Talladega, AL AAR - Dec 7-8, 2019 Known Distance

[Maximum Ordinate]

Another great event at CMP Talladega Marksmanship Park.  This was an Instructor-Only KD, hosted for the Georgia crew.

The range is awesome, the staff is friendly and professional.  The shooters were great and I can't say enough good things about the instructor crew... so right to the highlights of the weekend:

- Two new KD Riflemen:  Mechanic & ArmyVet.  ArmyVet persevered and qualified despite significant equipment challenges.  Huzzah to both of you!

- Six KD Rifleman requalifying:  Google, Roswell (3 times!), Gdawg (4 times!), Hardbean, FreedomZXCV (3 times!), and Tellico.  These kids sure can shoot.

- After much perseverance, Google finally shot a perfect KD score and Roswell earned his Distinguished bar.  I'm proud of both of you.

- Ramblin' Wreck hosted our first time shooting on the brand new Unknown Distance Range.  He brought with him a Top Shot Appleseed trophy for bragging rights.  Thanks, Wreck, for putting that together!

And on to the pics!

Traditional group photo


Good old stage two.  Rapid fire stages are free money.


Hardbean rocking it old school


She really is smarter than you.  And me.  And everyone else for that matter.


First group of qualifiers!  Tellico, Free, and Gdawg


ArmyVet making it happen


Gdawg after one of his four qualifying scores


Shoot boss in a rare moment without a crooked hat


Hardbean is a man who knows what he's about


Mechanic after much perseverance


After many many 49s, Google with her 50/50 perfect score.  FINALLY!


Roswell with his shiny new Distinguished bar.


Setting up the UKD range.


Documenting for posterity!


Don't mind the old guy... he'll be alright


Range estimation and UKD






Tellico with the best time on the UKD competition

[Tennessee Beast]

It was an awesome time.  I want to thank the instructors for the hard work and excellent instruction.

[Rustygun]

Wow! Looks like a large time was had for sure. Lot of good shooting going on. An outstanding group no doubt

[ArmyVet]

This was my first KD event and I went in nervous, but anxious. I learned a lot thanks to the senior instructor corps. Thanks to all that set up this event. The time and effort (and expense) is greatly appreciated. After getting some valuable advice regarding equipment (optics), I shall return. Tellico was very helpful explaining the benefits of the ACSS reticle (already on order!). Especially I want to thank CokeGuy. He exemplified "instructor" by being down on the mat with me helping me call my shots on the 600 yard string of fire - exactly where instructors should be.

If anyone is on the fence about attending a KD event (like I was), please "pull the trigger" and attend. This is marksmanship and I am hooked now.

[Ramblin' Wreck]

"A good time was had by all" is a favorite refrain on get-togethers but I think it really applies to this event. Can't speak for everyone but I've worked most of the KD events at Talladega and I can't remember having a better time. The UKD competition was really fun and I was really impressed at how many shooters were able to hit all 7 targets with their own ranged data.

My buddy Tellico, who was an orange hat at my first Appleseed event, ran the 7 target course TWICE (shot a target out of order on the first round) and never touched his scope. That's some effective marksmanship. HUZZAH Shawn!!! I'm already thinking about how to improve the course for next time. Next event I may really go all out and spend more than $20 of my own money on the trophy. It's good to have relatives who own a trophy business. 
Thanks to Maximum Ordinate for organizing and being SB for the event and to all my fellow instructors who came out to help work and shoot. Love y'all! 
Wreck

[Roswell]

Wow! What a weekend! This weekend was amazing. Great camaraderie, great cadre, great goodness am I tired. As always, Maximum Ordinate led a top notch show and the whole Instructor crew was incredible. They have this down to a science and we were lucky to learn from the best.  And I was very fortunate to be able to tag along and help where I could.

Although this started out as GA Cadre event, it was rolled out to include Alabama and Tennessee and was a great bonding experience between the 3 states. I was delighted to not only see familiar faces, but some that I had not seen in a while and some that were new.

And don't forget about the shooting! Oh yes!  The Talladega Marksmanship Park really is like Disneyland for shooters.

The newest edition is the Unknown Distance range. What an experience! It was a hit and I imagine it is just going to keep getting better. I managed to get video of most of the attendees shooting it, but got the camera out a little too slowly for some (and Tellico was just too fast! LOL)

Here's a link to "Talladega - GA Instructor Only" in my Dropbox: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/eavk9zk40twtv04/AADSd1VeYuqpX41Sf_Ul4rbZa?dl=0

Thank you to everyone that helped and participated. Let's do it again next year! AND every year!

In Liberty,
Roswell

[Tennessee Beast]

The UKD was a big hit with me.  I have already signed up for the event in August at Raton, NM.  I have to redeem myself 

[Tellico]

I don't say a lot (in years) on the forum, but this deserves some time to think and communicate.

I am so indebted to my late brother-in-law David.  Every event is a wonderful reminder of his influence in my life, and bringing me to this state of mind. 

I made a realization this weekend.  The quality of the barrel doesn't make the rifleman, but is sure does confirm the quality of the rifleman.  This weekend I had a barrel from David that proved to me that I was better than I thought.  Previously, I never scored over 45/50.  Rusty forgot that I scored a 48/50 and I was 0.2(wind stopped at that moment) from getting 50/50.  Add to that a new ACSS prism scope from Primary Arms, I was in the bubble this weekend.

Rusty, thank you for all you do, for all you endure, and all you deal with.  I am not a big enough man to do your job.  All I can do is be a sounding board and encourage you on.  I am so glad you and Ben are still alive in Appleseed.  We must keep sight on the vision!  All of us must keep sight on the vision!  It is the only way for Appleseed to survive.

For all you guys that came out - thanks.  It is so refreshing to know there are like minded people in the world who care enough to work for Liberty!  Time at the range is so therapeutic to the soul!

For the guys who shot the Unknown Distance steel, breath faster! 

Tellico

[Hardbean]

I was practically forced to attend this event since I hadn't shot a qualifying score yet this year.  Actually hadn't shot once this year since all of the Appleseeds I worked were pretty full.  So with time running out and an Instructor Only weekend in Talladega scheduled, my arm was twisted!

There was great food: Rana's Mexican for dinner and Waffle House for breakfast.

Waffle House, Mmmmmm.


As always, CMP Talladega is an absolute treat.  The electronic targets give instant feedback which allow you to confirm zero with NO WALKING!  You can't beat that.  Well, there is one thing better--> An entire line filled with instructors.  I'm pretty confident with my iron sighted AR but there was room for improvement.  Thanks to Ramblin' Wreck for spotting some trigger habits that needed some correction.  And additional thanks to Wreck for explaining his setup on his competition rifle to me.

The UKD was the highlight of the weekend.  To have to range targets (with irons) and be able to hit all the targets proved that what we teach can be applied to more than paper targets.  Ben, I'll chip in a fiver next year towards the trophy fund!

It was satisfying to finally shoot qualifying score on the final round.  There was some gusty winds giving me fits at 600yds.  It was also satisfying to see so many quality instructors in one place.  Thanks to all who helped make this a wonderful weekend!  Can't wait to do it again.