AAR: Whittemore Weekend at A&A Optics

In spite of the heat and humidity, we had 13 shooters on the line to test their pistol and rifle marksmanship in adverse conditions. A&A Optics graciously hosted this event at their private range near Richmond, IN. In addition, Patriot Concealment Systems was on-hand to introduce everyone to their company and holster line as well as give away holsters to several lucky participants. Thank you to both A&A Optics and Patriot Concealment Systems for supporting Revere’s Riders.

Our Whittemore Weekend℠ event features one day each of pistol and rifle marksmanship instruction. The pistol portion of instruction was conducted on Saturday and the rifle portion on Sunday. Intermixed with the instruction, participants heard stories of the events of April 19th, 1775 and, in particular, the exploits of Samuel Whittemore (in the air conditioned comfort of Alan’s shop). Many colonists turned out on this day in history to defend their freedom but few did so with the courage and single-mindedness of Samuel Whittemore. To learn more about Samuel, search him on the web or, better yet, attend an upcoming Revere’s Riders Whittemore Weekend event.

The day began with the obligatory safety briefing after which shooters were asked to bring their pistols to the line. The first target placed downrange (before any instruction) was the Revere’s Riders pistol assessment target. This target helped determine a baseline for each participant’s shooting ability. After recording the results of the pistol assessment target, the instructors moved on to several rounds of instruction interspersed with live fire.

In the afternoon, students progressed to the Revere’s Riders pistol qualification target which is fired under the clock. Nine out of the thirteen participants shot a score, including one who had only recently shot a pistol for the first time!

The end of the day on Saturday featured an informal one-on-one competition at the dueling tree.

Sunday again began with a safety briefing after which rifles were brought to the line. In similar fashion to the pistol portion of the event, the Revere’s Riders rifle assessment target was shot before any instruction was provided to provide a baseline for measuring marksmanship progress. Instruction progressed through the five steps to firing the shot, zeroing the rifle, descriptions and demonstrations of the prone/seated/standing positions and, finally, natural point of aim (“NPOA”).

Once students were on-target and comfortable shooting from each position, the Revere’s Riders rifle qualification target was posted. The rifle qualification is fired under the clock from the standing, transition to seated, transition to prone and prone positions.

After running several qualifications, the instructors presented a short introduction to “known distance” shooting and adjustment of sights to compensate for range. Steel targets were placed 150 yards downrange (all previous shooting was done at 25 yards) and the line called hot.

While ringing steel, participants could also try their hand shooting an M1 Garand, an Enfield as well as a Quigley Sharps Rifle.

See the complete photo gallery from this event on the Revere’s Riders Flickr page.