.

[Talon]

.

[funfaler]

Fantastic!

Congrats to Chad, you are in the upper percentile for sure, good work.

One Rifleman at a time is how we will get them out fo the goo, and into the rifleman's pool!

I hope to make a Hinesville Appleseed, too many good things coming out of them to not be part of it.

Keep up the good work!

[SGTCap]

Heres a few more pictures I snapped off this weekend.  I got so involved with the shooting I almost forgot I had a camera with me. 









Dave thank your putting this together for us.  I couldn't have had a better time.  I think you just recruited several more Appleseeders this weekend.

[SGTCap]

Thank you for the kind words above Talon.  I am going to work with Doc (Jim) and his wife Lulu (pictured above) as much as I can getting them and their equipment squared away before the March Appleseed.  There are two riflemen right there just waiting to happen.  You couldn't ask for more enthusiastic people to work with.  After y'all left on monday I worked with Lulu a bit on her handgunning technique.  A few basic instructions and her groupings went from a foot at 7 yards to 3 inches or so.  There some real potential there.  Her husband as going to be just as good once we knock the rust off and get some trigger time in.  Watch out for these two and get a pair of riflemens patches ready.

All in all I couldn't think of a better way to spend a monday afternoon.  Great people, great shooting and good clean fun.  God it's great to be an American.

[Nickle]

Congrats to the new Rifleman.

SGT Cap, so when are you going to become an IIT and start down the Instructor's path?

You don't want me to be the only currently serving military member that is an RWVA Instructor, do you?

[Grin Reaper]

SGT Cap, so when are you going to become an IIT and start down the Instructor's path?

Nickle, shhhh!  You know the official policy is to sneak up on them with that (oh, sure, some call it 'ambushing', but whatever... ).

Sounds like I missed a great time.  I've got to remember to thank the millions on Welfare I had to support instead of joining in.

Looking forward to the next Hinesville event Event (I think they deserve capital letters, now).

[Nickle]

Grin, he's already an Instructor in other ways. Comes with the territory of being a Non-Commissioned Officer in the US Army. He, like I am a leader of men, and we have to instruct them in their duties. Even the officers listen to us, as we're the sound of reason.

[TreadCarefully]

Well done Chad!

[cwc400]

I just wanted to say how greatful I am to have the Cannonman as a friend and appreciate all that he does to keep alive our history (especially the Revolutionary War) it is truly an honor to be the 2nd Co. Georgia Artillery Gun Seargent and now a rifleman. I will be seeing you all at the next shoot.

Chad Carpenter

[Fred]

      You guys have given a good demonstration of how this program is supposed to work!

      Thank you - all of you - big time!

      Now that you know how it's done - and how to do it - let's make it happen, again - and again...

[SGTCap]

I forgot to add the other good news.  I shot a 229 on the AQT sans the 30cal rule.  With it I would have been in the mid 230's and had a perfect 50 on on the slowfire prone.  Either way it was my highest score yet. 

Not bad for a guy that hit 5 out 13 rounds a couple months ago at his first redcoat target.  Thanks Appleseed   

[Fred]

     That's big congrats - not on the score, which is fine enough - but on the perfect slow-fire prone. That's a tough one!

[SGTCap]

Congrats to the new Rifleman.

SGT Cap, so when are you going to become an IIT and start down the Instructor's path?

You don't want me to be the only currently serving military member that is an RWVA Instructor, do you?

By the end of 08 I intend to be an instructor.  I should be able to get in 4 more Appleseeds before years end if not a boot camp.  Honestly I believe this is the best program that I have ever gotten involved with (and the only come to think of it).  Anything I can do to help it succeed I will.

[cannonman61]

I forgot to add the other good news.  I shot a 229 on the AQT sans the 30cal rule.  With it I would have been in the mid 230's and had a perfect 50 on on the slowfire prone.  Either way it was my highest score yet. 

