Talkeetna, AK AAR Known Distance Clinic July 5th, 2020

[ItsanSKS]

What a day!

On July 5th, the cadre of Alaskan Appleseed instructors turned out for the inaugural event of 2020, a one-day Known Distance Clinic at the Upper Susitna Shooting Association range in Talkeetna, Alaska.  We were joined by ten familiar faces, men and women who had previously attended Appleseed events and shown that they knew well what they were about.

Our standard Appleseed Clinic consists of instruction of the fundamentals- positions, sling use, the Six Steps to firing the shot, Natural Point of Aim; all of these modules (and more!) are taught at 25m, so as to enable the students to receive rapid feedback from their targets.  As our students can attest, the 25m clinics are a veritable fire hose of information.  At a Known Distance Clinic (KDC), our students are afforded an opportunity to use the skills learned at Appleseed to consistently engage targets at distances to up to, and including 500 yards- the Rifleman's Quarter Mile. 

The KDC is typically a 2-day clinic, and instruction modules include Target Detection, Range Estimation, Compensating for Wind & Trajectory, and how to keep a proper log for a rifle- in addition to these modules, history of Riflemen during the Revolutionary war is also covered.  With only one day to cover all of these modules, prior experience at an Appleseed event was a requirement for attendance at this event. 

The weather for Independence Day had been brutally hot by Alaska standards- highs in the 80's, no clouds, and little wind.  Thankfully, the weather improved on Sunday, with highs in the low 70's, mostly cloudy and a light breeze sufficient to keep the mosquitoes away. 

Students and instructors gathered 'round, introduced themselves, and set expectations for the days' event- lots of information would be covered, and each shooter would have an opportunity to test themselves against the Known Distance Appleseed Qualification Test, the KD-AQT.  After the safety briefing concluded, rifles were brought to the line- the Modern Sporting Rifle was the most popular choice, though calibers varied- 5.56x45, .308 and even .300AAC were represented; breaking the MSR mold, one experienced shooter brought out a bolt-action, magazine fed rifle in .308, and another brought out his trusty SKS in 7.62x39.

As with all of our Appleseed events, students at the KDC began their day by engaging the Hits Count! target, but with a twist- steel "D" silhouette targets had been placed at 100, 200, 300 & 400 yards, and a 2/3 IPSC target had been placed at 250 yards.  Each student was instructed to begin the course with 13 rounds, and starting with the 100 yard silhouette, place 3 rounds per silhouette, saving 1 round for the IPSC target at 250- standard fare for the "Redcoat" course of fire, with the caveat that a single miss ended their string of fire - ONLY hits count.  Unsurprisingly, all of our students successfully engaged the 100 yard silhouette; the majority were able to engage at 200 yards, a few made one or two hits at 300, but nobody was able to place all 3 rounds on the 400 yard silhouette- this is in line with our typical students' initial performance at 25m on the reduced-scale target. 

With the Redcoat COF completed, the students gathered 'round to discuss the intricacies of the Four Tasks of the Rifleman:
1. Target Detection - How to determine that a target exists
2. Range Estimation - How to use the Front Sight, or the reticle in your scope, to determine the range to a target
3. Compensating for the Effects of Wind & Trajectory - Using Fred's Simplified Wind Rule and Standard Come-ups
4. Taking the Shot - Using a stable position, establish Natural Point of Aim and use the Six Steps of Firing a Shot to successfully engage the target.

Additionally, students were introduced to the "DOPE" concept- Data On Previous Engagements; how and *what* to record every time you engage targets with your rifle. 

Each of the above topics, if discussed in-depth, can individually take up hours of instruction time; with an abbreviated one-day clinic, only the high-points were covered, ensuring that the students had been armed with the Need-To-Know information required for success. 

Following this block of instruction, students engaged paper D-silhouettes at 100 yards, establishing a proper 100 yard zero on their rifles.  After walking back and forth to the 100 yard target line a couple of times, the students universally expressed their favor of the instant feedback afforded by shooting steel targets. 

