Palm Bay, FL AAR October 19-20, 2019

[Guntuckian]

Although we had 9 students signed up for this Appleseed, with another 4 students anticipated as walk-ons, and a strong possibility of even 3 more, we ultimately had only 4 of the 9 students actually present Saturday morning, along with one new walk-on, for a total of only 5.  The weatherman's forecast for rain and wind from Tropical Storm Nestor kept many students away this weekend.  But, we had Appleseed staff and facilities on hand ready to handle 16 students.  So, what this meant was that we had an outstandingly high teacher to student ratio for those who did show!  This ultimately meant that an instructor was always able to work with each student continuously, and the extremely rapid improvements in marksmanship results were simply amazing.

If you missed this Appleseed due to the weatherman's pessimism, then you missed an excellent opportunity to polish your marksmanship skills in turbo-drive with continuous personal attention by an Instructor!  As it turned out, the weather on Saturday morning through early Saturday afternoon and again later on Saturday afternoon through the rest of Saturday was very pleasant;   overcast with slight breezes, making for nearly ideal conditions in which to learn marksmanship in comfort!  The weather on Sunday was even better, with no rain blowing through, and very pleasant temperatures.  For those who did attend, it was a weekend of extremely high skill improvements!

When Tropical Storm Nestor feeder bands finally blew through, with 50+ mph winds and sideways rain, for 20 minutes at mid-afternoon Saturday, we simply switched gears to presenting history, and our students stayed dry under the fully-covered line, while we collectively soaked in history and heritage rather than in rain.  The Appleseed show went on without a hitch!  (The only issue was we had to replace targets on the target line that simply had dissolved in the car wash equivalent force of rain and wind!  But, with the high instructor staff present, the instructors, wearing foul weather ponchos, simply put up new targets for the students despite the rain!)

With all the open space on the firing line, we also put our AppleCore volunteer on the line, along with one of our Instructor staff, for them to get in some quality trigger time.  On Saturday morning, with 7 shooters, our Red Coat targets showed we had 3 shooters effective at 100 yards, 0 shooters effective at 200 yards, 1 shooter effective at 300 yards, and 1 shooter effective at 400 yards.  Two even managed to pass muster with Morgan's Shingle shot test, nailing the shingle, on Saturday morning.  One shooter even cleared the Red Coat target, making 3 hits respectively at 100, 200, 300, and 400 yards, as well as nailing  Morgan's Shingle.  Now, this was some seriously good shooting.

By the end of Saturday, results were greatly improved on the Red Coat target, when we had 4 shooters passing muster with Morgan's Shingle shot test!  We also had 2 shooters clearing the Red Coat target!  The AQT results for Saturday were likewise outstandingly good, with two students scoring Rifleman (Expert), with one being a re-qualification, and the other being a newly-discovered Rifleman!           

This Appleseed was also an opportunity for "Willociraptor" (Will) to continue his path down the Appleseed Trail, and he successfully passed his final Full Instructor Progress Check.  In Appleseed fashion, we had a send-up of his old orange hat, with each student and many staff, including Will, preparing a magazine of 10 rounds each, and then, with Will's hat placed on the target line, firing together in unison, shredding his old orange hat, which had served it purpose well!  That new Red Hat looks mighty good on you Will;  you demonstrated your mastery of the curriculum well and your promotion to Full Instructor is well deserved!

Altogether, over the two days, 6 AQTs were done.  The Rifleman results for students were outstanding! Dan re-qualified with a 218 and Paul scored a 216, as a brand new Rifleman!  HUZZAAH!

Everyone improved their marksmanship skills greatly this weekend, and honed their marksmanship skills.   We also had numerous shooters who all scored above 180 on their AQTs, just missing by one or two or three shots from earning their Rifleman Patches, too, this weekend! Dry fire practice is the key to earning your Rifleman Patch.

Kristen, your final AQT score of 184 with iron sights on Sunday was outstanding!  This was tremendous improvement from Saturday morning, when you initially had trouble getting on paper.  I see many great rifle marksmanship results in your future!  Keep it up, and you will get your Rifleman patch, soon!

