AAR Fenton MI Pistol Clinic - April 6-7, 2024

[Rangerat67]

(Click on the link at the end of this to see a select group of pictures. Thanks Rob T. for being the weekend photographer!)

Early April weather in Michigan is always unpredictable.  It can be 70 and sunny or 20 and a snowstorm.  It can even be both scenarios within the same day.  Of course, this had no impact on the April 6th & 7th Appleseed Pistol Clinic Event at Fenton Lakes Sportsman's Club because it was INDOORS!  I don't know if it was the ideal conditions, or perhaps the breakfast and lunch that Josh provided, but this group just seemed to bond and genuinely have a nice weekend together. 

Those in attendance were a nice blend of veteran Appleseeder's and first timers, beginners and experienced shooters.  They worked hard to improve their marksmanship and absorbed the history.  The student's attentiveness, attitude, and perseverance make events like these a great experience for all in attendance. 
Throughout the weekend, the students worked on their shooting. 

Jerry B., attending his second pistol clinic, earned his first ever Pistoleer™ Patch with a 238!  From his first event, Jerry B. can attest that you will have better scores if your pistol screws are tight!  Rob T. requalified with a 221 to earn a patch.  Rob went on to score several >220 scores over the weekend.
 
Sunday started with a "bang" and the group quickly worked through the grip, stance, six steps, NPOA, and several drills.  Sunday afternoon was spent shooting PQT's with skill improvement drills mixed into the schedule. 

On April 19th 1775, eight sets of fathers and sons gathered on Lexington green.  On April 7th, a father and son gathered at Fenton Lakes Sportsman's Club.  Both earned a Pistoleer™ Patch!  Congratulations to Brad (Father) for requalifying with a 221 and Brad (Son) for earning his first Pistoleer™ Patch with a 210!  You know what a 210 means, Brad (father) was then giving the honor of "baptizing" Brad (his son). 

The key to earning a Pistoleer™ Patch is persistence.  It is not easy, and it takes a mastery of grip, stance, NPOA, and the six steps.  You must focus on the fundamentals, maintain the right mental toughness, and conquer exhaustion and doubt. 

Drew demonstrated the primary quality we look for from a student - persistence.  Drew fought through the weekend with his Walther sub-compact.  He rejected offers to try something different (easier) and continued to work with his pistol.  It is no easy task to grip such a small pistol.

Jason M., attending his first event, experimented with several different firearms. Jason also is likely to be the first person attending an event in Michigan to have not one, but two centerfire pistols fail.  A takedown lever on one and then later a slide cover plate on another fell off!  Jason made progress throughout the event as the groups tightened up.  Once Jason even managed to run a course of fire with an average split time of ~.2 seconds.  (You know what I am talking about!)

Bharat (Best name of the weekend - pronounce Barrett!  Your forum name can be 50Cal) was a beginner pistol shooter.  Bharat went from "no identifiable group" on Saturday morning to keeping all four shots on the largest and medium tombstone of the Saturday afternoon Hits Count target.  Nice shooting!

Walter showed that he had been practicing with several scores in the 170's and 180's.  Walter, you are knocking on the door of a Pistoleer™ Patch!

Ali wins the award for bringing the most challenging pistols.  He started out with a compact 40 and then switched to a 9mm.  Small pistols are a challenge and Ali stepped up to the challenge with a personal best of 177.

Three Huzzahs to Pookie, Superheat, and our newest orange hat, mooster!  Three additional huzzahs to mooster for providing breakfast and lunch.  Three more to John G. for making this event possible.  Without club contacts such as John, Appleseed would not be available at Fenton lakes.  Finally, three huzzahs for the students.  The attitudes and active participation of this group was outstanding.  Thank you for bringing friends/coworkers and helping the Appleseed program reach new people.  I expect to see all of you again, bring others, and help get the word out regarding the quality of the Appleseed program. 

Hopefully, the shooters enjoyed the weekend as much as I did, and we will see you again at a future event.

Huzzah!

Rangerat67

A link to pictures!
 
https://imgur.com/a/pRemH3N

Students will receive an email with a link to all the pictures

[Stormtrooper]

Rangerat and all the other volunteers,  thank you for putting together an amazing weekend.

Learned more than I hoped for and was exhausted at the end from all the practice. The volunteers were first rate and provided wonderful instruction.  Thank you.

There were many highlights from my perspective and I'll share a few of them:

1.)  Mooster cooking for everyone,  how can an event go wrong!?!?
2.) Pookie shooting next to me for a course of fire, always neat when the instructors can participate here and there.
3.) Trying everyone's pistol was fun.
4.) Rangerat hung tough all weekend with a broken rib... clearly in pain from time to time but determined to perform. I'd be at home eating pain killers, rats are tough!
5.)  Jerry shared some ammo with me that was better (less duds) than what I was using to help get my score up.

Great weekend, looking forward to the next shoot!

[Pookie]

You shoot much much much better than an imperial stormtrooper. I'm really glad you made for the Sunday class to. Hope to see you at the next pistol shoot !