The next block of instruction covered what is known as the "Battle Sight Zero" (BSZ)- a sight setting which allows the Rifleman to engage targets within a specific distance, without requiring adjustments to the sights.  The BSZ's for military-pattern rifles, with military surplus ammunition are well known and documented- instead of covering information that is easily discovered by even the most inexperienced google user, this module covered how to find a workable BSZ for *any* rifle, with *any* ammunition, all without the use of a chronograph or ballistics app.  The students then used the information they received to make a minor adjustment to their known 100 yard zero, and then engaged the steel targets once again- hit probability at 300 yards and closer jumped a significant amount.


After each student had shown that they could reliably ring steel at 100-300 yards with their rifles, paper targets were posted at 400 yards.  Students were instructed in the "standard Come-Ups", and added 4 MOA to their BSZ prior to engaging the paper target- this 'standard' worked to get all but two students on paper at 400-  unsurprisingly, the .300AAC and 7.62x39 rounds required more elevation correction to get on paper at 400 than the other calibers on the line.   After establishing a proper zero at 400 yards, and recording the change from their BSZ, students moved their targets to the 500 yard line, dialed in the standard come up, and sent five rounds down range. 

Prior to examining the results on paper, each student returned their sights to BSZ, and engaged Stage One of the KD-AQT.  Many of the shooters achieved 10/10 hits well inside of the allotted two minutes, from a standing position, and all scored higher than 5/10.

Stage Two went just as well- that D Silhouette was rocked hard, with *very* little paint left in the center. 

Stage Three is always a challenge- transitioning to prone, engaging at 300, and changing magazines, all within 65 seconds is a tough row to hoe.  Many shooters achieved a respectable 7/10, though some fell short.

Stage Four.  Stage four is the anvil upon which Riflemen are either revealed, or broken.  That is true whether the target is at 25m, or 400 yards.  When engaging stage four at 25m, additional difficulty is added by having four silhouettes to engage, thus requiring multiple NPOA shifts; at 400 yards, there's only one silhouette, so it should be easier, right?  Not so fast- sight adjustments must be precise, and wind calls need to be spot on, else the bullets will never meet steel.  A streamer of bright pink surveyers tape was hung from the target frame, the lone indicator to the observant shooter that the wind at 300 and 400 yards had picked up- 200 yards worth of full value wind, gusting to 12mph was enough to see many shots land just wide of the target.  Other shooters made errors in applying sight corrections during prep, and did not compensate as soon as the first shot missed.  The Riflemans Dance is a tough one to learn at 400 yards, on the clock, with *everyone* watching as you shoot. 

All told, our shooters did phenomenal on their first-ever Known Distance AQT; the vast majority of scores were in the mid-to-high 30's, but only one shooter made the grade- Robert achieved his Rifleman score of 43/50 and was awarded a "Long Range" tab to go along with his Rifleman patch earned at a previous 25m event.  Perhaps a "Distinguished" badge is in his future?

With the range set to lock its gate at 6PM, we had reached the end of our days instruction; while I am certain that our shooters desperately wanted a shot at redemption, lots of steel needed to be taken down, and time was getting short.  In perhaps my shortest benediction ever, I encouraged all of the shooters to practice the things that they had learned, and to help get the word out about our upcoming events.  I also asked for feedback on the event, and how it could be improved.  I'll sum up their response, below:

MORE STEEL.  MORE TIME.  MORE OFTEN!

In short, a one-day event was *just* enough to whet their appetite.  Exactly what I was hoping for.

To all of the shooters who came out on this Independence Day weekend, I wish to extend to you a hearty Thank You.  It is always gratifying to see the improvement that attending an Appleseed clinic can bring; we Instructors consider your improvement to be our paycheck, and we were well compensated for our time this Sunday.  For those who came close to achieving a Rifleman score, but fell short, my suggestion today is the same as it was on Sunday- Practice.  Both dry-fire practice at home, and practice with your chosen rifle at distance.  The only way to 'get good' at shooting in the wind, is by shooting in the wind.  Let the summer soldiers and sunshine patriots have the range when the weather is beautiful- I'll see YOU on the firing line when the conditions are ripe for making Riflemen.

To my fellow Instructors- thank you for coming out to help run this event.  Please know that I sincerely appreciate the time and effort that you expend on behalf of this program, and this event would not have been possible without each of you.

[Oldmikey]

Random photos

[astroturf3040]

 :pics:excellent day. Thank you. Trajectory class.

[Gus]

I'm so envious of you guys!  Would have loved to have been there.

Gus