PETERBOROUGH, NH, AUG. 26-27 -- THURSDAY & FRIDAY LIVE FREE OR DIE SHOOT

[Firewall99]

Range: Monadnock Rod & Gun Club

Address: 595 Jaffrey Rd - Rt. 202W, Peterborough, NH 03458

Website: www.mrgci.com

When: August 26-27, 2010 (NEW!)
On-site check-in opens at 8 AM. Shoot starts at 8:30 AM.

Range Fee: $10 per shooter per day -- Exempt: Youths 18 and under, active military

Camping available: Yes, 5-10 primitive at the club. Call Mark at (603) 532-7306 for club camping reservations. LIVE FREE OR DIE rally camping will be available at Dillon Lodge, 267 Old Sharon Rd., Jaffrey, NH, 03452. Info or reservations: Mike at 603-532-6711 or [email protected].

Hotels:

Benjamin Prescott Inn - 2.5 miles away, 1 mile from Dillon Lodge
433 Turnpike Rd., Jaffrey,NH,03452
603-532-1142
http://www.benjaminprescottinn.com/

Jack Daniels Motor Inn - 3.7 miles away
80 Concord St, Peterborough, NH
603-924-7548
http://jackdanielsinn.com/

Grand View Inn & Resort - 6.43 miles away
580 Mountain Rd, Jaffrey, NH
603-532-9880
http://thegrandviewinn.com/

Coach & Four Motor Inn - 12.59 miles away
755 Monadnock Hwy, Swanzey, NH
603-357-3705

Directions to range:
From the North and East: From Peterborough take 202 South toward Jaffrey. From the 101 intersection in Peterborough, club is approx. 3.12 mi. on the right, just after Hadley Rd on the left. Go slowly, as the turn into the driveway is extremely tight.
From the South and West: From Jaffrey take 202 north toward Peterborough. From the the traffic light in Jaffrey the club is about 3.1 miles on the left.


GPS Coordinates:
Latitude: 42.83813° (N42° 50.283')
Longitude: -71.98155° (W71° 59.167')

MapQuest Link: Map location of the Monadnock Rod & Gun Club

Google Maps Link: Map location of the Monadnock Rod & Gun Club

State laws of which to be aware: Check State Laws at http://www.nraila.org/GunLaws/

Misc: The club has a snack shack with a modestly-priced menu. Shoots on the weekend nearest April 19th feature synchronized, nationwide volleys for the fallen at Lexington & Concord. August shoots are affiliated with the LIVE FREE OR DIE RALLY. See http://livefreeordierally.com/ for further details. Restaurants:

The Boiler House (2.6 miles away), 50 Jaffrey Rd, Peterborough, NH, 603-924-7773

Grand Finale Bakery & Cafe (2.65 miles away), 4 Stratton Rd, Jaffrey, NH, 603-532-5678

Sunflowers Cafe & Catering (2.68 miles away), 21 Main St, Jaffrey, NH, 603-593-3303

For more information, please contact: John (888-221-8628, [email protected], or PM Firewall99 on the RWVA Forum). For club info and camping questions, contact MRGCI ([email protected]).

Registration Link: Aug 26-27 http://www.eventbrite.com/event/729913190

 

[Cooter Brown]

I'll be there.

 

[Firewall99]

Great! It looks like good weather, too.

 

[Firewall99]

After Action Report - Peterborough, NH, Live Free or Die Shoot

SUMMARY:

We had a great shoot! Not only was the weather great, the shooters had great attitudes, and the instructors were top notch. A couple of shooters, who had been to Appleseeds before, even mentioned that this was the best run shoot they had been to. I don't know about that, but it did go well. Everybody was quite happy at the end, with that Appleseed gleam in their eyes. Very rewarding.

This was a Thursday/Friday shoot. Not only did we have enough instructors, we had enough shooters, too.

Shoot Boss: Firewall99
Instructors: Andy in NH, Redchrome
Instructors-in-Training: charliew, Nehemiah414
Promotions: charliew to IIT3; Nehemiah414 to IIT1
Riflemen Made: Jack
Riflemen Made Ratio: ~7%

Day 1 Weather: Almost ideal--80's, Sunny, w/light wind
Day 2 Weather: Absolutely ideal! 70's, Sunny, w/light wind!

Number of Actual Shooters - Day 1: 15
Number of Actual Shooters - Day 2: 13
Number Pre-registered - Day 1: 12
Number Pre-registered - Day 2: 11
Number of Rifle Newbies: 2
LTR’s Used: 4


What makes a great shoot is positive mental attitude all around. The shooters had it, and the instructors had it.