Not bad for a guy that hit 5 out 13 rounds a couple months ago at his first redcoat target.  Thanks Appleseed   

Cap,

I was dumpster diving for brass at the range today and saw that target in the TRASH! I think you should get it and save it. At least until you make a better score. It is something to save and treasure. I thought of picking it up and saving it for you, but got sidetracked.

CM61

[SGTCap]

What am I gonna do hang it on the fridge?     

I will swing down there today and see if its still there.

[Old Dog]

During the Feb. RBC at Ramseur I shot a 211 on the AQT - that target is hanging on my office wall
                                           I shot a 213 (sitting on the last 2 stages) - that one's on the wall, too.
                                           I shot a 211 full distance - ornell wouldn't let me have the D targets,                                or those would be on my office wall.

I'm kind of proud of those.  I didn't get raw elbows, no powder burns, no dust in my eyes, but I took 5 or 6 aleve's a day (and got woke up every night between midnight and 200 AM with my left shoulder hurting so bad I had to take another aleve so I could go back to sleep).  It was cold, the days were short (but when you're shooting on a range like Ramseur with the group of guys I was shooting with, and receiving training from) and glorius and I will remember them for the rest of my life. 

I get some questions at work about them, too.  Where did they come from, how far away was I, what kind of rifle was I using, etc.  It's kind of funny really.  A lot of those folks look at the target and ask why the groups are so big.  When I tell them how the stages of the AQT are done they get a funny look in there eyes (I really believe they don't understand why we don't shoot from a bench/rest) and most lose interest.  Some day a few of them may remember a little of what I tried to tell them and they'll wonder why they didn't make the effort to learn to shoot a rifle better.

Those AQTs are a little bit of my history.  I may shoot more AQTs some day but those are my first rifleman scores and I want to look at them when I remember things like SoM coming up to me and tell me to try it sitting because he could tell my back, shoulder and elbow were really hurting getting in/out of the prone position.  Even though ornell wouldn't let me keep the D targets I remember the funny look he gave me when he asked how I did and I told him I just barely squeaked by.  He asked what I meant and I told him I shot a 211 (it was really windy that day, changing directions, changing intensity), I just barely made it.  He looked at me and said 200 was the minumum score on the full distance AQT and I felt a little better.

Memories.  I'll have more but those are special to me.  I will never again be at Ramseur with those instructors (ornell, SoM and Jr. birdman) and all the guys who atttended that RBC shooting my M1A and learning to improve my rifle shooting skills.  I'm just one of those people who like visual reminders of my past experiences.

[cannonman61]

What am I gonna do hang it on the fridge?     

Actually Cap, yeah I might do that if the wife let me.  But, since I have a shop, I hang them in there and put the extras in a log book to keep records of my habits and any changes in POI in the different rifles. My eyes could start giving me troubles any time now as I am now officially pushing 50 as my parents and wife now remind me.

CM61

[SGTCap]

Interesting points.  I always figured I knew the scores and I don't intend for them to be my best ever.  I will keep working and keep improving.  The rifle is capable of a perfect score and so am I.  I jest have to put everything together at once  .  Its just a matter of time before it happens.

[Grin Reaper]

What am I gonna do hang it on the fridge?     

Um, yeah.  Unless you have an office at work you can hang it in.  In a freakin' frame! 
CM, I've got my own target collection, so it's not just you.  But they tend to get out of control quickly, so the ones that will fit on the scanner get stored on the hard-drive.
For instance, http://zombiehunters.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13055&start=432 -- about half-way down the page.

[icebrain]

You guys need to warn us next time something like this happens... 

[Oohrah]

It appears that back east really knows how to have a
productive great time

[cannonman61]

Hey Guys,

We, SgtCap and I, just got back from another mini we held spur of the moment at the Hinesville range.

This time, Cap and I were the only "instructors" as Talon was home and we were on our own.

We had 3 shooters. Morgan, Eli and Micah . They were a father son, son combo. Morgan and Eli were at the September Appleseed and up until then Eli had never fired a modern weapon. Black powder was his only firearm. He did well at Hinesville, better at Toccoa and even better today. In fact, had Cap and I both not forgoten our watches, he may have made it to Rifleman. But as it was we could not time him. He turned in some respectable AQT's and really nice Redcoats.

