Saturday morning April 13 the Reading Rifle and Revolver Club hosted an open high-powered rifle clinic and competition. We showed up around 7:50am and signed in. There were about 80 of us there, which made us a bit nervous because we were on the waiting list and the club had twice as many participants on their hands as they had expected. They gave us a comprehensive lecture on range safety, competition rules, and the operation of AR-15, M-14, and M1 Garand rifles. All four of us (Lea, Gavin, Robert, and myself) opted for AR-15s. We spent the first half of our day there pulling, marking, patching, and scoring targets for the first batch of shooters, and then swapped places with them. We each spent our turn with our coach, who showed us proper shooting positions, adjusted our sights, and gave helpful advice while we shot an NRA 200 yard match. From start to finish, every aspect of the training exceeded my expectations. The atmosphere was friendly, enthusiastic, and passionate about shooting. I can't imagine a safer or more conducive learning environment. Lea, who'd never shot before, came away with the best score (I think-- I never saw Gavin's final tally), beating me by two points out of 400. Everyone had an amazing time and learned a lot; we'll definitely all be going back there for their next event.
Lea, looking cute with her hearing protection.
Robert taking aim offhand (with Gavin looking on).
Lea watching as Franco, our coach, loads a magazine for her sight-in shots.
Lea resting before shooting offhand.
Lea shooting offhand. This is a cropped version of this pic of the firing line.
Lea and Franco proudly displaying her impressive score.
Me, resting a moment before shooting offhand.
The Target #3 crew (left to right): Me, Franco, Greg Lyle (our target-mate), and Lea.
