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AAR New Philly, Ohio KD Nov 3 & 4, 2018

Started by Corvette, November 05, 2018, 04:36:25 PM

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Corvette

Well, we finished our last Ohio shoot of 2018, a KD at Tusco Rifle Club in New Philly, Ohio. And, my what a finish to the 2018 Appleseed Trail.  We had sixteen motivated shooters show up early on Saturday morning ready to go.  It had rained in Ohio for four straight days. In fact, it rained all Friday night and the rain didn't stop until half way through the welcome and safety briefing Saturday morning.
 
When we got up to the 600 yd range at Tusco, things were pretty rough.  The range is half sparse grass and half clay.  We had a number of small streams working their way through the range with runoff from the surrounding hillsides.  The range has rock facings on three sides and everything drains to the range.

We set up the target line, four firing lines (on the few high spots) and started the KD process.  Sighting groups were shot, sight adjustments were made and confirmation sighting groups were shot at all four ranges (100-400).  This took all morning and part of the afternoon to complete but it was time well invested.

On our first AQT of the weekend, our 16 shooters showed what they "knew what they were about".  We had full size D targets with the complete 3 ring so we did the AQTs for score with shooters sending 20-rounds downrange in stage 4 instead of the normal 10 in search of a total score of 200 or better. 

Well don't ever say that Buckeye's can't shoot. (OK, we did have a little help from that "State Up North" and one shooter from Virginia)  Of 16 shooters, 9 shot qualifying scores on the very first AQT.  (Holly Cow Batman!!!) And, there were some amazing scores at that.  We had one shoot distinguished (Roger-Birdman on forum-Red Hat) put up a 240, Tony from VA-209, Chewie (JMadison on forum, IIT) 216, Mitch (Hammbone on forum-IIT4) 224, Lawrence 215 (open sights), Craig S (Mich) 213 (bolt 308), Alex (Bamafan on forum-IIT) 223,  Brad 205, Mike S 224.
We shot a second AQT Saturday with similar results with most shooters shooting a backup score.  We picked up two additional qualifiers on the second AQT.  Joe 201 and Ron (Crazyduckhunter on forum, IIT3) 203.  We broke down the line just before dark and the instructors headed to the club house to rack out.  We had a great pot luck dinner with chicken wings, chilly, stuffed cabbage rolls,  salad, cheese dip and a wealth of cookies for desert. 

All but one of the shooters returned Sunday morning.  The sun had come out and the range had dryed out some from the wind which blew directly into us all day on Saturday. The front had come through and the wind was behind us from the South now which made the day perfect for shooting.  Mid-50's, light and steady tail wind.  Good to go.

After some quick sighters Sunday morning, we started back into our AQTs.  Shooters kept racking up qualifying scores.  We broke for lunch in the clubhouses and shared a biography of the life of Paul Revere.  Paul is an important part of the First Strike but few people know how truly amazing his entire life was.  This was followed by some general comments on the uniqueness of the American Republic gifted to us by the founders. We are the longest surviving and most successful Republic in history.  We are the only colonial revolt that was not followed by a dictatorship. (Think Napolean, Stalin, Mao, etc.) Instead we had great men that were also good men at heart that worked out their differences and gave us the United States of America. 

USA was originally a plural noun during the Revolution and the period of the Articles of Confederation.  But, with the adoption of the US Constitution, it became a singular noun and our great country was founded.

We shot a total of five AQTs with a total target count of 62 targets.  We had 37 qualifying scores.  That's 60% of the targets shot were qualifying scores. Truly the best group of shooters I ever had the pleasure of working with.  We added two additional people to the qualifying list on Sunday. Nadia ( IIT) 201 and Craig S (not Mich) with a 206.  Craig's score was extra special as he earned both his Rifleman Patch and his Long Range patch with this score.  A two-fer, huzzah. 

Below is a complete list of the qualifying scores shot.
Tony (VA)                                     209, 217, 224, 216, 209
Roger (Instructor)                         240, 237, 240
Chewie (IIT)                                 216, 210, 200
Mitch (IIT)                                    224, 233, 237, 238, 225 (So close to Distinguished)
Lawrence (open sights)                  215, 216 (couldn't come back on Sunday so only shot two AQTs)
Craig S (Mich) (bolt rifle)               213, 210, 204
Alex (IIT)                                     223, 216, 221
Brad                                            205, 211, 206, 210, 212
Mike S                                         224, 204
Joe (Mich)                                    203
Ron (IIT)                                     224, 204
Nadia (IIT)                                   201, 200
Craig S (not Mich)                         206 (earned both Rifleman Patch and Long Range Rocker)   
                             
37 qualifying scores.  13 of 16 shooters qualified.  Four shooters qualified on every AQT. Holy Cow Batman!!!!

