Laramie, WY KD AAR August 16-17, 2020

[sleepy]

What a wonderful weekend!

Two of our shooters, Paul and John (out of Wheatland, 80 mi), had previously braved our February Winterseed and were back for something on the opposite end of the thermometer.

A third shooter, Jon, traveled all of the way down from Sheridan (300 mi) to challenge the KD, having previously shot twice with BEEMER in Sheridan.

A fourth shooter, Leo, shot his first Appleseed on April 19th (besting the Wyoming Rifleman's Challenge) in Laramie, following up with a shoot in Douglas, scoring Rifleman both times. He came in from Glendo (110 mi).

Cadre attending to shoot included Rasputin from Laramie, the Homemaker from NW Wyoming (350 mi?), Pine Ridge Puma from NW Nebraska (250 mi), and pewpewpew from Sheridan (300 mi). This made for a full line.

Working the shoot were regular guy from Laramie, Ridge Walker from Dubois (300 mi), Captain from Colorado Springs (200 mi), and our record-setter for distance; Snow Snake, coming in from Coeur'dAlene Idaho (930 mi). Ridge Walker and regular guy also managed to get in a little shooting.

Saturday morning was beautiful and cool, following a fun and informative Friday Pistol Intro Shoot for Instructors. There was a light six o'clock breeze throughout the day moderating the hotter temps without sending rifles on the usual Laramie magic carpet ride (okay…a few rocks weighing down mats helped, too).

Cadre set up the lines, posting backers at 100, 200, 300, and 400 meters on the incredible Appleseed complex dovetailed into the Canyon Range Complex courtesy of the Laramie Rifle Range.

Shooters arrived, and set up their mats on the 25m (RFKD) line, whose target line is also the 100 meter target line.

Captain ran the safety briefing, moving into a little review on marksmanship for the benefit of the rusty. We then took to the line, getting our 25m zeros. Moving back to the LRR 600m line/KD firing line/RFKD 100m line, we started getting our dope at the four KD target lines before moving on to shooting AQTs.

MSR-15s of many types were the norm, the sole exception being an ancient Steyr SSG 69.

Aside from the skill of the scoring shooters, credit for the KD patches handed out belongs to a] God (he turned the fan down to low); b] Pine Ridge Puma (he asked me to request that the fan be turned down, which I ever the stickler for chain-of-command, duly forwarded); and Captain (who took the time to ensure everyone was on paper at all ranges during sight-in).

Captain also gave two classes that everyone raved about; wind and trajectory. It seems the way it was given conferred a clarity that permitted shooters to shoot well above our norms.

Those who see a shooter as a couch potato would be more inclined to see a shooter as an endurance athlete as we humped the hills of the canyon range scoring targets. Credit for making the scoring process safe is largely due to Snow Snake, who jumped in and took the line automatically after it was cleared, among the very many ways he contributed to this weekend's success. As Captain said, "we didn't even have to think about it". The shooting instructors also made their contribution during the scoring process, verifying holes in targets for their fellow shooters.

After lunch, roused by the Homemaker's motivating Timothy Murphy story, shooters returned to the line to fire more AQTs. Saturday afternoon was when we got our first KD Rifleman of the weekend, Leo; no surprises there.

Mechanical issues were blessedly few. Jon was having to deal with a zero shifting when he switched from a bipod (while zeroing) to a sling; odd considering a free-float barrel. Scope mount issues were making life interesting for pewpewpew.

Paul, our sole left-handed shooter, anchored our right side of the line the whole weekend working hard at scoring; a good example for all of us.

John was playing with a bolt gun, more there for fun than seriously attempting to qual.

As the day went on, the heat climbed up into the upper 80s, and feet were a hurtin' (mine, anyway LOL!), and scores were stagnating. After we shot two AQTs, Captain sagely called it a day, and we agreed to meet up early on Sunday to beat the heat.

People were tired, and the dinner after the shoot was small. It was very pleasant, though, and the food was great! We also got a lot of business done, and some good ideas were recorded.

The next morning we were out early (cadre at 6, shooters at 7); my only significant miscalculation of the weekend, as set-up did require more time given target lines. Again, Captain took the reins allowing me to tend to logistics. We jumped straight into AQTs, taking advantage of the morning's cool.

Ridge Walker, who was running or coaching the line all weekend, took a little time to shoot, and seemed content with his rifle's performance.

Sunday's first Rifleman score was pewpewpew. This was a nice surprise, as he was having some significant rifle issues on Saturday. It wasn't long before it was obvious that Murphy wasn't only my co-pilot.

Sunday was a day where a little more wind could have helped! Fires in Poudre Canyon (very visible from where we were, despite being 70-odd miles away) had smoke blowing our way to the point where it was quite hazy, obscuring the 300 and 400 meter lines. Even the paint scheme on the backers (red/white/blue; suggested by Mark Davis, the SB of this shoot the previous two years) was really hard to spot.

