Everett, WA - AAR - 28-29 June 2025

[Iborche]

What a great event at such an awesome new range, Everett Sportsmen's Club! Fourteen shooters came out on a warm, sunny weekend, some returning after many events looking for a distinguished Rifleman score, others following their friend's lead to see what this Appleseed thing is all about, an even a few youth shooters in search of some extra practice and more instruction to improve their shooting in other disciplines! Huge thanks to watzizzname for opening up this range to us, making sure we had all the support we needed, and bringing out range leadership to show off what we're all about. One longtime range member shared that he'd tried to get an Appleseed event at ESC way back in the early days of the program, and it was so incredibly rewarding for all involved for him able to attend this first of what we hope is many more events!

We started out as we always do, with history! That comfortable sitting in the morning sun did not last long, as the rest of the day was full of learning and practicing what was review for some, and completely new for others. Everybody seemed in good spirits and by Saturday afternoon we gave an AQT a try. Jamison and Drew easily re-qualified with a 214 and a 220 respectively. Some shooters were in the 190s, but most were still getting the hang of things and learning to deal with the time pressures of the AQT. There were multiple shooters shooting below 50 points on that first AQT, something I highlight only because nobody gave up and the shooters returned eager for more on Sunday. Those shooters that may have had reason to be discouraged with initial scores all improved significantly - some even approaching an exponential amount of growth. We started Sunday with review and a focus on NPOA shifting - after running a few drills to reinforce the concept shooters were eager for more AQTs. Jessica at her very first event came away with a 212! As the day wore on shooters may have been able to use heat as an excuse but kept on going, taking advantage of the cooler and ice water on hand. Shooters who saw the bumpy first run of the new Parker's Revenge target in April got another chance, and the Instructor team once again thanks them for the patience as we learn the best ways to utilize this target along with them. One thing's for sure - the target is a huge hit! 'Centerfire's Clever Name' and 'Amazing People' tied up with 13 points each, 'Deadly BrA** H***s' 24, and 'Revolutionary Punt Gun' got to visit the box of prizes with the winning score of 25 points, it was a tight competition! Rounding out the weekend we even learned about shooters in attendance who knew their history and shared with me one of their ancestors who was a soldier during the American Revolution, who was listed as a fighter at the Battle of Kings Mountain (if you haven't heard about Kings Mountain consider coming to a Known Distance clinic). There were not any more Rifleman patches given out this weekend, but everyone went home more knowledgeable than before they showed up and equipped with the ability to practice for their next event.

We had a great time, and hope to see each of you again on the lines!