His older brother Micah did very well as a first timer and even had several headshots on the Redcoats. He was a 200 yard shooter to start with minimal instruction and familiarity on my 10-22's. Both Micah and Eli fired my poormans LTRs and did very well. I have no doubt that with some real instruction from some real instructors the next Appleseed will see these two joining the Rifleman parade that we've become down here.

Morgan worked with his smoke pole happily perforating redcoats with his Black Powder rifle and even the Brown Bess. It looked like so much fun SgtCap finally had to try it too and found it to be, shall we say, habit forming? Since we already convinced him to get a Garand, can a Bess or Charleville be far behind?

Cap and I went through an AQT and did some talking to the boys about sling work, sight picture and of course, safety, safety, safety. Eli to his great credit, did an excellent job of personally passing on the great bulk of information on rifle craft to his brother, w/o much assistance from either Cap or myself.

A great example of the passsing down of knowledge that is the 7th step in Appleseed. PASS IT ON!

I apologize for the fact there are no pictures this time. I forgot my camera, and Cap forgot he had his until we left. That's how much fun we were having.

By your leave,
YMH&OS
CM61

[Grin Reaper]

Well done!
And blasting the Redcoat targets with the muzzle loader?  That is hard-core!

[SGTCap]

We also found out that a ciener kit WILL fire out of battery   

Had a lot of fun today.  Red coats are not safe with this group around, I can tell you that much.

[cannonman61]

 

I thought I broke something at first!

Darn good reason to always wear your shooting glasses! I had them on, thankfully.

A reminder w/o an injury!

Did you post a picture of that case on ARFCOM? Maybe you should do it here to to remind people that even a .22 commands respect and safe handling everytime.

CM61

[Old Dog]

During the second Chesterfield Mini-Appleseed one of the fellows on the right side of the line was using a T/C match (looking) .22 semi auto.  It fired before the bolt was fully closed, too.  Never saw anything like it.  The bullet did not make it out of the barrel due to the loss in pressure when the unsupported case wall blew out.  It required a cleaning rod a tap or two to get the bullet out of the barrel.  The empty was located and it was pretty wild looking (the way it bulged and blew out on one side.

Even a .22 case (as low as the pressure is vs. a centerfire cartridge) cannot withstand the pressure of firing unsupported.  Remember, the brass case is only a seal, a gasket sort of, to seal the small "cracks" in the support provided by the chamber and the bolt.  Most centerfire rifle cartridges are upwards of 50,000 psi for pressure which is why an out of battery fire can be so devastating to the rifle and the shooter.

[VAshooter]

Any 22 RF can fire out of battery.

It doesn't have to be the firing pin striking the rim early. It can be the rim getting pinched between the bolt face and the face of the barrel. All the firing pin blocks and safety devices in the world won't stop that.

I've seen it happen twice this last year along with one squib load in a Garand. These occurances are more common than you might think. If you see smoke coming out of the action, there is a problem.

VAshooter

[cannonman61]

+1 Vashooter!

This is what you are reduced to if your rifle does that in a battle scenario. 

The pic is Sgt Cap and his hawk target! He's a natural and is now competent with yet another weapon of personal defense.

You will notice we found yet another use for those pesky redcoats. They make great tomahawk catchers!!! 
That's a playing card size target he hit at 3 yards. Nice hit. We had fun until he and I shattered my 6 inch slice of oak that was our target backer!




CM61

[SGTCap]

I think I was trying not to laugh in that picture.  I was wondering when you were gonna find a way to work that into a thread. 

Now I need to order a couple hawks of my own and find a target.  Those are A LOT of fun.

I think that may be a side event at one of the upcoming Hinesville Appleseeds.

[Grin Reaper]

"Are you a 'hawk-man, or a cook?"

Nicely done.