The one thing that was different was that I finally did what I've been meaning to do for several shoots now. We have this phenomenon that instructors don't like to admit to, but I've decided to "out" to the world. I have been calling it the "invisible shooter." This is the shooter that looks OK--sometimes they even look like they know what they are doing!-- but in reality they are actually failing miserably and getting more frustrated by the minute. They do this in complete secrecy, as if to admit that having trouble would be a cardinal sin, until finally they give up in abject surrender and march off to their car in a huff. Not good.

Well, I've had enough of that. So I put it to the shooters during the introduction on day 1, that if they are having trouble, any kind of trouble at all, it is their duty to bring it to an instructor's attention. I made it clear that at this shoot, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Everyone seemed OK with that, so I thought nothing of it. Then about two hours later, up went a hand. Sure enough, it was a seasoned shooter, but she was having trouble getting in and out of the prone position. So we said, "You get to shoot from sitting if you want instead." Easy! She gave us a big smile and said, "Thank God!" This shooter then hung in there for both days and did not quit. She was a real trooper, and she almost made Rifleman with a 208.

No one else quit, either.

So from now on that's going to be my "Greasy Wheel" schtick.

We did the "One Day Appleseed" on Thursday. All the way through the third strike and 3 SS/AQT's. No sweat. We even had a one-day shooter who was thrilled to get the whole story on day one--that is, until she heard that there was more to come the next day! (So I gave her a quick preview of "Dangerous Old Folks.")

Andy in NH showed us the "Buddy" drill. This may be a new drill for a some of us. It worked like a charm for two shooters who were having big groups. Here's how it goes: The shooters pair off. The shooter gets into prone position, and the coach lies down just as with the Ball & Dummy drill. After the "Fire!" command, the shooter, with trigger finger OFF the trigger, performs the six steps up to Step 5 and then says, "OK" as the exhale is finishing. The coach then carefully squeezes the trigger using his thumb and forefinger.

What this does for the shooter, if the coach does a good job squeezing the trigger just right, is completely isolate any trigger issues. For the coach it gives an opportunity to practice squeezing the trigger without having to multi-task the other steps. Win-win for both partners.

My experience as the coach for this drill was extremely positive. My shooter was one of those with huge, wandering groups. When we looked at the target after the drill, it was more than a little surprising to both of us. There were 9-10 holes ALL IN THE BLACK.

Now we knew without a doubt that the shooter had a trigger problem. Another shooter had the same epiphany. You gotta love it.

 

[Andy in NH]

First Redcoat.

Carson takes aim.

Polly gets comfortable (stable) with a red dot.

Ben working on the six steps.

Andrew shoots one of his rifles.

The buddy drill.

Sean and Ty giving their rifles a workout.

Red Chrome keeps an eye on a shooter.

First strike.

Andrew preps with one of his other rifles.

Rifleman Jack (without his cannon)

 

[Cooter Brown]

Andrew preps with one of his other rifles.

LOL! (you had to be there)

 

[Firewall99]

Let's not be too hard on Andrew. He was a good student, and didn't give up. However, since the subject came up, let's learn from it.

One of the lessons learned (hopefully) is that sometimes too much equipment can get in the way of learning a new skill. Sometimes it's not the equipment that needs to change, but what one is doing with it.

Maybe this was what our ancestors meant when they said, "Don't change horses in the middle of the stream?"

The more rifles you got, the more you got to go wrong and the more you got to learn. In the beginning, simplify--then branch out.

Just a thought.

 

[Jack in NH]

FW99, Andy, et al-

Thanks for a good shoot. This was our first, & I'm thinking not our last.
The Mrs. needs (her expression) to get that patch; I sincerely thank you guys for helping me achieve it, & for guiding the Mrs. w/her prone problems.

If you haven't figgered it out, I'm the handsome one in the last of Andy's pics- the one w/o the whistle. 8^)

I've a little write-up on the shoot at http://rattailbastard.blogspot.com/2010/08/appleseed-shoot.html

We can't make Enfield this weekend (I'm working the Concord gun show), but we'll see you at the next "local" shoot.

Best regards,
Jack & Deb in NH

 

[Firewall99]

Great blog you got there, Jack.

Gotta love them ninja's! LOL!

(I edited my After Action Report to accurately reflect Deb's high score. I didn't know she came that close!)

 

[Jack in NH]

Thanks for the update there FW99. We didn't bring the last/best one to you, because no matter how many .311 cartridges I stuck in the holes, it was still, sadly, a 208.
That why God made "next times"...