AAR: Danville, IL July 24th-25th 2010

[Reveille]

Post pictures and comments here for Danville, IL July 24-25.

[Thirdpower]

Pros:  One-on-one instruction and drills designed to individualize training.  Well organized and planned out to maximize trigger and 'class' time. Instructors were excellent in knowledge and attitude.

Con: Brochure was from last year w/ new dates. Stated there would be food available (they did provide ad hoc sandwiches if needed though).  Range is west of Danville, not east.

This was my first Appleseed event.  I was very impressed and learned a lot in both shooting skills and Rev. War History.

[alcade]

I very much enjoyed my second Appleseed.  I'm especially glad I made rifleman with my battle rifle (Ruger SR 556).  Its pretty new, and I've only shot about a hundred rounds out of it before the weekend... plus the stock trigger isn't exactly user friendly.  Needless to say, I wasn't expecting much.  But after the AS I attended last year at Darnall's range outside of Bloomington, IL, I downloaded some redcoat targets and made myself a 25M range in my backyard.  I've really noticed an improvement in my shooting and I'm glad it showed this weekend.  After my last AS I bought a copy of Paul Revere's Ride (for about $4, used, on Amazon.com), which is probably the most inspiring story I've ever read.  

Thanks especially go to the many instructors for their invaluable advice.  I noticed my groups were terrible on the second day when I switched to my 10/22.  I could see my crosshairs moving about 6 moa across the target in tune to my heartbeat.  Maybe my arm/sling wasn't right, but after "Oddball" pointed out that my barrel screw was loose and "Wurstmacher" (sp?) helped me build up my stock with a cheekpad my groups tightened up like crazy.  I hadn't before used a sling to help steady my AR when shooting prone, choosing instead to use my mag as a monopod.  I'm still convinced that this provides a more stable prone shooting position based on my groups at home, but I'm trying to keep an open mind and will give it more practice.

I think the best part of AS is being around like-minded people.  I came with my brother this year, but last year the two of us brought a friend.  Unfortunately the message didn't take for him, but I'll continue to try to convince friends to come the next time I plan to attend.  I'm thinking real hard of the Sept. 11 shoot.  I'd read that we were going to learn Battle Sight Zero, something which I'm only vaguely aware of, but I had to leave early since I work the nightshift.  Maybe next time.  

One suggestion... this AS was advertised as having refreshments available on site.  I believe the ad I saw said hamburgers and hot dogs would be on sale.  Since this was not the case, I know several people (myself included) were disappointed since we'd only brought snacks.  Please be careful to have accurate information regarding meals.

Again, thanks for the good time and the excellent instruction and history lesson.

[John Boch]

Good to see several new Riflemen!

And I think Ross' AQT of 195 on the second day merits mentioning and then some!

Saturday, especially in the afternoon, things weren't going well for little Ross, who was probably all of about 11 years old or so.  He caught some hot brass down the shirt and was hot and his shooting wasn't setting the world on fire, but Sunday, after some additional work, I saw some of his groups and the young man was shooting as well or better than the many, no, most adults there.

He came up to me and asked me to score his target after I told him he looked like he was close to being a Rifleman and my jaw dropped when I added it up:  195.  While my jaw dropped, his eyes lit up.

Good work Ross.  I see a patch in your future, earned through perseverance.  I'm sure you're going to want sewn on your favorite jacket to show your schoolmates and when they ask what it means, you can proudly tell them that you're a man who knows what he's about and why that patch is significant.

It took me three years to earn mine...

John

[Earl]

Thirdpower, links to your blog posts would be appreciated by the instructors and fellow shooters, it helps get the word out about the Appleseeds. Also, linking the AAR to your blog site will allow your readers to see what others have said about this event.

Alcade, I am personally against box or banana magazines for semi-autos, they get in the way of getting real low when I wanted to become one with the earth. Using the support elbow, with a snug sling to keep the same angle holding the rifle steady works well, but often the box or banana magazine will then impact into the support forearm.  Congratulations on making Rifleman, every shooter will have favorites to overcome or enhance their shooting ability. Make every shot count.

[John Boch]

Oh, and how could I forget.

