AAR Pistol IBC Hat Creek CA March 20-21

[ScubaSteve]

Wow what a great group of people in a great place. 13 patriots show up to drink from the fire hose of a pistol IBC.  The morning started with all the boring stuff that has to be reviewed in the manual. Then off to the races we went.  The snow fall three different times during the day did not slow this group down one bit.  OK the cold might have slowed the shoot boss down a little. 
Review safety rules, bring out pistols and do some quick walking through of the pistol course of fire.  We shot in flights so when one group was shooting after a demo the other group was instructing.
It was a long day but we got in one PQT by the end of it and discovered several new pistoleers.

Day two started with break out groups working on there demos. We had to find some sunny spots for the shooters to work as it was below freezing that morning but that did not slow this group down.

Lunch brought on a pistol history lesson spanning from April 19, 1775 to present day.

Bellies full it was back to shooting the PQT.  Out of thirteen shooters 9 made the coveted 210 or better.   High score for the weekend was turned in by Matt with a 246. He wanted that perfect score but it just wasn't happening this weekend. Matt also made score with a center fire wheel gun. Outstanding!
No enough can be said about our shooters that did not make score. They worked hard and stacked up the brass all weekend. Appleseed will test a pistol and your ammo and often you will find that the hardware is just not up to the task.  Even our shooters that were not able to make score this weekend all of them were shooting in the high 180's or better with some breaking 200. Dry fire practice and back to the range and pistoleer is just around the corner.

Thanks to all that attended and special thanks to Joe and Laurie for helping set this up. I could not have traveled almost 3000 miles to run this event without your boots on the ground support.

[eaglescouter]

As part of the local boots on the ground team:

-Thank you to all the hats of many colors who traveled many miles to either run the event or to participate in the event.  Your dedication was visible, and appreciated.
-Setup and take down and cleanup were completed in record time due to the many hands who just pitched in and helped do whatever needed doing.  Thank you!
-To the Hat Creek Rifle and Pistol Club (our host facility) thank you for the use of your amazing range, I am honored to be a member there.
-Steve and Denise, thank you for taking the time and effort to cross the country to bring the Pistol Program to Northern California and Southern Oregon.

[NorCal22Gal]

Ditto what eaglescouter said!!! 

As one of the ones who was knocking on the door...man I learned a lot.  Yes practice, but also working through some personal frustrations (I tend to beat myself about not getting it right).  Once it starting clicking, I was feeling better about it and getting a 190 was awesome! 

Thank you Steve for answering our questions and assisting with the demos as we needed. 

And truly thanks to everyone who came out and made the event absolutely wonderful.  We couldn't do it without you.

[Mixed Metaphor]

Outstanding!  Matt-  I'm on your team!

Great job all!

[just.a.guy]

Thanks Steve for running a great event! I always love the instructor weekends, it's great to be challenged and pushed to grow our own skills. I was able to have a bit of fun with my revolver, and managed to sneak in a couple of decent scores- bummed I couldn't get that 250 patch, but I'll be back!

For anyone on the fence about this program, it's awesome- it can take a total novice shooter and create a fairly competent pistoleer after the end of the weekend. Definitely recommended!

[700x32]

I super appreciate Steve and Denise for traveling across the country and braving the blizzard to bring this shoot to us. The Pistol Clinic is definitely an Appleseed event, with all the same safety, history, patriotism, and marksmanship borrowed from the Rifle event we all love, but modified to teach an entirely different sort of firearm.

Steve was definitely at a disadvantage coming in cold and teaching all the instructors how to teach the class from scratch. When we learned to teach the Rifle class, we'd all had at least a couple events to look back on, but not this time. Especially given the newness of the program, he did a great job. There was a ton of new material, but not only did we get to practice teaching the parts that differed from the Rifle program, we all got plenty of trigger time in.

You won't leave this class a master pistol shooter, but you'll gain a solid foundation in safety and technique that will leave you shooting with confidence. More importantly, you'll be inspired by stories of how handguns helped shape our Nation. If you're lucky enough to have an Appleseed Pistol Clinic near you, you should definitely get to it!

[TallSteve]

Thank you Steve and Denise for travelling and making this event happen.  Especially in sub freezing temps with snow. 

We enjoyed the instruction, camaraderie, trigger time, and good food. 
We learned a few things, qualified, and continued to work on improving our scores and our ability to teach.