AAR Pelham NH April 6, 2019

[Luigi]

Wow what a glorious day for our first shoot in NH of 2019!  Fourteen motivated shooters from Scout Troop 424 turned out on an initially chilly morning for what transformed into one of the warmest days of the year so far.  by the time the afternoon arrived, we were in shirtsleeves trying not to get sunburned!  After registration and a thorough safety brief, we got down to the business of setting up and shooting our morning Redcoat.  The rest of the morning was occupied with blocks of instruction in proper use of the sling, the prone shooting position,/steady hold factors, the 6 steps of firing the shot, Natural Point Of Aim (NPOA) and IMC (inches, Minutes, and Clicks or, how to zero your rifle with confidence).  We broke at noon for lunch under the covered awning at the back of the range to hear FiremanBob give a great rendition of the First Strike of the Match, complete with a large map of Battle Road.  Then it was more instruction in the Standing and Sitting/kneeling positions, followed by our first crack at the AQT target.  We did one Stage-by-stage and one Rapid-fire version, interspersed with a rendition by the Shoot Boss of the Second Strike. Everyone took turns being an instructor for a few minutes in the Ball-And Dummy Drill.  We wrapped up with shooting our afternoon Redcoat target, where as always the group score noticeably improved from the AM.  Finally, we heard the Third Strike and about some Dangerous old Men (and Women).  Youth received an Appleseed drummer patch, and sticker - and everyone left tired but much more knowledgeable in both marksmanship and American Revolution history.  It was a pleasure shooting with you all and allowing us to pass along an important element of our common heritage as Americans - marksmanship and how it crucially helped us gain our independence on that fateful day of April 19th 1775.  Remember the choices and sacrifices our ancestors made for liberty as we mark the 244th anniversary of Patriot's Day this Friday.  On behalf of our entire Instructor Team we hope to see you all back again at another Project Appleseed event.  And remember - a Rifleman persists!