting a 210 to earn his KD Rifleman patch!  Bill H was able to nail his with a very solid 212 string of fire, and Roger reconfirmed his KD abilities with a 216!  We adjourned to the picnic tables to feast on history and nourishment at lunch, then went on to shoot two more AQTs that afternoon on "hits count" targets in delightfully overcast 70 degree weather!

Sunday yawned twice, turned over, coughed and then woke grumpy, with fog and drizzle making that morning's ranging exercise a very interesting challenge!  New-fangled laser rangefinders are next-to-useless in such conditions ("Everything is 19 yards away? I can hardly see the target!"), but estimating range using your scope's reticle, MOA, and known target-size brought Calvin and Mary the closest to the mark, with Mary being just 2 yards shy of perfect and bringing home a lovely stainless cup for her work!  The weather cleared "just enough" to shoot another two more AQTs that day, with all participants getting within spitting distance, but not quite breaking the 200 point barrier.  Although everyone agreed that it was a fun and successful weekend, it was somewhat frustrating for our door-kickers. 

Fortunately, we were able to fix that with our final exercise in long-range marksmanship..."Ram Therapy"

Picture this: The CTSA range is a full-bore silhouette range, and perched at the 500M berm is a steel Ram.  It's approximately life-size, and turned at close to 30 degrees to the firing line, so it presents a somewhat smaller target than it could.  From the firing-line, the head is the most visible part of the target.  The games is this: The shooter gets six shots to try and hit it, whoever hits it the most times gets a prize!  With Roger doing the shot-calling, Rob P, bringing that heavy iron-sighted Springfield M1A supermatch to his tired shoulder, was able to ping it two times out of six!  Mary hit it once, Paul hit it twice, Kirby three times!!!  In fact, ALL of our participants were able to hit that 500M target at least one time, and Bill H. hit it 4 of 6 times to claim a special prize!  Congratulations, Bill!!

All-in-all a glorious weekend, and proof that marksmanship lives in Texas!  Huzzah!

Pictures inbound shortly...

[Two Wolves]

Thank you Jim for all of your hard work and dedication towards bringing people together to learn, better understand and appreciate our history and the meaning of liberty. You make the World a better place through your individual efforts.

Yet another great experience on my journey down the river. Best regards----

[scuzzy]

Yup - Jim knocked it out of the ballpark. One heck of an event. And the Ram Therapy - great new tradition for the range.

Thank you so very much. I feel honored to know you and all the other instructors. Even Roger. 

[Cable___Guy]

 

[Ghostring]

 
Ha!  Cable___Guy is right, but the CD(!) with almost all the pictures from Saturday is sitting on the front seat of the Bronco, which is not here at work!  Here's a shot of the new 300 yard pad, and slow-fire from the 400 yard "Mount Bubba"
I'll post up another mess of them tonight, though!

Thanks, Scuzzy and Two Wolves, and everyone!   

The weekend was just spectacular!  It's fun to just close your eyes and see it...
Remember how fast Calvin was flying that Ruger Scout boltie through the paces? -- Thunderbolt should be his forum name! 
...Or the double-hole on Rob P's target that was just right near perfectly centered?  Where's the 10th shot?  Right through that hole!
...Or Paul bringing the freakin' artwork for the talk on King's mountain and Fort Ticonderoga? Brought a whole new depth to the history!
...Or Roger pulling out another round of full-size D targets to shoot?  Where does he keep them? 
...Or when Bill ...Just...Kept...Dinging...That...Ram?   
...Or the little hole-in-the-wall Mexican Restaurant and Table 54? They oughta put an Appleseed sticker on that one. 

Really, this was one to remember, folks.  And we're doing it again, 3 more times this year!!!

[sleepy]

Sounds like everyone had a great time! I'm looking forward to shooting in NB with you guys in the fall.