AAR - Buckeye, AZ. 16-17 APR 2011

[AZOpie]

It was a great first day at the Buckeye, AZ. event. I would like to thank all who came out today and look forward to seeing you all back again tomorrow. Time for some rest before the second day. If you were there, please do post about your experiences today.

AZO

[Coyote Ranger]

   Truly a great 2 day experience.  Instructors and volunteers were great.
Had a bolt malfunction on my M1A and out of commission.  Thank you Frank (volunteer Staff) for allowing me to use your AR15 + ammo to complete the first day.  The Second day I brought my own AR15 and was able to qualify on the first round of AQT practice. Thanks to all those that came to the event, I really enjoyed the history lessons, those were awesome.  I hope to see some of you at subsequent events.

Rick Shafer
Coyote Ranger

[Len in PHoenix]

2 thumbs up for a great weekend!  Pam and I had a wonderful time and will probably volunteer to help as our schedule permits.  The instructors were great and have an obvious passion for their work.  As a volunteer instructor in another discipline, I tip my hat to all of you.  Good job!

This weekend more than doubled the amount of shots that Pam has fired in her lifetime.  The rifle that she was shooting is now 'hers' and she is talking about accessories for it to improve her shooting.....and about going to the range to practice, and about going to other Appleseed events, and volunteering, and .... and....and.  John, you and your team have created another new shooter.  Pam has watched me compete in trapshooting but was never able to see the targets well enough to actually participate.  This sport is one where she can participate and hang in there with the boys.  Another good job!  (And a big thank you from the husband of a new shooter.  You may not know how fun it is to hear your wife talking about needing to clean her magazines, but it's really cool.)

I'm happy to say that the shotgun dude managed to shoot a 220, a 230, a 233, and a 234 to earn my Rifleman badge.  The competitor in me is curious as to the high score in the class.....any info there?

Thanks again for a great weekend!

Len Sullivan
Instructor, Buckeye Sportsman Club Youth Shotgun Program
Instructor, Arizona Game and Fish Department Scholastic Clay Target Program
Amateur Trapshooting Association 84-07373
Rifleman

[Len in PHoenix]

Hmmm.....I guess this board doesn't allow edits to posts. 

Belay the question about scores.  When I do it with irons (next time) I'll ask again.  It occurred to me that shooting with a scope gave me an advantage that others didn't have.  Never mind 

Len in PHoenix

[falling_blue]

Had a great time, thanks again to all the instructors, RWVA, and of course the dangerous men and women of 1775.

I will defiantly be attending more events with as many people I can drag along.

I started a thread on RimfireCentral in the Mossberg subforum since they like range reports about old mossbergs..... good feedback and interest there.

http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=390493

Also found these WWII training videos on YouTube that show M1 training.  Might look familiar since its the same basic instruction that I heard at Appleseed this weekend.   I plan on watching them before the next event to brush up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoZ_usoFVSc&feature=fvwrel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bmdxZwvkoQ&feature=fvwrel

[AZOpie]

Woo Hoo! What a great weekend in Buckeye. Almost 100% of those scheduled returned on Sunday - we were minus a junior shooter today, but we gained a previous attendee from Payson late last year. This event gave us 3 new Riflemen and 2 requalifiers for a total of 5 Riflemen for the weekend!

All three of our first time Riflemen were also attending their first Appleseed event:
Ben G. was our first on Saturday with a 212, and thank you for your service sir! 
Richard S. had a 214 on Sunday
Len S. had 233/234/230/220 on Sunday

Our two requalifiers were:
Kenn R with 217 & 211 - this was his 4th event
Taylor B. had a 220 - I didn't get the number of events he has attended.

The pot luck was a great success - we had some great food and enjoyed the company at lunch with the three strikes. We will try to do this more often! It's always great to have engaging conversation about our history / heritage at these shoots.

Next up - pictures, coming soon to an AAR near you!

AZO

[MaineYankee]

Great Weekend!

The participants were engaged and energized.  It makes the volunteer effort worthwhile! Really good participation in the strikes and all were very open to coaching!!  Thanks to each and every one of you!

Exciting for Pam and Len! Gaining another shooter in the family will be fun!

Congrats to our new riflemen!!!  Perseverance pays off.

The weather nearly perfect until Sunday afternoon when the dust devils arrived and what feels like the business end of the hair dryer started up.  Minor inconvenience compared to the fun and education.  The fall in Buckeye will be awesome!!

The pot luck gave us more ideas about lunches in the future! All the better to support the history presentations.

Best Regards to Y'all,

MaineYankee (Bruce)

[colycat]

Sounds like one more great shoot in Buckeye.  I know all the pictures will look the same, you know, perfect weather, sun and other stuff we up here know nothing about, but post some anyway.  We can all dream, Right?

[AZOpie]

Whew! The photos are all processed - got 'em to a reasonalble size and tossed the really bad ones.

Hey Colycat - Bruce and company came up with a handy way to move those concrete tables - a ATV lift with one of the stools upside down on it. It's the pefrect height to jack them up and move them around. Something shooters and staff alike appreciate VERY much!

AZO

[AZOpie]

Next batch...

[TruTenacity]

Nice job having another great event in my home state!  I sure would like to instruct there some day.

[El_Tiburon]

Excellent work, Team Appleseed!

This was my second Appleseed (first one in Payson), and in both cases it was an unseasonably warm in the mid 90s.  We were able to shoot in the shade (most of the day) which made a huge comfort difference.  I'm certainly not going to let a little weather stop me though -- our forefathers had to go through much more!

Thanks for all the tips from the instructors.  It was wonderful having five instructors at our event.  At times it may appear like I was not listening because I'd repeat some mistakes but old habits are hard to break.  I'll keep at it until it becomes more natural.  I am happy to report that my average from my first Appleseed to the second has increase by about 50 points, so something must be getting through my thick brain.   

[Warthog]

Another great weekend! There must be something about this program that keeps drawing me back as this was my 4th. I intend to make it a regular annual event (more often as time permits).

Still working on getting some of my coworkers to express more than just mere interest in the program and actually come out and participate. At least I was successful this time and got one of them to attend. Now we can "double-team" the others and get them out to one of the next events. Hopefully, Rio Salado will open up and we can stop using the excuse that Buckeye is too far away.

Keep up the good work guys.

P.S. Yes John, I got your e-mail. I'm still mulling it over. Need to figure out if I can get time off attend an IBC.

Kenn (repeat "offender")

[Johnnyappleseed]

Arizona on the move
Nice job AZO and staff 

[AZOpie]

Nice job having another great event in my home state!  I sure would like to instruct there some day.

You are welcome here anytime, but somehow I don't think you will schedule during the summer