Congrats to Matt, aka Boba Fett for earning the Red Hat.

He's certainly grown by leaps and bounds on his story telling in the last couple months!

I can only hope to someday be able to tell them as well as Matt now does.

Attaboy and congrats.

John

[Thirdpower]

Wanted to make sure I had permission before posting links to the blog. 

Day 1http://daysofourtrailers.blogspot.com/2010/07/appleseed-day-1.html

Day 2 http://daysofourtrailers.blogspot.com/2010/07/appleseed-day-2.html

My best AQT of the weekend was a 177 w/ a bolt action tube fed Marlin 81.

And ironically, I'm watching Pawn stars w/ them buying a MA bond from April 19, 1775 w/ engraving by Paul Revere.

[Reveille]

Alcade, I am glad to hear that you have embraced the Appleseed message and persevered to make Rifleman.  As far as the heartbeat problem I would like to recommend picking up a shooting jacket that has a Brachial artery pad to help mitigate your pulse.  This will greatly reduce the problem.  Stick with the support arm and sling and continue refining the steady hold factors.  Another tip that helps me is to wear a shooting mitt/glove on your support hand.  This will also reduce heartbeat movement.  Keep up the good work and I hope to see you on the trail again soon.   Reveille.

[Teflon John]

I had a great time also. It was great to see the improvement in the younger kids. Branden next to me on Saturday was shooting a Marlin 795 also so I was trying to give him some encouragement during the day.

My story: Back when I was 10 or 12 my grandfather gave me and my brother his .22 rifle and sent us out into his 200 acre woods to "get us out of his hair". No shooting instructions, no safety training, just "have fun." Since then (I'm now 39) I hadn't touched a rifle. I bought my Marlin 795 back in January and had only shot one round out of it before last Thursday when I took it out to a co-workers farm to get my scope close to zero and see which brand of ammo the Marlin liked. Tried Remington bulk, Winchester X, Remington Target, & CCI Mini-mags. So, my whole history of intentional rifle shooting before this week's Appleseed was about 25-30 rounds. I had the smallest groups with the Remington bulk so that is what I used on Saturday. Ended up with 6 rounds that failed to fire. The looked like light strikes so maybe the rims were not spec. Two of them in stages 1 & 3 on my AQT. I still qualified with a 226. 

I switched to the CCIs for Sunday and had no misfires in 285 rounds. Had qualifying scores in 2 of my 3 AQTs on Sunday with a best of 234 in which I actually shot my neighbors target with one round after a flubbed mag change in stage 3. My one non-qualifier was close (216) but the scope lost zero (probably from the sun being between 2 tents during the lunch break) I had to use Kentucky windage to correct for the low shots. I adjusted the scope after shooting but goofed it and adjusted the wrong way which made it worse (>6 MOA) so I had a couple non-scoring shots, Overall, I guess I'm a natural but looking at my redcoats from the first part of the day to the last, I definitely improved from the instruction. Being a noob shooter, I'm glad I learned the correct method from the AP instructors from the start. I didn't have any old habits to overcome.

I heard about Appleseed on some rimfire/Marlin specific forums after I bought the Marlin. I did as much research as I could after I committed to doing one. Buying all the necessary gear (GI sling, multiple mags, shooting glove, etc.) to have the best chance of making the grade.

The only things I would have done differently were:

• Bring a lunch
• Actually talk to someone that had been to an Appleseed before and have them show me the proper prone position to make sure everything fits the body right. I had replaced my Marlin's stock with an Dragunov looking one that has a pronounced down angle on the butt that only allowed the very top edge of it to barely catch my shoulder. There's a nice bruise there from me pulling it back into the pocket.
• Make sure my scope was in the right position. It was set too far back and I had to struggle to find any kind of target and would loose it just as I was firing. Either that or find a scope with an eye relief of 0-1" I adjusted it Saturday night and it was much better for Sunday.

