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AAR: Gibsonburg, OH Oct 16 & 17 2010

Started by posterboy, October 18, 2010, 11:30:00 AM

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posterboy

Magic.

It's what happens when people come to Appleseed. I am continually awed. People come together to learn marksmanship and hear Heritage. It is a simple recipe really but the results are magic.

This last weekend was the grand finale of the appleseed season at the Sandusky County Sportsman Club and it was definitely one to remember. First we had 29 Americans getting up early, driving in some cases multiple hours and stepping out into the chilly air ready for the experience. Then we had Providence with no doubt the Founders looking down and smiling as well Blessing us with the most perfect and I do mean perfect weather for an appleseed event. I can't say enough about the group that came. They came open minded and eager to learn. They were safe. They Improved by leaps and bounds. Our instructor crew was at the ready to help in every way possible ..good job guys and gals ! The ingredients were PERFECT ! HUZZAH !

Saturday sailed through the appleseed foundation without a hiccup. It produced 2 repeat riflemen (congrats again flyNbuff and thanks btw for bringing your buddies and Black Swamp Becky) and one New Rifleman Don ! Huzzah !

Sunday arrived in another perfect shade of sheer blue sky and comfortable temperatures. Sore bodies stretched out and eagerly took to the firing line after a whole night to digest everything that they learned. That Sunday portion of appleseed is always the most exciting because that is when the light bulb flicks on. In this case it was a spot light ! Drum Roll........................*7* yes folks *7* New RIFLEMEN HUZAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH ! :~ :~ :~ :~ :~ :~ :~ :~

CONGRATS  Chris L, Steve, Bob, Perfect World (A.O.), Joe, Ken and Russ now known as Blank Slate. Wow

A Big Black Swamp Huzzah to Black Swamp Becky for taking an ORANGE HAT ! :~

25m skills translate to that 1/4 mile right ? Of Course they do ! as KD at the 500 yrd line proved Huzzah ! Students put hits on at that 20 inch steel with Garands, M14's , AR's and other rifles. At this point I need to mention Ms. Neat and her son Anthony. Folks they had never shot before they came this weekend. Ms Neat gingerly slung up with ..get this .....an M14 ( Thanks again to Brian / badelve) ! she shot her first shot and was understandably a bit surprised by the power of a .30 cal rifle. It didn't discourage her....in fact on her next shot.... Huzzah..... a riflemen persists...... she hit that steel !!! and an inescapable smile radiated from her face HUZZAH !! Her son Anthony did the same thing ! and then they repeated it shooting an AR !!

Appleseed is Magic

Thank you for coming out. We do this for YOU and we are rewarded every time.

pictures soon !

pb


posterboy

#1


Our riflemen minus Rusty Mossbolt who scored later...We grow 'em here in the Great Black Swamp




Team "Devastation"  winners of the Lamson shoot !






It was close for sure....but the hanging chads do not lie ! It all adds up right Fuzzy Math ?



"how'd I do? " rifleman Badelve and daughter Mo'Gun



Try that guys ! Shoot like a girl If you CAN !!!!!!  :~ go Mo'Gun


.30 cal holes !! huzzah!



Third Degree and the Line with Butt Stock taking a stroll. Rusty Mossbolt in the orange demonstrating an excellent offhand position.