This amazing weekend came to a close with about an hour of personal development time on the range.  We posted targets at 600 yds and some shooters worked on their come ups to 600, the range had steel hanging at 200, 400 and 600 yds.  Some shooters chose to engage these targets. 

And, one of our Instructors, CWCDL79, had a birthday party on the line.  Dom has a 1917 Enfield 30-06 that was made in November of 2018.  This rifle probably did not find its way to WW1 as the war ended on 11-11-18 but she is 100 yrs old this month. 

Dom sighted it in at the 200 yd steel and many of us took turns "wishing her happy birthday" by banging on a steel plate at 200 with her.  We finished the day by policing up the 400 yd line and shared fond fairwell's with the shooters as the sun was setting. 

My thanks first to Tusco Rifle Range for hosting us.  Tusco is our favorite Ohio range and we thank them for supporting our program.  Next, thanks to Dom, Birdman and TomMRP for helping work the line.  Finally, a big thank you to all the shooters for providing a truly amazing weekend.  I want all of you in my platoon cause you all got serious skills. 

I look forward to seeing all of you at a future Appleseed in 2019.  Keep you eye on the web site as our 2019 shoots will start showing up.

Corvette
Be bold, brave and forthright and the bold, the brave and the forthright will gather around you!

Corvette

Be bold, brave and forthright and the bold, the brave and the forthright will gather around you!

HammBone

#2
Such a great weekend from start to finish. I was really stoked to see how easily the 25 meter skills transferred over to full distance.

Really strong shooters as you can see from the results Steve posted. It was an honor to meet and shoot with Roger Burdick, our current CMP national champion in Senior Rimfire Sporter. We had several current and past members of the military. I got a great talk on how artillery batteries worked in Vietnam from a Forward Observer who served over there in the late 60s.

KD shoots are much more active than normal Appleseeds. My fitness tracker logged 18 miles over the two days.

Much thanks to Steve for putting on a well organized, safe shoot. The talk on Paul Revere was very interesting and moving. He was also dealing with a very painful back but didn't complain, but it kept him away from his rifle. As always he was up early making his delicious breakfast sandwiches for everyone. Those are one of the highlights of the weekend for me.

Tusco is a fabulous club and they really do things right. The facilities were super nice and everything was fastidiously clean and tidy. The hot showers were lovely even though they smelled like the third level of hell from the sulfurous well water. It cleans just the same.

If you have not done a KD, definitely put it on your schedule.
1st Appleseed/Cleared Redcoat/Rifleman: 4/20/2013 - Miamisburg, OH
1st Known Distance Rifleman: 11/3/2018 - New Philadelphia, OH
1st Winterseed Rifleman: 1/26/2019 - Liberty Center, OH
Donned the Red Hat: 6/16/2019 - Wilmington, OH

"Beware of an old man in a profession where men usually die young." - Anonymous

"Blessed is the man, who when facing death, thinks only of his front sight." - Jeff Cooper

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BamaFan7

What a shoot! I want to again give a big thanks to all the instructors and to Corvette for running an awesome KD event. This was my first KD event and I can't even begin to tell you how much fun I had. Getting to apply those 25m skills at full distance really brings everything together we've learned along the Appleseed trail. As always, it was a pleasure meeting everyone on the line. We really do have some great Americans, good people, in the Appleseed community. And to top it off, Corvette's heritage on Paul Revere was just excellent.

I highly highly recommend attending a KD if you haven't before. Huzzah! ...and Roll Tide!
"where the body of the people, or any single man, is deprived of their right, or is under the exercise of a power without right, and have no appeal on earth, then they have a liberty to appeal to heaven, whenever they judge the cause of sufficient moment."

Crazyduckhunter

What a awesome weekend at Tusco Rifle Club. Such a great time was had by all at this great anchor range for Appleseed here in Ohio. Thank you to all the members at Tusco that support Appleseed. We greatly appreciate.