A couple of tips for future attendees:

• Put the target as low on the board as you can and mark it in a manner that helps you find it quickly without having to come off target to look at your lane number. I put a couple of smiley faces on mine and it made quick acquisition. See my note above about putting one round on someone else's target. I forgot to put the smiley that one. I lost my NPA during the mag change.
• Make sure your magazines are reliable. I heard a lot of people say they were having problems with their 10/22 mags when they were only loaded with 2 rounds.
• Be prepared for any weather condition. Bring a pop-up tent and folding chair. Don't count on the firing line to be completely covered in the event of rain or blistering sun.
• 
  
  • Have extra mags and prep them ahead of time to maximize your "preparation time" on the line to get your NPA & dry fires in. I had 4 mags and tried to always have 3 of them ready with round counts of 10, 8, & 2. This made it easy to do any combination that might be called other than the redcoat target with calls for 13. Easily remedied with adding one round to the "2" mag.
  • Take a couple of loose rounds with you to the firing line just in case you have a misfire or two. Especially on one of the longer timed stages of the AQT. You should have time load them and get the required rounds on target.
  
  Again, it was an awesome experience. My brother-in-law and two co-workers had intended to go also but couldn't make it. I'll probably come with them when they do find time to attend a future event. Even if you go by yourself as I did, you won't be alone. It's easy to find someone to talk to. We're all there for the same purpose.
  

[Shooter30-06]

Congratulations to our three new Rifleman!  You all excelled in some extremely difficult and uncomfortable conditions.  I would like to complement all of the Shooters on their hard work and great attitudes.  A number of you were extremely close to earning the badge and I hope to get to see you again. 

[EEL]

My thanks to Reveille for getting this started.  Had a looong drive home and work the next day at 0600.    Wow!  What a great bunch of shooters.  The weather was brutal on Saturday.  "Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate" was the word of the day.  Felt like we were in an Easy Bake oven.  Canopies helped but between the heat and the humidity, it was tough.  But we didn't lose 1 shooter.  Not one!  They all persisted and persevered.  

Three new Riflemen were forged on Saturday!  Congrats to John, Bryan, and Matt.  Nice shooting.  We also had MTBrass pick up his orange hat and start down the Appleseed Trail, passing on Heritage and Marksmanship skills.  This weekend we also had Boba Fett take the big step forward to Red Hat!  Congratulations and thanks for stepping up.  The Country needs more like you  

Sunday found us with almost every shooter returning.  A few had said they were Saturday only folks so I think we only lost 2.  Not bad considering the heat and beating they all took the day before.  God Bless Advil    We quickly reviewed things and got to work.  Later, we went over Known Distance, trajectory, and "come ups".  We then proceeded over to the distance range and had each shooter fire on steel at 85 yards.  Knowing "The Rifleman's Dance" came in handy as the shooters worked over the plates.

A great weekend came to a close, but our shooters weren't done yet.  Many stuck around to help take down canopies, pick up garbage, and tear down the target line!!  Appleseed is an all volunteer organization and our shooters responded in form!  Thanks to all that lent a hand  

Great range, great people, great weekend.

Thanks again to all that stuck it out!  There is hope for America!

EEL
Shoot Boss

[Gumballhead]

This weekend we also had Boba Fett take the big step forward to Red Hat!

Congrats!  I guess this means no more IIT 7 

[dragonfly]

Sounds like a great Appleseed weekend   and hope to see you all on the trail soon  .

D-fly

[mtbrass]

We had a great time this weekend, good to see more people on the forum and it was great to see the new riflemen and new red hat.  What a weekend!  Plus, I got a look at it from the other side, felt a little awkward at first but with all the good people both shooting and instructing the awkward went away and the learning started for me again.

Can't get enough of the history and can't stop thinking about the 7th step, did some range research today and made a call to a friend, guess I got the fever bad.   Thanks for all the help and thanks for the instruction given to the two young men that went with me, they are already asking when we are going to the next event . 

   

[Reveille]

If anyone has pictures from this event that they could post please do so, especially of the new Rifleman receiving their patch's.  It will give them an opportunity to download them to their PC for the archives.   Thanks, Reveille.

[alcade]

Thanks for the tips, Earl and Reveille, I'll give them a try.  Whoever took pictures on Saturday please post them or send them to mhavens [at] alcade [dot] net.  I'd like to see them. 

[Boba Fett]

Oh, and how could I forget.

