Sept 19 - 20, '09 Corona, CA

[LayloPro]

Well, another one in the can here......Yet another fun production @ Mike Raahaughes Shooting park.....filled with some truly great Americans, willing and eager to take all the sun could beat down on them, and -still- come back for more the next day.....

We started off Sat am (on time!!) with 32 of SoCal's finest.....attentive, respectful, and willing to do what we asked of them...."Let's go get 'em!!"

Our initial redcoat target showed that we had some great room for improvement, and off we went.....SHF's, 6 steps, target dancing & interpreting, trigger exercises, the "Zen of NPOA", laser blaster practice for those who did not quite understand that part yet, IMC, and corresponding sight adjustments, Ball & Dummy drills, carding, ALL OF IT!!......

We were met with better groupings on the squares by almost everyone.....

One mom was having a horrible time even trying to get on paper....I loaned her a 795 with a scope, and within 3 squares she was doing 3MOA groups....pretty impressive, this being able to see stuff, eh?

We had several folks with stock 10-22's, and after getting them to build solid positions, and good 6 stepping, we switched them to LTR's with Tech Sights....immediate & dramatic improvements....Thanks again to MrBill(frog) & RockChucker for the loan of their "gaggle" of LTRs'......but I still have to clean them all.....

Lunch brought out some good stories of 4/19/1775, and we finished with the choices made, the sacrifices, and the remembering & honoring we should be doing for what these men & women did for us......We were also able to honor an Instructor who was spending his 30th Birthday on the range with us, working.....rather than going to a bunch of parties, he & his wife were out in the heat & dust & rocks to teach fellow Americans about the sacrifices of previous generations......now it's our turn......
We sang him a quick round of "Happy Birthday", and returned to the squares.....

We ended the day with an AQT, & a Redcoat, and even tho' our best AQT score was a 203, we had very happy shooters who were amazed that we had been able to bring them along so far, so quickly......
As Fred says, that's a testimony to the Instructors!! Thanks a million, guys and gals!!...without you all, I would not be able to do a thing with this.....you make it work!! <

Sunday morning found us with 19 folks returning to the line, and 3 folks that were there for just the day.....another quick Redcoat to see how much everyone had forgotten over night, and off onto squares we went for getting their "groove back"......more NPOA drills, carding, explaining, showing...the lights were going on.......

Sad to say, Sunday was even hotter than Saturday (95 vs 99), and the heat monkey was one that would not be denied....folks started to pack some of their stuff to be at different engagements, and after lunch and another AQT, we were down to 10 solid performers......as the heat sapped their energy & strength, we watched the corresponding drop in scores.....finally offering the chance to do "a few more AQT's & a redcoat", vs "one more AQT, Redcoat, and cleanup", they unanimously picked the cleanup.......

I can't say that I blame them a bit.....

While we had no RM patches given out this time, I am confident that when they return in the next month or so, they will be far better able to turn in truly amazing scores, after practicing, and improving.....we have 3 more local events before Christmas around here, & I believe "they will make good use of them"..... <

All in all, a really nice event...I'm always sad to see everyone leave, as I police the range one last time.....but, I always know in my heart, God willing, I'll be back for the next one......

So, how was -your- weekend?

LLP