Gary, I see many great rifle marksmanship results in your future!  Your final AQT score on Sunday, of 185, shows you are very close to getting your patch in the very near future, too! 

Dan, it was a pleasure to see you back on the line this weekend, re-qualifying with a 218 score.  We hope to see you back in the very near future.

Madeleine, your first time out with a rifle, and a new rifle at that, showed you have very high skill levels.  Had you not had to return to university, and stayed on Sunday, I am sure you would have scored Rifleman this weekend.  Your final score on Saturday was just a couple of shots short of earning a Rifleman patch.  We hope to see you again when you are back in town, home from university!

Paul,  you did some mighty shooting this weekend.  Your Rifleman score of 216 was no fluke;  I am sure you can do it again and again!  We hope to see you again, soon!

Christopher, you did some mighty fine shooting this weekend.  Your skills are well on their way to earning you a Rifleman patch.  We hope to see you again, soon, in the near future! 

In grand Appleseed fashion, we cleared the line, and we all pitched in and left the host range cleaner than when we arrived for our Appleseed.

Kudos to the Port Malabar Rifle and Pistol Club for so graciously providing us a range for the weekend without any range fees! The fully-covered line, with a separate area for the history portions, is a great venue.  It made the foul weather blowing through a non-issue on Saturday afternoon.

Kudos to all the Appleseed staff who made this event a success. Special mention to SWOFO, who "took one for the team", while setting up the target line, when attacked by wasps.  He ended up in the emergency clinic, with multiple stings, along with a foot and a head injury incurred while escaping the wasps.  Fortunately, no broken bones, and he even managed to take care of the wasps, thereby protecting both students and staff.  Your dedication to the mission is duly noted, sir!   You have our best wishes, Ray, for fast healing!

All in all, this was a glorious weekend in the company of fellow patriots, with us gathering together this weekend to help save the Ship of State from sinking. Our spirits were definitely lifted. We'll see you again, soon!  Keep up with your dry-fire practice!

Pictures to follow.

-- Gary

[Cold Warrior]

Willociraptor is a RED Hat!
Great job Will. 


Huzzah!!

[Willociraptor]

That weather was somethin else! I can tell ya one thing, there were no summer soldiers or sunshine patriots on that line! The progress everybody made was truly impressive. Each student received 1-on-1 instruction from every instructor present. It was a venerable "Moving Circle of Instruction," if you will.   

[Guntuckian]

Pictures of our youth attendee, our new Rifleman Paul and re-qualifying Rifleman Dan, Willociraptor getting his new Red Hat, and the proper way to retire Willociraptor's old orange hat.  Each student on the line, and many instructors, including Will, prepared a magazine with 10 rounds each and aimed for the old orange hat.  Now, this is the proper way to retire an old orange hat.  Huzzaah!

We are so proud of all our attendees!

[migranteng]

Thank you very much Gary and all the other excellent Appleseed staff for all your help and training. I am really looking forward to the next opportunity to learn from you. Fixes for our equipment should be in within a week and I will start training with it.

The migrant engineer.

[Guntuckian]

Thank you very much Gary and all the other excellent Appleseed staff for all your help and training. I am really looking forward to the next opportunity to learn from you. Fixes for our equipment should be in within a week and I will start training with it.

The migrant engineer.

Awesome!  You were just a couple of shots from making Rifleman.  I know there is a Rifleman patch in your future very soon! 

-- Gary

[Guntuckian]

More pictures from our Appleseed:

[Guntuckian]

More pictures from our Appleseed:

[Guntuckian]

More pictures from our Appleseed: 

Note 1:  If the prepared magazine rattles, it has 8 rounds in it.  If the prepared magazine does not rattle, it has 2 rounds in it. 

Note 2:  You have to cover your dominant eye, if your dominant eye is opposite sided from your dominant hand and you shoot on your dominant hand side;  an eye patch works great!  (Or, you could just learn to shoot on your non-dominant hand side, too!)

[Guntuckian]

More pix.  (And, please post more of 'em if you have 'em!)

[Guntuckian]

We did get high winds and rain for a short while on Saturday.