AAR - Canton, Georgia - 4-17&18-21 - Patriots' Day Weekend

[Roswell]

What an amazing weekend! Thank you one again to Sheriff Frank Reynolds and to the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office.

Saturday morning began with 24 shooters and a gaggle of Instructors. All Patriots, through and through. First we began with introductions and the usual housekeeping...

(6Bones not pictured as he took the photo)

Then we framed the weekend with the 1st Strike of the match. Then it was time for the day to begin. Safety Briefing was first of course. Then we retrieved the rifles and began with our morning Redcoat target. Then the fire-hose of instruction really began.  We went into Sling use and the Prone position and shot a square. Then we did the first 3 steps of firing the shot, rolled into NPOA and an Eye dominance drill. We followed that by having everyone get down for equipment fitting and a NPOA check. Then their patience was rewarded with shooting another square. We then followed that up with a review of the first 3 steps and went into the last 3 steps of firing the shot. We rolled right into an trigger exercise working the reset for 3 minutes and then shot a square using all we had just learned. Then it was time for lunch where we learned about talking targets, IMC and the Second Strike of the match.

After lunch, we cleaned up and headed back to the line. We loosened up our belts and learned the seated positions. We tried all 4 of them out using the redcoat target. Then we moved to Rifleman's Cadence and shot the shingle in cadence using our least uncomfortable seated position. Next, we posted AQTs and learned the standing position before shooting it on the square in the top right. After marking targets, we took a break to hear the 3rd Strike of the match. Refreshed, it was back to the line and we shot an AQT.  We quickly found we had men amongst us who knew very much what they were about.  We had 3 people re-qualify. Bob scored a 214, CokeGuy scored a 219 And 2Mikes scored a 241! Earning all of them the special Rifleman patches. Our last target of the day was the Redcoat target and Yankee Mike, Bob and 2Mikes cleared it, earning some Appleseed stickers.    We presented Luther Blanchard patches to 4 youth that were a total delight to work with.  American Savage received his 25 event pin and Gator0246 got his 10 event pin.  :)Then we finished the day hearing the story of Timothy Murphy and how one man or woman can make a difference.

Stage 2 of the AQT!




Packed house!




American Savage and Gator0246 receiving their Pins.


Yankee Mike, Bob and 2Mikes receiving stickers for clearing the Redcoat target.


CokeGuy receives his Rifleman patch.


2Mikes receives his Rifleman patch.


Bob receives his Rifleman patch. After using a bolt action I should add!


Sunday morning, we began with some history from 1776 and a reading from Thomas Paine's "The Crisis". After the safety briefing we moved again to the line and got a Redcoat target in which 2Mikes cleared, earning himself a coozie, Huzzah!). Then we shot our first AQT of the day. Again, we saw he had men amongst us that knew what they were about. We had 3 Riflemen re-qualify, Overmountain got a 216, Wileycoyote got a 223, 2Mikes got a . . . 248!!!  We also had 1 NEW Rifleman! Congratulations Hans, who shot a 219! I was also fortunate to be able to award two more Luther Blanchard patches that really encapsulated our youth. Issac, age 7 was our youngest shooter and Thomas was only hours from turning 18. We spent the rest of the morning reviewing EVERYTHING in the classroom. Sling Use --> Prone Position --> NPOA --> Rifleman's Cadence. Then 6 Steps. Then all 4 seated positions --> transitions. Then Standing. Then we staying in the class for lunch and powered on through talking targets --> Inches, Minutes, and Clicks. Then some really awesome tales of Dangerous Old Men, Brave Women and Gallant Children. Then we cleaned up and headed outside to get back to it! 

Thomas and young Issac


Wiley receives his Patch


OverMountain receives his patch


Hans our first NEW Rifleman for the weekend. Well done sir!!! 


Reviewing NPOA and Rifleman's Cadence


After cleaning up, we went back to the line refreshed and shot another AQT. We again found men amongst us that knew what they were about. We had 2 re-qualifiers as CokeGuy shot a 221 and Gator0246 shot a 222. (Apologies for not getting pictures of this one)

Then we did a Mag Change/NPOA Exercise. Followed by another AQT. This time, we had 3 more re-qualifiers as BooneCaudill shot a 213, 76Patriot shot a 222, and upacreek shot a 229. We also had another NEW Rifleman, congratulations Yankee Mike who shot a 227! 

Yankee Mike earns his patch! On his 1st Event I should add! (apologies for no pictures of my re-qualifiers)


We then took an afternoon break to hear about Known Distance Shooting, Rifleman's Dance and soak in the AC. Once again refreshed, we moved to the line and shot our last AQT of the day. Yours truly took this opportunity to slip away, change into colonial clothing, retire an Orange hat with a M1Garand and just made it back in time to give a patch to Bug_7 that was hard won indeed. She exemplifies what we mean when we say a Rifleman persists! Well done!    AND AND AND she was able to turn in her blue hat and take an orange one!

Ping goes the hat!  (Video --> https://imgur.com/jmL5pEK )


Bug_7 gets her patch!


Bug_7 takes an orange hat!


Bug_7 and her father, 6Bones


We finished the day with a reading from the Bloody Butcher and the Liberty Volley.






The team on Sunday afternoon (minus Cokeguy who had to leave early)



Final patch count

SATURDAY:
Re-Qualifiers: 3

SUNDAY:
NEW Riflemen: 3
Re-Qualifiers: 8

TOTAL: 12 RIFLEMEN!!! 


ALL the Pictures & Videos  --> https://imgur.com/a/gaBFLVc

In Liberty,
Roswell

[6Bones]

A day of remembrance and a day to remember!

Huzzah!

[Tennessee Beast]

Congratulations Kayleigh!!! You look good in that orange hat!

[Bob_L]

I'm quite proud of Yankee Mike - Earlier that week we set aside a day to work on some what he could expect going into this Appleseed, and he really took it to heart.  Congrats Mike!

Also, I'd like to point out that I made that 214 requal with my bolt action Ruger American Rimfire.

On stage 2 I had an issue and ended up ejecting a live round.  I thought I blew it, but there was still time when I fired my last (9th) round.  I scavenged around, found that round, jammed it manually into the chamber, aimed and fired about 1 second before the CEASE FIRE command.

I was so proud of myself for that.... until we walked down to look at the targets and I realized I'd put that 10th shot in the wrong target.  DOH!!!!

Awell.... I still qualified!   

[76Patriot]

What an excellent day for Liberty!  Congrats to our new riflemen and riflewoman.  Looking good in orange Bug!