AAR: APA Customer Appreciation Day match (pics!)

[BookHound]

American Precision Arms hosted their first annual Customer Appreciation Day this past Saturday, Oct 2, at their private range facility. There was awesome free BBQ, beans, slaw, drinks, chips, etc. A prize table packed with scopes from NightForce & US Optics, a silencer from AAC, barrel & install from Broughton & APA, a McRee Precision chassis system, ammo from Corbon, gear from Spec-Ops.

It was a beautiful day for the match and get together. We really had an awesome time.

The day started VERY early for some folks. In fact, Joey and his BBQ team started DAYS before the event and setup everything on-site the day before to cook all the meat.

The registration area got setup early that morning. Notice the leader board posted behind the registration table so throughout the day people could view the results. That was pretty neat and generated a lot of talk in the vendor/relaxation areas away from the noise of the firing line.

The prize table started getting put together early in the day too.

My buddy, Nuum (1moreAR) laughing his ass off in the back of the Kubota as we were racing from the front gate to the tent area.

Jered Joplin, our crazy Kubota driver.

Brad, Woody, Jason and Nuum helping out in the AM.

Action starting to happen in the main tent area. All the sponsoring Industry Partners we in the first tent area and the second area was setup for folks to just hang out and enjoy the fellowship & awesome food.

Some of the ladies chillin'.

Our friend Bill with Nightforce showed up with LOTS of product to show folks, answer questions and just hang out & have fun. He is a great friend and I was glad he came out for this.

The food really was AWESOME! And folks ate all they wanted for free. How often does that happen at matches??

 

[BookHound]

Re: AAR: APA Customer Appreciation Day match (pics!)

Range safety briefing.

Match participants first came by a staging area off to the side of the covered range. Everyone was again briefed and reminded of the match format, which was 20 rounds total with five rounds on each target at distances of 400, 500, 600 and 700 yards. Match was timed as well. You HAD to put five hits on each target before moving to the next array. These are some of the rifles that were on the first relay of the day.

The DTA that one of our own guys used to take a Nightforce scope off the prize table.

The rifle our buddy Jim used to win the match. He scored 310 out of a possible 400 points and ran the course in less than half the total time. Jim is a VERY accomplished shooter and cleaned house. He made lots of folks feel very humbled, myself included. And this wears a Broughton barrel in .260 caliber.

Chivalry isn't dead! Even so, we sometimes let the women carry all the rifles. LOL. This pretty lady scored well above a lot of other shooters. Her secret? Be calm, get the hits and don't worry about the time or other shooters. This was her first match too.

There were four shooters per relay. They all shot "thru" a box which helped shield others from brakes, etc.

Back at the IP area, there was lots of cool stuff out for people to check out.

ROs were very watchful on targets and the shooting line to ensure complete safety. They even helped some shooters with spotting assistance if needed. This was primarily for fun afterall and this was a first match for some guys so help was always available.

 

[BookHound]

Re: AAR: APA Customer Appreciation Day match (pics!)

The youngest match participant was 13 and he scored very impressively. He even beat his Dad! Good teaching there!

My buddy, R, on the line. This was his first match and he placed (IIRC) 11 out of nearly 40 shooters.

After the match the scores were reviewed to make absolute sure everything was correct. During that time demos started back at the range. First demo was from AAC showing off the TiRant 9mm suppressor and then we got to hear the brand new SAAMI-spec 300 Blackout cartridge. It will be commercially available soon and should be priced between quality 5.56 and 6.8 ammo.

Mike making faces at John while John rambles to the crowd.

The suppressor is the new 762-SD-N, which is a slightly shorter version of the 762-SD. SOunded AWESOME. This was a 9" barrel host.

After the demo the AAC guys let others try out the weapons.

Heck, that 300 Blackout was so easy to shoot even the youngest guy there got a chance to drive it!

 

[BookHound]

Re: AAR: APA Customer Appreciation Day match (pics!)

Then, the prize giveaway! First a big thanks to our sponsors. That is Bill from Nightforce, Mike Mers from AAC, Tim North, owner of Broughton Barrels and Scott McRee from McRee Precision. These were the folks on-stie. Corbon, USO, etc. couldn't make it to the event.

Winner of the match got his pick and Jim McClure took the USO scope home.