Yeah the mud was something for sure no doubt but we adapted and having the huge tarps as a dry island between the running streams Saturday was a blessing.

The time and effort on Saturday to confirm and gain knowledge of your personal rifle is a huge bonus and adds greatly to the scores when the AQT's are finally rolling. The scores showed this as posted above. Time well spent.

Shooting the birthday gal and hitting the steel with her was awesome. Thank you CWCdl79 for bringing that piece of history and letting everyone take a turn and sending some rounds downrange with her.

cwcdl79

#6
WOW! fantastic event at Tusco/New Philadelphia! It's great getting to see so many patriotic Americans coming out and putting what they learned at 25m to the test at full distance. The time taken on Saturday morning paid off in spades (as Corvette pointed out above). Thank you one and all for taking the trip out to join us in the fun. Some traveled short distances, others all the way from Virginia and _ichigan. I want to thank those that stayed on Sunday to help me wish "happy birthday" to my 1917 Enfield. It was all the more fitting since this year is the 100th anniversary of the end of the war to end all wars. Looking forward to an even better 2019! HUZZAH!

BamaFan7

Thank you again for allowing me the opportunity to fire a few rounds through the birthday girl. What an incredible experience!

Quote from: cwcdl79 on November 09, 2018, 03:26:54 PM
WOW! fantastic event at Tusco/New Philadelphia! It's great getting to see so many patriotic Americans coming out and putting what they learned at 25m to the test at full distance. The time taken on Saturday morning paid off in spades (as Corvette pointed out above). Thank you one and all for taking the trip out to join us in the fun. Some traveled short distances, others all the way from Virginia and _ichigan. I want to thank those that stayed on Sunday to help me wish "happy birthday" to my 1917 Enfield. It was all the more fitting since this year is the 100th anniversary of the end of the war to end all wars. Looking forward to an even better 2019! HUZZAH!
"where the body of the people, or any single man, is deprived of their right, or is under the exercise of a power without right, and have no appeal on earth, then they have a liberty to appeal to heaven, whenever they judge the cause of sufficient moment."

Ace Freeman

Firstly, I want to thank everybody that makes Project Appleseed happen.  It is an awesome organization with top flight volunteers.  The service provided to the marksmanship community is valued and appreciated.  Thank you all!

Secondly, the New Philadelphia Known Distance Appleseed at the Tusco Rifle Club was a stellar event.   Corvette and the cadre manage the event safely and effectively.  The inclement weather left the range a quagmire of mud and puddles but we pressed on under the guidance of the shoot boss and the cadre.  Corvette had enough tarps to cover the disheveled firing points and assure all the shooters were as dry as possible.

The shoot went very smoothly.  We attempted 5 AQTs over the two days.  Everybody had ample chances to earn there Known Distance Rocker. 

Lunch provided by the Tusco
Rifle club was very good.  Ample warm food for everybody.  Thanks to Tusco for host us so graciously.  The Tusco Rifle Club ranges are very nice and the club grounds are beautiful.  And hot meal too.  Tusco gets a 5 star rating in my book!

A final note about Corvette and the Cadre.  The cadre did an excellent job of coaching, teaching, and eking out every bit of marksmanship skill out of the shooters.  They were motivational, patient, and knowledgable.   Thanks for the good work.  A special thanks to Bird Man, Ham Bone, and DOM.  And an extra special thanks to Corvette.  The Tusco KD Seed is awesome because of your tireless efforts to make the event the best it can be.  You are a Appleseed hero!  Thank you!

Very Respectfully,

Ace Freeman

RedLeg

Way to go new KD Rifleman!

Happy to see Nadia out there earning her KD Rocker!  I shot next to her in Wilmington late last October in what ended up being a Winterseed event.

Great job Mitch!  I knew you'd transition to the KD with aplomb.

Need to get back out there again myself.
"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace.
We seek not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen." - Samuel Adams

"Posterity! You will never know, how much it cost the present Generation, to preserve your Freedom! I hope you will make a good Use of it. If you do not, I shall repent in Heaven, that I ever took half the Pains to preserve it." - John Adams in a letter to Abigail, 26 April 1777

sleepy

"Holy Cow Batman!!!" somehow seems understated. That sounds like one rocking weekend; wish I were there.