Palm Bay, FL AAR-May 8-9, 2021

[Tennessee Beast]

What a wonderful weekend to enjoy liberty!  The constant breeze was very much appreciated for this instructor from the Volunteer State.

Saturday morning started with a heart-felt First Strike by TheMenace.  After the safety briefing, we got started with our morning redcoat target to set a baseline.  This showed room for improvement, but that's what we are tasked to do.  We then started practicing on the squares targets.  It took a little while, but the groups had shrunken CONSIDERABLY after lunch.  I think it might have been Sieggie's presentation about the marksmanship of our ancestors at the North Bridge at lunchtime.  The sitting and standing strings of fire went very well.  Both our "designated marksmen" received extra attention and Easton was our first Rifleman....he did it a bunch, but his high score was 231 (he learned he could pretty much shoot out the v on stage 1...one instructor said it looked like it had been shot with a musket).  The evening redcoat showed DRAMATIC improvement from the morning.  Guntuckian gave a very thorough Third Strike that lead in nicely to my benediction.

Sunday started off with good scores on the redcoat and we reviewed the material from Saturday.  Then we started with AQTs.  The scores kept getting higher and before long, we had 2 more Riflemen (Dan at 235 and Anton at 221).   Everyone else shot marksman or better.  Many of which were knocking on the door of Rifleman (even using a bolt gun).  I am very proud of each and every one of the students.  They had great attitudes despite multiple equipment and ammunition malfunctions (2 scopes fell off and one rifle just didn't like the ammo that was available).  The students were rapt with stories of Dangerous Old Men, Dangerous Dames, and Brave Children.  They also seemed interested in Known Distance.  I expect several to come to the Rimfire KD there in September.  We also had a fun team challenge...next time, we'll split up the designated marksman (I may have heard "foul" called since they were so good at their task).  We also had a visit from the "little green army man" that seemed to ram the point home for one particular shooter about shifting.  By the end of the weekend, everyone's techniques were great and we saw a lot of hip shifting between targets.  My favorite moment of the weekend was seeing Amy's face when she shot the shingle on Sunday Afternoon. Speaking of...Bob and Easton cleared the redcoat Sunday evening.  I have full faith that several of these students will make Rifleman in the next event or two.  Remember that a Rifleman persists.  Practice perfect dryfire and smooth magazine changes and you'll be ahead of the game at your next event.

After the shoot was over, we figured out that Guntuckian was overdue for his 50 event pin...so he was awarded one.

I want to thank the host range.  The recent improvements were well received and made clean-up a breeze and gave us more space to move around.  I am especially thankful that this is a covered range.

This was my SBiT2 and couldn't think of a better place to do it. 

Here are some pictures
https://www.flickr.com/photos/192978560@N04/albums/72157719159483587/

Please post pics and comments.

[TheMenace]

Excellent AAR! I wish I could take credit for it Robert, but it's all yours. Thanks for making the trip to Palm Bay. You were an awesome addition to our team for the weekend. Thank You!
Dennis
TheMenace

[Guntuckian]

It was a great weekend spent with some great Patriots.  Appleseed events at Palm Bay are always very special, and this one was no exception.  The improvements in student scores were nothing short of remarkable.  The new concrete extensions in place of the dirt were especially good for the final clean ups, making sweeping up brass go especially quick.  Kudos to Dennis for getting this upgrade on the range improvements list.

The students showed persistence and perseverance and our staff was top notch.  There were many students at this event that quickly showed that they knew very well what they were about.  Our Shoot Boss in Training, Robert, definitely won the longest drive distinction award.  It was an honor and a pleasure to meet you, Robert, and work this event with you.   I hope to meet you on the Appleseed Trail again in the not too distant future, perhaps in Kentucky!

For those that just missed scoring Rifleman (Expert,) and there were many,  practice dry firing, and I'm sure you will make the score very shortly.  On average, it takes 3 events to become expert, and from all indications, I suspect that 2 events will likely be all that it will take.

I hope to see you all again soon at Palm Bay. 

In Liberty,
Gary

[Mrdann]

It was an awesome weekend. The weather and the company were both very pleasant. Thank you all for your part in making it so great. We look forward to shooting with all of you again.

Amy wants her OWN rifle and she intends to practice! She wants to earn her purple RIFLEWOMAN patch in the Fall!

[Tennessee Beast]

It was an awesome weekend. The weather and the company were both very pleasant. Thank you all for your part in making it so great. We look forward to shooting with all of you again.

Amy wants her OWN rifle and she intends to practice! She wants to earn her purple RIFLEWOMAN patch in the Fall!

Please share with her the story of the Purple Patch found here.  It will provide some extra motivation.

https://appleseedinfo.org/smf/index.php?topic=22843.msg386715#msg386715