Just to show how much we love our customers, Jim got an extra prize too. Seriously, Jim is such a great guy. Very humble, excellent shooter, very funny and just great to have around.

Sean took the NF scope home with him.

AAC Cyclone went home (well, the paperwork did) with Mr. Johnny.

The Broughton barrel went to Wesley who badly needed it for a build, so he couldn't have gotten a better prize.

My great friend, Nuum, took home the McRee chassis. He was very happy. The rifle he is holding is actually mine. We should end up with matching rifles.

Scott McRee provided lots of his new 5 and 10-round magazines for prizes and several folks walked away with these. These work in any system that takes AICS mags. I can tell you I have played with those and LOVE them.

When all the prizes were given out we went back to shooting for fun. We busted out M1As, and all kinds of neat toys. Most of them were Scott McRee's. This is my buddy Brad blasting at 700-yards with irons.

 

[BookHound]

Re: AAR: APA Customer Appreciation Day match (pics!)


Woody checking out the .30-cal AR variant.

My buddy James busting targets with a McRee chassis.

Even the little guys were shooting 700-YARDS! Those McRee solutions are very comfortable.

Jason playing with an AR.

Last pic I took of the day, my friends Woody, Nuum and Jason.

After that last pic we cleaned up the range and just relaxed. Some folks hung out into the night and enjoyed the fellowship. All the people with whom I spoke had nothing but positive feedback. The match ran smooth and stayed on track (we even made up some time after a slight delay before the first relay went hot, so scoring and painting could not have gone better).

This was a really fun time and I can't wait until next year.

Thanks SO much to all the folks who volunteered to make this happen. This event was about YOU, the customer. That prize table would not be possible without the support of some of our awesome Industry Partners and we very much appreciate them.

 

[poison123]

Re: AAR: APA Customer Appreciation Day match (pics!)

Was a fun day for sure. And now I've got to buy another APA rifle to put that NightForce on

 

[ltfirehunter]

Re: AAR: APA Customer Appreciation Day match (pics!)

I knew before I went it was going to wind up costing me money. So now after handling that new APA Genesis action they had out for us to play with, I'll be ownin me one.

Darn ya'll

 

[wksinatl]

Re: AAR: APA Customer Appreciation Day match (pics!)

Great pics and write up!

Keith

 

[badhabit_wb]

Re: AAR: APA Customer Appreciation Day match (pics!)

mark i figured after she beat me shooting the least she could the rifles.lol. thanks for a great weekend. can't wait till next year. h

 

[Ratbert]

Re: AAR: APA Customer Appreciation Day match (pics!)

Man, I really missed out. Next year I'm canceling any travel and telling my youngest that it's his birthday party.

 

[J Harris]

Re: AAR: APA Customer Appreciation Day match (pics!)

I just wanted to say thanks to APA for a great day at the range and to thank everyone who made my 13 year olds day so awesome. He said hes never had so much fun. Everyone was great to congratulate him and to even make him feel like one of the guys. Also thank you vendors for treating him so well when he would come up and ask questions. He was nervous all week and didn't sleep at all the night before. I tried to get him to eat before he shot and he said he was too nervous and was afraid he would get sick if he did. If I counted right he ended up in 9th place on the scoreboard, 15 points higher than me. I was very proud of him to say the least.

 

[Jered Joplin]

Re: AAR: APA Customer Appreciation Day match (pics!)

I think the simple fact that he got to beat his dad and walk away with a multicam back pack from Spec-Ops in the same day made his year. Dakota has come a long way in his shooting. I think he even told me that he would give you some lessons if you could put him on a deer this winter.

 

[KYS]

Re: AAR: APA Customer Appreciation Day match (pics!)

Awesome, Looks like a fun day!

 

[Rob257]

Re: AAR: APA Customer Appreciation Day match (pics!)

Looks like a great event, Good shooting Jim.

Semper Fi

 

[BookHound]

Re: AAR: APA Customer Appreciation Day match (pics!)

Dakota worked VERY well under pressure. He stayed calm and focused. I'd share a firing line with that young man ANY day. He was safe, courteous, respectful, proficient with his gear and had an awesome attitude. He could teach a lot of "grown ups" I know a thing or two.

He is the future of precision shooting. Nice to see folks like that leading the next wave of shooters.