Black Swamp Becky about to help out Ethan

Rusty Mossbolt

    The fist time I heard about The Appleseed Project, about a year ago, was from Fred (of www.fredsm14stocks.com in Shotgun News). I was intrigued. I started bouncing all around the internet reading links about the project, the RWVA, forums and chats, MBR's, NPOA, the 6 steps... all of it.
    I ordered "Freds Guide to Becoming a Rifleman" and read it front to back. Truth be told, as Posterboy's Creed is that "I will not lie to myself...this weekend", I ordered the instructors package so that I would get extra copies of Freds Guide to hand to my friends, more instruction and explanation about what to expect, a stack of cool targets, extra lit. about what it means to be an American, and much more. I shot at a couple of the targets that came with the package. I practiced the 6 steps and NPOA at home, not as much as suggested, but at least a couple of times.
    I was ready to pull the trigger and head to the range, not in that order, but the pun just sounds better!  I put it off for most of the summer then my wife and I were set to go to the September shoot until plans changed. To pass the time till Oct, I picked up and read "Paul Reveres Ride" as it is the only suggested reading material on the RWVA site. Talk about motivating, I could not wait to get to Gibsonburg.
    The only "problem" for me was that I had too many .22 rifles and none were just right.
    I decided to sling up and un-scope a new and unproven 702 plinkster for my wife. That seemed to complicate things because I left the factory flip up wing sights on it with about a 14" front to rear sight picture. She also had a difficult and uncooperative sling.  Many thanks to Mr. Happy and others for working side by side with her, fitting the rifle to her, and getting her on paper and target. This was the first time on the range and first time shooting for her, EVER. The ride home Saturday evening brought on a wonderful conversation. She told me she had a great time and enjoyed learning about the history of April 18-19 1775, and marksmanship. She feels confident and even quite comfortable with rifles and the act of shooting them now. 
    Unfortunately she was unable to attend Sunday and hone her new skill. Not to worry though as we are already making plans to attend another with friends and family.
    As for me, I brought a Mossburg 44us(c) that I recently inherited from my great grandfather. It came out of my uncles attic with a nice sheen of rust across the top of the barrel and some of the external parts, neglected for most of its life. The bolt still slid like magic and the bore was a twisted mirror. I thought I heard my great grandfather whisper from the trigger as I shouldered it, "This rifle is very much alive, and it fits you well". I spent some time knocking the rust off, oiling it down, and cleaning the stock. It cleaned up well.
    My reservation's for bringing it along were that it is a bolt action, it did not have a sling,  and the mags were difficult to drop. By preparing a bit ahead of time I knew that semi's were preferred, slings are integral, and mag changes were required.  I figured that the most important part of my attendance at an Appleseed was to learn the fundamentals of shooting the Appleseed way, and if I did not make rifleman on my first weekend, I would have a rock solid excuse. I did throw 1 1/2" self tapping screws in the bottom of the 7 round clips, which made mag changes a breeze. I also put a leather padded sling from another rifle on the Moss. I could do nothing about the bolt.
    When we arrived everything was set up and ready to roll. Kudos to the RWVA team for that.  Now remember, I was already highly motivated and brought my "willingness to learn" mind set. I was being critical to the overall experience though. I have told many of my friends and family about this program without ever attending it myself, that's a hard sell. So I wanted to make sure that this was not a fly by night operation run by some, this wing, that group, whoever. What I found was a family, not defined by age, race, sex, politics, or religious beliefs. I could tell that this was also just a small division of a larger family that is spread across America. The safety, history, and instruction were spot on and heartfelt. These people (I guess it is a "group", called American Rifleman), all of them, not only knew what they were teaching but believed in it, too. The level of knowledge and passion that they showed can only be attributed to the fact that they are volunteers. The best instruction I have ever received is from volunteers, you know why.
    Through the courses of fire and lecture my motivation stayed high and increased with every evolution. I kept an open mind and focused on soaking up what I was being fought. Every time I shot I improved. When I faltered, someone was there to help. I watched as the instructors bounced up and down the line helping everyone. They seemed to have a fix for every quirk and imperfection anyone showed. They never got frustrated or annoyed with anyone, they just kept improving them. In two days of training I never once saw any of the teenagers, I think 6 of them, pull out their cell phones to text or play video games. I am proud of them for that, and it goes to show that everyone there was paying attention and feeding their own desire off of the instructors. They made a believer out of me that the Appleseed program works and that this particular RWVA crew, is a solid team, or should I say, Family.
    They also made a Rifleman out of me. It was not until Sunday afternoon that my persistence paid off. People offered their own semi-autos to me as they saw that I was getting closer to the goal and thought it would get me over the edge sooner. I opted to stay with my great grandfathers rusty ol' Mossburg, bolt-action. Hence the new moniker "Rusty Mossbolt", earned with pride and a heavenly smile from above.
    I put a lot of time and effort into practicing and prepping for my first Appleseed Shoot. It would have been nice to have all the right things the first time, and that is what I tried to do. I did not need to worry as much as I did about having it all right before I arrived. No matter what people brought with them, the instructors made their equipment better. Where the drastic changes came in, no tool, toy, or dollar amount could help. The instructors improved the shooter, mind and body.
I will encourage everyone that I bring in the future to bring what they have and learn the basics. From there they (and I) will know what they will want and need to have the next time they come. At a minimum though, mounting a GI sling before hand would be highly recommended.
    Thank you very much, from my wife and I, to all of the staff of the RWVA for putting on an outstanding clinic. It is hard for me to imagine that any other Appleseed Shoot site could compare to the experience we had, and the knowledge, history and marksmanship, that we gained at Gibsonburg this weekend.

    "Rusty Mossbolt"
"I did not buy this rifle to put holes in paper, I bought it to annihilate the dirt behind it."

"Don't be afraid to educate yourself about what is going on around you in the world right now. It is the stuff your grand children will be asking you about when they are doing their homework."

posterboy

#3
Huzzah Rusty ! O0

Well said sir..... Pleasure to have you on the line !

GREAT Rifleman name there too ! Your Great Grandfather is VERY proud and I'm sure he did whisper to you....made me moist in the eye.

Obviously you were already a Rifleman in Spirit before you proved it on paper. That Spirit is the hardest score to achieve !

pb


ajrn

Posterboy, et al..

Is there a schedule for next year's Appleseed events???

MeanStreaker

ajrn, We're working on it.  :)

I have 15 or so 2011 dates locked down and in to our admin folks and we'll have many more in the next few months. 
Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.
--Thomas Paine

Used to ride a Kawasaki Mean Streak motorcycle.  I'm not an angry, naked runner.  :)

Blank Slate

I had a great time! Gibsonburg Appleseed is a well organized and pleasant event for both new and experienced shooters.  The instructors were enthusiastic and had a way of building the participants' skills.  I already look forward to my next Appleseed.  Many thanks to all the instructors!

Russ
"Blank Slate"