Homemaker, on the edge of requal, was having mechanical issues with her rifle, suspecting a field repair to the buffer spring.

John, our only .308 shooter on the line, started running low on ammo, as did the Homemaker and Leo. Leo called it a day, and started off for home, KD patch in hand. John was swapping off with Paul on the AR. The Homemaker started working the line, focusing on coaching.

Jon had a catastrophic failure; his 6.5 Grendel's extractor broke. The take-home (for me, anyway) is the closer you stick to GI (parts, design) the easier troubleshooting is and the more available parts are. The pity was he was shooting really well, after some early issues when his zero shifted. He headed home; hope to see him back soon.

On the plus side, those with pickups were helping by ferrying shooters to the target lines and helping collect and put out target backers (36 in all).

Taking pictures (for the range, as he's also a range board member) and running interference for us all weekend, regular guy also had a brief opportunity to shoot…scoring 45 on a four-minute AQT and 48 / Distinguished on the following AQT. There's a bit of an ethical question here, as it seems he was engaged in a practice called…well…practicing. I mean, since when are instructors allowed free time? But after much discussion, we decided to give it to him anyway. It had nothing to do with the fact that he had remote electronic control over access to bathrooms…honest!

Rasputin was enjoying the shoot; I saw him firing at least three different rifles on Sunday.

Always a stunner for those seeing for the first time is the beauty of the canyon range. The smoke coming from Poudre Canyon only made it more clear by contrast.

Our final Rifleman score of the day was Pine Ridge Puma. This one was truly gratifying for me, as for the last two years he seemed jinxed with rifle and ammo issues, never mind the normally serious wind issues on the canyon range. He's the poster child for "a rifleman perseveres".

On Sunday, we shot eight AQTs for a total of ten over the weekend, one being a 4 minute AQT.

Final evidence that God is on our side manifested after our benediction and awards; most of our people were gone by 2:30 (nice with so many traveling long distances), and even I was gone by 3:30. Thanks!

Thanks to all of the motivated patriots who came out and made the shoot a success, demonstrating their potential with a rifle. Your efforts give the words "sunshine patriot" a whole new meaning.

And thanks to the board of the Laramie Rifle Range! Your can-do ethos made this shoot possible and smooth.

A hot, sunny day with a nice, cool breeze. A righteous mission. A dozen friends. A beautiful view. Shooting out to 400m. Who could ask for anything more?

[Snow Snake]

 Simply said,a great weekend. Why???
Sharp,attentive,safe shooters.
My fellow cadre members were all eager to help edify and quick to jump in to help.
Finally, the leaders of this august group were Captain & Sleepy.As the old saw goes,their pictures should be in the dictionary under the word "Mentor".

[Mark Davis]

Nice read.
Great to hear pewpewpew, and Pine ridge Puma qualified. To bad about Jon's grendal, I've met him twice at Sheridan, pretty sure he can do it.  Looking forward to the day I can meet Snow Snake. He probably passed within 8 miles on my place in his adventure to Laramie and back.
Hi to Captian, Regular guy,  Homemaker and Sleepy.

[regularguy]

Disclaimer: all my photos taken from a responsible social distance with a zoom lens.

[regularguy]

more photos

[regularguy]

Big thank you to all the instructors and shooters who made this event successful!

[Captain]

Shooting on the incredible "Canyon Range" is always a treat but the folks that came together this last weekend to conquer the Rifleman's Quarter Mile made for a special weekend of liberty and marksmanship.

Like Sleepy said, we had shooters and volunteers from all over the state and from far away neighboring states. The normal Laramie gale was pretty quiet over the weekend making things hot, but the shooting a little better. We spent most of Saturday checking zeros, gathering drop data and learning the basics of trajectory. All that ground work really put us in good shape to attack the AQT on Sunday. I'm not sure I've been to a KD event where there were so many opportunities to try the AQT. In the end, we had almost 50% of the shooters who got behind a rifle making the Rifleman score. Everyone worked hard and it was a great group to spend the weekend with out on the range.

Thanks to our SB Sleepy, the Laramie Rifle Range and everyone who came out for making a special weekend. I hope to see everyone on the line again soon!

[TaosGlock]

 
Huzzah to all who made this a fantastic event!

[Pine Ridge Puma]

Yeah, we had a good weekend at the Laramie range.  It was fun seeing old acquaintances and meeting a bunch of new patriotic Appleseeder's.  I was really appreciative of Rick's ability to shut the @#$%@$$ wind down for the weekend-last year it was just impossible to even stand up!!!!!!!!!!!  I really enjoyed and learned a lot from Rob's presentations and I am so impressed with his knowledge about shooting-he is the Black Belt of precision marksmanship to be sure!  Thank you, Rob, and also Rick, for your work setting up the shoot and making all of the necessary arrangements.  We appreciated getting to camp out at the range and utilizing all of the facilities.  Thank you Laramie!

[M1bzrk]

Great job & congrats to you all for keeping LIBERTY alive  and well amidst the smoke and dust.