I thought I would post my report here on how it went for me and my older son, henceforth called Firedragon. This was a weekend shoot called the Samuel Whittimore Memorial Shoot held at a newly constructed/being built range in Three Forks Montana. I attended a similar event last year with dismal results...
I arrived at the range around 0800 with my older son in tow, firedragon. For rifles I brought my LTR as primary, AR-15, AR-10, and my son's LTR in American Colors... An LTR is a Liberty Training Rifle that is a Ruger 10/22 with a sling added, and the sights replace with Tech-Sights, which are very similar to what you would find on an AR/M1/M1A. The use of a .22LR rifle is encouraged for saving money, but people bring all sorts of rifles. Shooting is mainly done at 25 meters, but later we shoot from 400 to 1000 at this range. Trust me, it is harder than it sounds.
We started out the day with the Redcoat target. I got the 100, 200, 400, and the headshot but missed the 300. Firedragon got some hits on the 100 and missed the rest. Not bad for an 8 year old. We proceeded to the sighter squares and I was doing ok. Without the fliers that I was throwing, I was shooting dime groups with my LTR, with the fliers it would open up to quarter size ( 1 inch ). Big improvement over last year certainly, but I can do better. Firedragon needed some fine adjustment to his sights as they were initially adjusted by me, but it was close. He was shooting MOP ( minute of paper, size 8 1/2" X 11" ). We shot these some more, ball and dummy drills, and some history.
Next came the first QDAQT (Quick Dirty Army Qualification Test). I was well on my way to Rifleman on this target. I even cleaned the sitting with all 50 points. Last year I could not even think of getting into the sitting position, and with lots of practice and stretching I am able to now, most of the time. I then blew the rest of the targets as I had an ammo issue and ended up with a 193. More on that later.
For the second QDAQT I made a snap decision, partly since my son wanted to hear the big boom, Cav wanted to see it shoot, and I now had an ammo issue for the LTR, to bring out the AR-10. I quickly ran back to the truck, got the ammo and the rifle, and got back to the line just in time. Next problem surfaced as I still had the leather sling on it that is the wrong one. I had just enough time to load my mags, get the old sling off, and it ended there. I shot standing, in the wind, with no sling. I did ok. I got the web sling on, but not adjusted, and it remained that way for the rest of the strings. The Guy was calling them fast.. So, I ended the second one with a 206, just missing it. I am sure that with a sling I would have made it. Several comments from the gallery on how the brake makes the AR-10 sound like artillery.
Cav said I looked good though.. Guy had been teasing me all day with that Rifleman patch, holding it out there and calling my name... Alas, it was not to be. We did have 4 others make it though.
Shootimus Maximus (who I learned was changed to Shootimus Minimus during the week since there was a Rifleman Boot Camp during the week) and his wife put on a great campout at their place. Not to mention first rate potty arrangements for both the range and camping, along with a hot shower for the campers. My son even commented on how nice they were. Even had some S'mores around the campfire. Firedragon and myself got some sunburn, and he was worn out.
Sunday dawned and Firedragon was still very tired. I got to shoot some squares, and get sighted in with a new set of ammo for my LTR. Again, pulling good groups. Unfortunately my son was done and fried, so I packed it up and left before noon. I never got to try my hand at making Rifleman again. I will keep practicing and fixing my issues so I can make it next year.
Lessons Learned:
- The Guy really can be a hard on you in a nice way.. Thanks Guy.
- For using the LTR, come with a new pack of 500 rounds. Do not start with a partially shot bulk pack as the zero's do not hold between lots, in my painful experience. Firedragons LTR does not like the Federal, but eats the CCI or Blazer all day. So, I have been shooting our stash of Federal, and it does not shoot the same as Blazer (40gr vs 36gr, and velocity of 200fps). This is what cost me the on QDAQT as I ran out of ammo in the middle and switched to his Blazer. I mistakenly had not brought any more Federal, but more Blazer. I bought a new box from Cav for Sunday, and found that I still had to adjust my sights 2 MOA down, and 1.5MOA Right.
- If you have a sling that does not work, take it off the rifle, put a new one on, and have it worked out and adjusted before you go. Have it marked as well. This most likely cost me my second and last chance at the Rifleman badge.
- All that practice for the sitting position has paid off. I have actually improved in this position and I can hit darn well in it. I did find on Sunday though that I could not get in it again, my back said no way. More work to do in this area, but it took me almost a year to get to here, I have another year to get better.
- I have fired about 3000 rounds though the LTR in the last year prepping, as well as quite a bit in the AR-15 and AR-10. Lots of dry firing as well during the winter, and using my pellet rifle in the basement. This paid off in groups that hung in there tight. I kept having 1 flier, and after some checking by Clodhopper and Dan, figured out that I was jerking the first shot, and perfect on the rest. Not sure where that came from, but I don't do it in sitting, just prone. More to work on.
- My wife is wonderful..
- My son the Firedragon did well, and I did not have a lot of expectation that he would do as well as he did. He needs to work on the sling, and got help and tips from The Guy, and Dan, as well as some others. He had a good time, and that is what mostly counted. While not perfect, he was hitting the 100 yard Red Coat target fairly well, so he was happy.
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