Stafford VA, January 4-5, 2020

[BrotherPilot]

Eleven souls braved the weather on Saturday in pursuit of liberty.  The first charge of the Red Coats was repulsed, but only once they were within 100 yards and then not completely.  Instruction in the fundamentals of rifle marksmanship followed....and at the end of the day, due to the weather and the demonstrated determination and marksmanship of the patriots on the line, the red coats did not return on Saturday.  Sunday, they charged again in the morning...and were repulsed with grave casualties.  Sunday evening after more instruction the red coats charged once more, slow learners that they are, only to be handily routed at some good distance.

All that to say the weather Saturday afternoon was frightful...the skies darkened and we somewhat foolishly pressed ahead...the last two stages of the AQT were shot from the mud and 1/2" or more of water. Cold water. I want to especially call out Owen, one of our youth shooters, for not only never complaining...i heard not one word of complaint from he or his brother the whole weekend, but also, in the driving rain and strong wind, from a mud puddle, shooting an AQT of 192 with a total of, IIRC, 90 in stage 4.  Very very well done indeed for anyone but especially for a young man at his first Appleseed shoot.

Sunday the weather was much better, clear, a bit windy and a bit chilly, and we began with AQTs.  We paused after two for an around the clock drill and did two more before stopping for lunch, and the 2nd strike of the match.  After lunch the Wolfhound drove the AQT train.  We paused after two AQTs to fire Natural Point of Oreo (carding the sights with Oreos hot glued on a squares target).  Five of our 8 shooters (three dropped out overnight, one due to a cold the other two due to other commitments) earned a pack of oreos.  Owen, again, led the way by exploding his oreo target with his first round.  His brother earned his pack of oreos on his fourth round.  One of our adult shooters didn't get the oreos with carded sights , but when we gave those who still had targets a chance to shoot again, chose to do so standing, and the oreo did not survive.

That same adult shooter later earned his rifleman patch with a 215 IIRC, including a stage 1 score of 50, 9V.  Very impressive. First time I've seen the center shot out of the 100yd target.

In total we had three new riflemen including Owen's brother Ethan. Sadly Owen did not -quite- manage a rifleman score though he DID clean the last red coat of the weekend.

A very fine weekend indeed, despite the foul weather Saturday afternoon.

[DMVRifle]

Just wanna say how great a time I had this weekend - all the instructors were absolutely fantastic. So much so that I've signed up for a year membership - I want to be able to pin that 'Distinguished' above the Rifleman badge I earned, so gonna have to attend some more events in VA or MD


Hope you got some pics of the firing line during that downpour on Saturday with the steam coming off the barrels every time we fired 

[BrotherPilot]

DMVRifle
Thank you! Very glad you came out, and very glad you had a great time.  Our next VA event is the weekend of Feb 8th at Montpelier, VA the Cavalier Rifle and Pistol club. 

Sadly, no, I don't think we have any pics of the line from the downpour.  If we do, I'll certainly post them.

Looking forward to seeing you on the line again!

[BillP_556]

I really enjoyed coaching the line this weekend!  It was great watching progress be made and the new rifleman patches earned!

Waiting for Monkey to post some pics from the weekend 

Hope to see everyone again on the Appleseed trail!