Prayers for my fellow Texans

The sleepy little town of West, Texas needs prayers and support.

Located just north of Waco, with a population of only about 2800 people, the fire and subsequent explosion at the fertilizer plant has caused mass destruction in this little town. Many people injured or died, most everyone displaced since the town was evacuated.

The blast was felt clear up to Amarillo (and beyond), where seismographs recorded a shockwave of 2.1 on the richter scale. This is a huge, heartbreaking tragedy.

My fellow Texans need prayers and support. If you can help with any type of donations, that would be fantastic too. This link shows places that are accepting donations, but blood donations are desperately needed.

Make way for puppies!

The mister and I had a moment of sheer insanity the other day. We signed adoption papers for TWO nine week old puppies!

No pics of my own yet, since the babies won't come home until later this week, but I found a couple of pics on the rescue organization's site. 

Daisy (mama) and pups

Hungry pups!

We're pondering names! One male, one female - brother and sister. We think they are part Anatolian Shepard. (If you aren't sure what those are...check this out. They'll probably be pretty big!)

Some names that have come up.....
Bonnie & Clyde
Smith & Wesson
M______ & P______ (following the Smith & Wesson theme - but with names that actually start with those letters)
Mosin & Mauser

If you were crazy enough to adopt two puppies at the same time, what would YOU name them?

I'd like to thank the Academy.....

My one year blogaversary came and went with virtually zero notice by me. Oops!

The truth of the matter is, I've been SO busy for the last few months, that I've barely had time to blog (you didn't notice?), forget trying to keep up with all my favorite gun bloggers too!

So what has been keeping me so busy? Training. And training. Oh, and more training. Did I mention training?
And not just training, but lots of INSTRUCTOR training as well!

A year ago, I really was just starting on this journey, trying to figure out what to do next.
Remember this post?
Well, I jumped in with everything I had and got 'er done. I feel all official and what not.
Don't get me wrong, there is LOTS more for me to learn! But I feel like I can finally start giving back now.

Between the hubster and I, we have logged nearly 400 hours of training - since SEPTEMBER 2012.
From basic to advanced pistol, rifle, and even.........armed/unarmed self defense.

I guess we don't like to do anything half way around here. :)

I owe a debt of gratitude to a lot of fantastic people. I'm not going to name names, because I know I will leave some people out, and then I'll feel guilty.

Thanks to:
Strong women that inspire me. Shooters, trainers, activists, warrior princesses (and I don't mean Xena), bloggers, organizers.
Men that actually encourage and HELP women in not only the shooting sports, but also in other areas of the self defense world. Men that don't spout a bunch of hot air and then get cranky when they are questioned, but men that are interested more in correct and useful information instead of stroking their own egos.
Training counselors that would give you the shirt off their back if you ever needed it.
Anyone that has taken the time to encourage me and tell me that I have the strength to do all of this.

And most of all....my husband. He's the one that started the wheels in motion for me on this crazy adventure. I have loved every minute of it so far. 

March Appleseed - AAR

I had hoped to get this post up sooner, but it's been a busy couple of weeks in the 2A household. (Who am I kidding? It's been a busy few MONTHS. I need a vacation!)

I am happy to report that my marksmanship skills are improving! Even though we were shooting in the cold, rain, wind and mud, I had an incredible time and wouldn't have traded the experience for anything.

First off, this was the view immediately to my left.....

That's Mr. 2A, providing what he calls "motivation" with his RIFLEMAN sticker adhered to the stock of his Remington 597......I call it gloating. (Ok, it did motivate me a little.)

Second, see all those chunks of dirt mud? This photo was actually taken on day two, so the ground had dried out a bit from the cold wind that moved in. On day one, you'd walk downrange to check your target, and by the time you got back to the firing line, you were a good 4" taller because of the mud caked on the bottom of your shoes. 

I didn't shoot my Remington this time. We scored a used Ruger 10/22 and made some modifications to it.

Hogue stock (a dream if you're shooting in the rain), TechSites, extended mag release, and standard GI sling.

This one fits me much better than the Remington (although I did have it there as a backup, just in case!). I had trouble with mag changes on the Remington, having to break position to even find the mag release much less reach the mag well. Not a problem on the 10/22 - extended mag release made it a breeze to drop the mags, and the reach to seat a new one in the mag well was perfect. 

Ok, so on to the AQT's!

Mr. 2A shot only one AQT, and managed to beat his previous qualifying score of 211.....with a 233!!! 

After this AQT, he accepted an Instructor In Training hat, and worked the line. :) 

I went through all six AQT's and did pretty well myself. Sadly, not quite a RIFLEMAN yet....but the main thing I really need to work on is my timing.

Stage 1: Ok, I could use some practice here too. This stage is standing, 10 rounds, 2 minutes. I need to control my figure 8 better and work on my arm strength so my arms don't get as tired as quick.

Stage 2: This one hurt me. Standing to seated/kneeling, 5 rounds left, 5 rounds right, 55 seconds. I didn't get all my rounds off, simply because I didn't remember my Rifleman's Cadence. "Breathe in, breathe out, squeeze" stepped up or slowed down to fit your timing requirements. Had I completed this round....I would have qualified.

Stage 3: Standing to prone, 3 shots, 3 shots, 4 shots, 65 seconds. I need to work on cadence, as well as making sure I've got NPOA (natural point of aim) before squeezing that trigger. 

Stage 4: Prone, 2 shots, 2 shots, 3 shots 3 shots, 5 minutes. I need to remember to slooooow down here, but overall I'm pretty happy with this one.

