Sudlersville, MD - RKD AAR - 10-30-2021

[Catch-10-22]

Eight highly motivated shooters came out to test their skills, equipment, and knowledge. No one was deterred by the heavy rain the night before and they were rewarded with sunny skies, perfect temperatures, and drying fields for our moving firing line. We had a fantastic Fall day for our 200-yard Rimfire Known Distance event at the beautiful Delmarva Sportsman Association on Maryland's Eastern Shore.

When I say motivated, I really mean it. While our rule is that you have had to attend at least one Appleseed to attend a KD event, it was clear that every one of these shooters had done preparation for the event. Bill K and Jim B, for instance, had spent several months working up to the event with Tech Sights 10/22s, taking extensive notes on their DOPE (Data on Personal Equipment) and building confidence at the 200 yard range at a local club. I may ask them to do a write-up for Appleseed on their experience and approach - providing a guide for shooters that want to use Tech Sights for 200 yard events would be fantastic. While shooters have qualified with other iron sights (CZ or aperture sights) Tech Sights have been a challenge, at least in Maryland, to this point.

The day started with a 50-yard Red Coat - I know, that makes it twice as hard, but these shooters are at least twice as good so we like to challenge them from the first round down range. Our Senior Instructor, BeSwift, was immediately impressed with what he saw - strong steady hold factors, NPOA adjustments, and applications of the six steps by every shooter. While no one cleaned the target, we saw very good groups developing and nearly everyone was putting all three rounds in the 400-600 yard targets - and there was even one shingle hit!

We then did squares to confirm 50-yard zeros and the firehose of KD instruction commenced. Once brains were saturated with target identification, front sight/reticle ranging, come-ups, wind calls, and other facets of long-range shooting, we tested sighting system come-ups (and return to zero) with the vertical squares target. The firing line then moved back to 100 yards and we started verifying and documenting true come-ups. for each rifle. We kept the firing line moving back from 150 and finally for 200.

During the lunch break, we covered our history while shooters refocused and rehydrated but then it was time for our first AQT. Since we had just confirmed our 200 yard zero, we worked it "backwards" from slow fire prone at 200 to standing at 50. By the end of the first AQT, we had TWO RKD Riflemen - Daniel R with a 42 and Brian S with a 41 - Huzzah!!! Edgar G just missed with a 39 but all of the shooters felt a lot more confident going into the second AQT based on Stages 1-3.

The second AQT was done "forwards" from the 50 yard line back. We had some excellent scores after the first 3 stages (30 points available) - Mark A with a 24, Edgar with a 26 (despite a large number of malfunctions creeping in), Bill K with a 28, Patrick K with a 26, Daniel with a 23, and Brian with a 25. But similar to Stage 4 being "Rifleman's Row" on the AQT, all depending on how they performed at the 200 yard line. We had one more shooter earn his RKD rocker - Mark scored a 41!

Bill K's journey to qualifying with Tech Sights ended with...a 39. So close - but he has already emailed me, cited some lessons learned, and is determined to try again! Jim B's Tech Sights tries topped out in the high 20s but struggled the most with seeing the target at 200. We will see if he tries with a scope next time or keeps pushing on irons. We had some other heartbreaking scores on the second AQT: Daniel scored a 39, Pat K scored a 37 (with a loaner rifle when his scope died), Edgar scored a 35, and Brian scored a 34.  While I was disappointed for the shooters that missed qualifying, they talked about what a GREAT group we had to be scoring so consistently high. And that is exactly the right attitude we want from our Riflemen.

By the time we got to the final 50-yard Red Coat, several shooters decided to sit it out. But Pat K put on a show - he not only accurately transitioned his rifle from 200 to his 50-yard zero, he CLEANED the target at 50 yards using a loaner rifle, earning his Maryland Immortal 400 patch and a Sons of Liberty patch for the extra accomplishment - HUZZAH!!! While we have done 50 yard Red Coats at several RKD and instructor events, BeSwift and I had never seen anyone clear it so congrats to Pat K for being the first in Maryland to do so!!!!

I can't say every event is my favorite (ok, I can, but probably shouldn't) but as a Shoot Boss this one was extremely satisfying. To see these returning students dedicate so much time before and during the event to self-improvement, new challenges, and their rights/responsibilities as Americans makes my heart soar. We hope that some decide to become volunteers with the program!

Thank you again to IIT Mike for helping set up the event and all the planning and prep ahead of time that made it such a success. Also thanks to our fearless Maryland leader BeSwift for attending and helping us keep shooters engaged, learning, and moving.

Pictures are available on this album on the Maryland Appleseed Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=264406060313831&set=a.4474645485956513

[mayonayze]

Great shoot! Big thanks to the instructor team and Mike for hosting us at Sudlersville!

[smigit2002]

That was a really educational event, thanks so much to the hosts and excellent instructors! I would have loved to pull off a KD Rifleman, but I'm more than happy to settle for a KD Red Coat!

[mayonayze]

That Immortal badge is envy-worthy! 

[Catch-10-22]

Just posted a long-form AAR on the Maryland Shooters Forum from two of our shooters who participated in this event. Tons of lessons learned about using low-cost Liberty Training Rifles with Tech Sights to qualify for the RKD Rockers. TLDR: it's hard but doable! https://www.mdshooters.com/showpost.php?p=6471110&postcount=1

[Redbill61]

I really enjoyed the event and hope to return next year to see if I can push my LTR with Tech-Sights just a little bit harder. Thanks to the cadre for putting on the event and to all of the competitors who came out to test their skills. Good work everyone!