I arrived at camp Stasa, eager to try out my new rifle.

The weather had seemed promising on my way in, cool not cold and mostly cloudy. But as I arrived both the wind and the rain made their arrival. As I met up with the dedicated militia members already assembled it began to sprinkle intermittently. Undaunted the majority of us set out for the range, determined after all we are the militia and neither rain nor snow nor dark of night….oops sorry that’s the Postal Service. Well we had new rifles to shoot and nothing's going to stop that as long as we can do so safely. We consolidated and drove the muddied route back to the range. The road is improved thanks to the efforts of hard working Macomb County militia persons and their coworkers.

However we had to traverse it in a two-wheel drive and it got a little tricky in between the improved parts of the road. Once we arrived we set about cleaning up the range and setting up some targets. The rain had calmed down by now but we would later realize this was only the literal calm before the storm. We headed to the tent; I had to clean my new rifle. Once in the tent getting a lantern fired up was the first priority. I then repeated the process on the stove. After cleaning my rifle, we left the warmth of the stove and headed back to the range. I first checked my sights finding them to be pretty much on we backed up to the 100-yard mark. We spent our time firing shot strings at each of the plates we had posted, checking our groups. As much fun as this is we soon decided that it was time for some bowling. Bowling pins are a good test of accuracy there relative small size is definitely a challenge. It closely approximates the portion of a person that might be exposed in a combat type situation. Not to mention it has to be the most fun way to bowl, no shoe rentals required. While we were bowling, the weather got much worse the rain picked back up and the wind gusts got much heavier.

Undaunted we donned rain gear and continued bowling. The weather really was pretty nasty it rained on our stubborn poncho wearing selves for the better part of an hour. But eventually the rain saw that we were not giving up and it decided to give us a break. The wind on the other hand wasn't as kind it was steady with occasional moderate gusts. The wind gusts were enough to effect our bowling scores but not our enjoyment. We bowled many frames before deciding to call it a day. When we did it was back to the even warmer tent to wipe down and swab out my new rifle. Before leaving the tent for good we doused both the lantern and the stove. We probably could have just let the stove burnt itself out but better to be safe than sorry. All and all it was a good day. As stated before we shoot no mater what the conditions. You can never say what the weather or your comfort level may be if you should ever have to defend yourself. Practicing your marksmanship in a variety of weather conditions and comfort levels only makes you more efficient. You get the opportunity to see what works and what dosen't. Doing this in training and not when it counts ...….Priceless