Eagle Creek, OR, Sept 24/25, 2022 AAR

[Prescott]

What a great weekend to be back at the Douglas Ridge Rifle Club.   This range hold a special place in my AS memories as this is the range where I shot my Rifleman patch in June of 2010!

There was a great group of students at this event that were willing to improve their marksmanship skills and rekindle their hearts and minds in the spirit of the American Revolution.   All of the students were doing really well with their shot groups during the practice sessions, but the time frame of shooting the AQT created many problems.

Justin was able to finally get everything to click on the final AQT on Sunday and shot a 216!  Congratulations on earning your rifleman patch.

The other shooting were making improvements, but unfortunately forgot their focus on their marksmanship skills while shooting the AQTs.   During the transition stages, the shooters seemed more concerned about getting their rounds down range than they were about making good shots.   The NPOA shifts and the verification process was quickly forgotten and of course, the size of groups suffered from this.   There were a lot of good stage 1 and 4 scores, but the poor scores on stage 2 and 3 kept the overall scores in the 170-180 range.

Remember that dry practice at home is the best (and cheapest) method to practice your marksmanship skills.   The green laser that was used to demonstrate NPOA can be purchased through Amazon for about $25.   These are the best coaching aids, as they allow you to perfect many aspects of your marksmanship skills.   When used with the trigger control drill, you can watch the movement of the beam during the trigger squeeze.   Keep adjusting your finger position until you can squeeze the trigger with minimal movement of the beam.  The laser can also help perfect the Steady Hold Factors for each position.   With the laser turned on, assume the position you want to practice and watch the movement of the beam.  If there is much movement in the beam, then muscles are being used to support the rifle.  Close your eyes, breath in deeply and relax as you exhale.  Allow your position and the sling to support the rifle and keep repeating this process until all of your muscles are relaxed and the beam is steady.  Now it's time to practice NPOA of shifts.

I enjoyed spending the weekend with everyone and hope to see you at another event in the near future.

[Airogue]

Thank you to Prescott and the other instructors for the excellent training, feedback, and support. It has been 12 years that I have tried to make it to an AS event and it was exactly what I hoped for.

My shooting improved immediately after just the first instructor lesson. The team was encouraging and still provided critical insights to make us better shots. I especially liked the pressure put on us to get our times down. I encourage everyone to participate in the program and I can't wait to try the KD events soon.