Congrats to Matt, aka Boba Fett for earning the Red Hat.

He's certainly grown by leaps and bounds on his story telling in the last couple months!

I can only hope to someday be able to tell them as well as Matt now does.

Attaboy and congrats.

John

Thanks John. Much appreciated.

[Boba Fett]

OK Everyone,
Sorry it's taken me several days to post something. I had shoulder surgery last Tuesday and I've been pretty out of it on pain medication. It was a great weekend in spite of the heat. We had a breeze. We had some clouds at times. We had stuff to drink. We had lots of tents. AND we had good people with good attitudes. What more can you ask for at an Appleseed? 

This was one of the most attentive group of shooters I've had the pleasure of working with. It was exactly one year ago at this same shoot I "discovered" NPOA, shot Rifleman, cleared the Redcoat, and took the Orange Hat. Last year EEL called it winning the "Trifecta". This year we (Illinois) scored a Trifecta of Riflemen. Well done John, Brian, and Matt.  You all have won the distinguished honor of becoming Illinois' "100th Rifleman"! 

I'm still on fairly large amounts of Vicodin and Toradol, so I'll just shut up for now and post some pictures. 

Boba

[Boba Fett]

More Pics!

[Boba Fett]

... and some more.

[mtclip]

I had a great time at the shoot and I broke my previous AQT highscore by 34 points but I still not a riflemen. The bad part is me and mtbrass went to the range today and figured out we had the scope on the wrong Ruger, meaning we never even uncased the re-worked trigger.  Good job to those who got riflemen and to those who came to the shoot with a good atitude and also to Boba Fett on his red hat.  Good job and thanks to all the insructers for all the help.  Hope to see many new riflemen along with myself down and I hope they all ask for an orange hat.         

[Teflon John]

Thanks for the pics. 

[Teflon John]

Here are the pictures I took at the event. They were linked to in ThirdPower's blog post but some might have missed it.
The first 3 are just after setup on Saturday and the rest were taken during the last redcoat & AQT on Sunday.
http://olden.org/appleseed/

[AK]

Thanks for posting the Danville pictures.  I enjoyed seeing them and the familiar faces.  I enjoyed the shoot even though I still didn't earn my rifleman's patch after three shoots. It is fun trying and I WILL keep trying until I can do it.  It was hot, but afterwards I don't even think about that part.  It is just a temporary inconvenience.   Thanks, Reveille (and of course Shooter 30.06) for your encouragement and belief in me. 

[mtbrass]

Good to see you on here AK. You will get that patch, that was my son's third shoot also but it will happen, perseverance is the key>

[BEE]

What a great time at Danville! This was my 2nd time at Danville and also my 2nd Appleseed shoot. It was nice to see the familiar faces from last year--I'm happy that we all stuck around... Appleseed must be doing something right. Its been a lot of fun both times, and the instruction and history presentations are invaluable lessons.

Yes, it was very hot, humid and miserable on Saturday. A HUGE THANKS to all that covered the firing line with canopies, it really made a BIG difference in comfort. Sunday was much better weather-wise and I wasn't as crabby  (according to EEL). I'm sure all of the shooters appreciated shooting from under the shade as much as I did!

I learned a lot this past week end. Especially, that all those little things the instructors tell us to do really make a difference, like "squeeeezing" the trigger slowly and not dragging wood. After I learned how to squeeze the trigger properly and "not drag wood", my groups markedly improved. Thanks to all of the instructors for their patience and professionalism with us amateurs!

Congratulations to the 3 new Riflemen and to Boba Fett on his Red Hat. I have a while to go before I make Rifleman, but I will persist and persevere until I make it... I must work hard and be patient...

Also, a big thank you to the Wurstmacher's on their hospitality!

It was a pleasure meeting all of the other Appleseed shooters and I hope to see you all at the 300 Shoot in Waterman on Sept 11.

I have only a few pictures to share, I'll be sure to take more next time.

[BEE]

A few more pics...

BEE

[Shooter30-06]

Thanks Bee for the photos - those are good photos of AK and my Brother-in-Law!  I cannot say much for the photo of that homely, bald-headed guy though!