AAR - Kenai Alaska, August 10,11

[ItsanSKS]

What a weekend!

Kenai Alaska - a place known for its phenomenal salmon fishing, also happens to be home to the Snow Shoe Gun Club, a members-only facility that remains perpetually busy during the short summer months here in Alaska.  Our inaugural event at this facility didn't attract anyone from the local area, as they were likely too busy catching fish, or packing salmon into their freezer; that said, three experienced Appleseeders came to this new venue, intent on improving their skills.

Saturday, the weather was gorgeous, if hot (for Alaskan standards, anyways), with clear skies and temps in the low 80's.  A donated 10x20 canopy was instrumental in keeping instructors and students out of the direct sunlight, and was a big hit. 

Saturday's instruction included a new exercise, in which the students were given an opportunity to practice their trigger control under the watchful eyes of an instructor, who coached them through a proper squeeze and reset.  This exercise proved to be quite helpful, and will likely become part of the standard program of instruction at future events.

Joseph M. became Alaskan Rifleman #165 Saturday afternoon, shooting a 228 on the only AQT of the day.  After achieving this illustrious goal with a borrowed 10/22, he followed through by clearing the "Hits Count" target.  A fine example, sir!

Sunday is typically a brief review of Saturday's instruction, followed by the "AQT Grind", in which students are given multiple opportunities to try their skills against the Appleseed Qualification Target.  Since all of our students had qualified as Riflemen by end of day Saturday, we used Sunday as a skill-builder day- everything from practicing transitions to practicing magazine changes, with an emphasis on Simplicity and Precision.  Each student received tons of individualized coaching, and drills were tailored to the various challenges that the students were facing, and were run relentlessly. 

My personal favorite was a drill designed to break the habit of rushing the first shot during a transition stage- this is a common problem, as the students are under tight time constraints, and have many things to accomplish prior to being in position and ready to fire the first shot; a typical student takes their first shot after 20 seconds has already elapsed, on a course of fire that only allows 55 or 65 seconds.  The results are abysmal.  The first shot misses, the shots are rushed, and the students don't have time to finish the course of fire.  It's a perpetual problem.

The drill, designed on the spot, had the students prepare five magazines with one round apiece; they would transition into either prone or seated, load their rifle, acquire NPOA on the selected target, fire their round, then stand up and do it all over again four more times.  The drill was performed without time constraints, and the instructors worked with each shooter to identify flaws in the transition that would cause the students to be off-target at the end of the transition;  this one-on-one instruction saw each student make great strides in their transitions, with time-to-first-shot decreasing from 15-18 seconds at the start, down to 8-10 seconds!  More important than the time required to engage the target, the group sizes on these targets were quite impressive- most were solidly in the "5" ring, and all were solid hits.  Marked improvement, indeed!  While it may not be practical for an event with a larger number of students, this drill definitely worked, and will remain in the toolbox.

I'd like to thank my fellow instructors for making the trek to Kenai:
OldMikey, who flew up from Kodiak to be with us.
FourFans, who made the trip down from Eagle River.
AK-84 (Alaska Rifleman #84), still recovering from neck surgery, who made the trip from Anchor Point.

I couldn't have done it without you, and it was a pleasure working with you. 

Doug & Clover, with the great strides you made at this event, and the tasks laid out for your at-home practice, I am confident that the coveted Distinguished patch will be in your future soon. 

Joseph, congratulations on becoming Alaska's newest Rifleman.  A 228 is nothing to sneeze at, even if done with a .22!  To follow it up with a 204 with your centerfire shows a great deal of skill indeed, and a little bit of practicing with that rifle will see you re-qualifying pretty darn quick. 

Unfortunatley, I do not appear to have taken any photos during this event; I sincerely hope that *someone* took pictures, and will be able to post them here for all to see. 

Finally, a big thank you to the fine folks at the Snow Shoe Gun Club, for opening their doors and welcoming us to their wonderful facility.  I look forward to a long and fruitful relationship here. 


In Liberty,

ItsanSKS



 

[Tennessee Beast]

I really like the transition drill.  Brilliant! . I'm definitely going to use that. 

[FourFans]

Thanks to ItsanSKS and AK-84 for taking lead on this. This is a huge improvement for Appleseed Alaska and I am sure it will pay off,, soon. The Snowshoe BOD President loves AS and wants us back.. WIN/WIN

  --FF