Best score of the day = 200. Ten points shy of qualifying RIFLEMAN.
Practice, practice, practice....dry fire, dry fire, dry fire....and I'm going to try again in April. I'm after an Instructor In Training hat too. ;)

I must say, I really love what goes into precision marksmanship. So much, that I'm looking around for places I can start doing long range rifle shooting, and maybe even some competitions. I have a long way to go before I have a chance at winning anything....but don't forget....I've only been shooting rifles for 3 months now!

One more picture to leave you with. My final redcoat target of the weekend.

Of course, this one wasn't timed....... If  you can't quite read the distances on those (simulated distance)....
Top row: 100 yards
2nd row: 200 yards
3rd row: square 250 yd 'headshot'  and 300 yard silhouette
4th row: 400 yards

Gotta work on that timing thing...... :)

Must Read

Ladies & Gentleman,

Please take a few minutes out of your day today to hop on over to My Mind Won't Stop and read The Patriot Movement - The Three Percenters.

James so eloquently put into words much of what has been on my mind lately.

Appleseed Part Deux - Coming Soon!

OMG! I have a week and a half before our next Appleseed event! (Mar 9/10)

So much for my grand plans to practice-practice-practice to perfect my skills before then! I have barely touched my rifle at all!

Throw in the fact that we managed to score a Ruger 10/22 (which seems to fit me better - I can actually do a mag change without breaking position!) that I've barely shot, and that is having some issues with trigger reset at the moment....well, I've always learned best under pressure. :)  If my husband were reading over my shoulder he would pipe in and tell you that there "typically" would be a frustration melt-down or two along the way when working under pressure, but not this time, dammit! I'm going to push myself over the next week and a half, but I'm not going to stress over it.
If we can't get the trigger reset figured out, I'll just shoot with the Remington again, and pray. A lot. :)

I'm going to practice, and then go and have fun, and hopefully earn one of these.....

The coveted RIFLEMAN patch!

I think I've got it sighted in (thanks to Mr. J - would have been lost without ya!) and just need to practice with the various positions and the sling. Wish me luck!

Project Appleseed

If you have never heard of Project Appleseed, you owe it to yourself and your fellow Americans to go check out www.appleseedinfo.org.

Project Appleseed is an activity of The Revolutionary War Veterans Association, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, dedicated to teaching every American our shared heritage and history as well as traditional rifle marksmanship skills.

It was two very intensive days, and I'm exhausted and sore as all get-out, but it was all well worth it.

Going into this, I had very little rifle experience (and not a lot of interest in them, either), and really no idea what to expect from this except that we'd be shooting rifles. I was eager to learn, but more than a little nervous, too.

What I got was two fast-paced days of top-notch instruction, history lessons (not the stuff from your school days text books, either - the REAL history) and a new appreciation for our country's rich history and perseverance in times of trouble and what it takes to reach the status of "Rifleman." 

While I didn't qualify as "Rifleman" this time, I did at least score "Marksman" and impress the hell out of myself with what I can do if I try. Mr. 2A, on the other hand, did qualify as "Rifleman." :)
What does that mean? Well, here's a breakdown of the qualification target.

Scaled down target, posted at 25 yards. Simulates shooting at 100 yds in Stage 1 (largest target), 200 yards in Stage 2 (second row), 300 yards in Stage 3 (third row) and 400 yards in Stage 4 (bottom row).
No big deal, right? Let's add in the time limits and various shooting positions and see what you think then!

Stage 1: 10 rounds, standing, 2 minutes
Stage 2: Start from standing, and on "Fire" command, drop to sitting or kneeling, fire 2 shots at the left target, re-load, fire 3 more at the left target and then fire 5 at the right target. In 50 seconds.
Stage 3: Start from standing with 2 rounds loaded. On "Fire" drop to prone, fire 2 rounds at left target, re-load, fire one more at left target, then fire 3 at center target, then fire 4 at the right target. In 60 seconds.
Stage 4: Starting from prone, on "Fire" command, fire two rounds at the first target (left) and two more at the second target, then 3 each at the last two targets. In 5 minutes. (Now that may not seem too bad, but remember, you're still in rush-rush-hurry-hurry mode from the last two stages. The important thing on this last stage is to calm and center yourself and take your time. Not an easy thing to do!)

We went through this SIX times, and they took our best target as our final score. I only shot four rounds before I dropped out.

My poor body took such a beating from all the up-down-standing-sitting-kneeling, and my neck will be sore for days. Throw in the mental stress with the time limits, and the mind games you play with yourself when checking your target after each stage......well, it's a beating!
But you know what? I'm going to do it again, and I'm going to earn that damn "Rifleman" patch. Only 3 people qualified yesterday (out of about 25) and I want to join those ranks!

So let's talk about the hubby qualifying. He actually qualified on a couple of rounds - round 3, and again on round 6. Round six was his highest score at 211 (you must score 210 or higher to make Rifleman), but I'm particularly impressed with his round 3.
During round 3, I fired 3 rounds into the last target, and when I went to take aim for the last shot, I realized something was wrong. My front sight post was missing. It had been there for all other shots in this stage, but suddenly it was gone.
During a 2-3 minute prep period between stages 3 & 4, my dear hubby ran down the hill to the car after an allen wrench, ran back up the hill and fixed my front sight post to get me squared away (by this time everyone else had begun stage 4 shooting), got back into his loop sling, plopped down into prone (panting from his sprint session) and managed to hit all 4 of his targets in stage 4.
His score was 210. 

I should also mention that he earned his Rifleman status on his three year tumor-versary.
The guy never ceases to amaze me with what he can do!