LFOD AAR -- Aug. 22-23, 2009

[Firewall99]

This was an atypical shoot in several ways.  First, it was designed to be integrated as a promotional shoot into another event, the Live Free or Die Rally.  Second, because of the above, it was designed as a completely walk-on shoot.  Third, because of hurricane Bill off the shores of New England, there was torrential rain on and off all weekend--really serious rain that caused temporary flooding in the town and reduced the number of event attendees to a bare trickle.  Forth, we used all our own rifles as loaners and provided all eye & ear protection and ammo.

Nevertheless, we had a great bunch of shooters; we all learned a lot, and we'll be doing this again next year as a traditional Appleseed, perhaps the day or two before LFOD.


Shoot Boss:  Firewall99
Instructors: crak, dwarven1, CetmeManNH, SeanO, Andy in NH, smithy, Redchrome, TonyDedo
Promotions: TonyDedo and Redchrome to IIT1
Riflemen Made: 1
New Orange Hats: 1 (Promised, after next shoot with his own rifle)

Day 1 Weather:  Torrential rain, on and off; hot and humid
Day 2 Weather:  Torrential rain, on and off; hot and humid

Number of Actual Shooters - Day 1:  22
Number of Actual Shooters - Day 2:  9
Number Pre-registered:  N/A
Number Pre-Reg Free:  N/A
Number of Free No-shows:  N/A
Number of Rifle Newbies:  8 (That's a lot!)
LTR's Used: ALL
Total Round Count:  ~400


THE GOOD
Good 1: 
The Monadnock Rod & Gun Club (MR&GC) stepped up.  They provided a nice range and great food.  They are a great bunch of guys, and if you live nearby, you should join this club.

Good 2:  Liberty-oriented shooters arrive with many of their mental ducks in a row.  Despite the torrential rain, they stayed on the line and learned faster than any students I have seen before.  Several students did everything they were told, and they were firing their first shot in the rifleman's cadence within a second of the FIRE command.  We will see several of them again soon, probably with their own LTR's and prepped to make Riflemen with only one more Appleseed.

Good 3:  Even though there was no written shoot plan, the instructor group did a fantastic job.  They flowed with all the last minute changes, adapted, and persisted.  CetmeManNH and SeanO did especially heroic jobs, stepping up to non-Appleseed tasks that saved the day.

Good 4:  SeanO manned a position on the LFOD event grounds and single-handedly pointed most of our shooters on Day 1 to the nearby range.  Great work, SeanO!  You may have saved Day 1.

Good 5:  CetmeManNH made not one, but two runs to stores for equipment we needed to run this shoot.  He also provided several of the rifles we needed, as well as ALL the eye and ear protection.  Bravo, CetmeManNH!  This shoot couldn't have started without you.

Good 6:  I brought a used pavilion tent, which turned out to be a godsend for everyone.  No shoot should be without one.  (The picnic bench we relied on took up too much space, though.  I will bring smaller card tables next time.)

Good 7:  We used our own rifles, almost all of them LTR's.  This resulted in many more groups on the first targets than usual, and sped up the learning process.  The Pimp Gun chalked up another Rifleman.

Good 8:  The best for last -- we discovered that the new "Hands-on Station" was a GREAT IDEA!  Due to the popularity of Appleseed, we are getting many more rifle newbies now than Appleseed did at its inception.  Consequently the Hands-on Station was quite popular; even some of the non-newbies elected to attend this briefing.  The Hands-on Station, located in a carefully chosen, muzzle-safe area, covered the following items: 
  1.  A review of the safety briefing shooter quiz, to sink it in.  It's amazing how soon many of the shooters had forgotten the rules they supposedly learned just 20 minutes earlier.  While the Safety Briefing tests short-term memory, this station now tests mid-term memory as well.
  2.  What constitutes a safe rifle, with a hands-on demonstration by the instructor.
  3.  How to operate the Ruger 10/22.  Each shooter is given the chance to hold and operate the rifle, to load it with an empty magazine, and to practice how to make it safe.
  4.  If a shooter arrives with a new rifle they've never shot that is not a 10/22, we can easily teach it to them at this station.

We will be incorporating the Hands-on Station into all NH shoots from now on.  I think consideration may even be given to making this station a regular feature of all Appleseed shoots. 

Thank you, shooters, for bringing a teachable, positive mental attitude and for hanging in there despite the weather!  You were a great bunch to teach! 

Be sure to go to http://www.appleseedinfo.org/as_schedule.htm and find the next shoot near you.  Then get yourself a cosmetic second 10/22 for way below retail at Rody's Gun Shop, across from the Ruger factory in Newport, NH, and bring it to Smithy at your next shoot.  He can turn it into a genuine Liberty Training rifle on the spot.  You'll end up with a $400 LTR for only ~$100 more.  (Bring cash.)

OTHER COMMENTS:

See CetmeManNH's photos of the shoot, below!  Thanks, CetmeManNH!