Flash report! Toccoa, GA 19 April 2008

[Son of Martha]

What a great day!  To be able to stand with patriotic Americans and exercise our freedoms while remembering the Founding.  It is truly an honor to participate in such an endeavor.

We had 16 shooters present to hear the story and take a dip in the marksmanship pool today.  Despite rain early this morning and another brief spate again mid-morning, the day ended up being gloriously sunny and breezy.  With Silence to help with Instructing and Flathead doing all the work (IIT, ya'know), I was able to relax and find ways to look busy  .  We have two new riflemen so far, one repeat offender, and a slew of folks knocking, beating, clamoring at the door.  A fairly large percentage are at their second or third Appleseed (persistence!), and the new attendees have that teachable "tabula rosa" attitude so delightful to Instructors.

We have a few special treats tomorrow for both the 25 yard line and the transition range folks, should have some memories made and challenges overcome in 24 hours.

Gotta get to the campfire now, don't wanna miss anything!  More later...

SoM

[sanderman79]

Just got back home and what a trip.  4 new riflemen (and woman) and great shooting by everyone.  I got mine after my 3rd AS, a riflewoman after her 2nd (I think), and 2 on the first AS.  The on of the guys that got rifleman on Saturday, got it on his birthday also.  Great teaching by SOM, Silence, and Flathead.  The rain was not so bad, bust cooled it off for us in the morning on Saturday.  The Zombie charge was fun and so was the steel on the KD range.  A great AS and made even better by being on April 19 and the significance of that day.  I am really looking forward to Bootcamp this Summer.

Raymon     

[socalserf]

CONGRATULATIONS to all you new Riflemen!

[Son of Martha]

Congratulations, indeed.

We had one gent who had shot multiple rifleman scores at the last Toccoa Appleseed (ahem, three weeks ago...) who shot the full distance AQT with a five round bolt action, no stripper clips, fired 38 rounds and STILL got his rifleman score  .  His wife, at her second Appleseed, fired two rifleperson scores.  Sanderman made his bones, and got to break in the classic Garand at full distance.  Tracy and Doug at their FIRST Appleseed both earned the patch.  And let me tell you, there were a LOT of folks right at the edge...Next Appleseed here (June, folks!  Bring water and sunscreen!) should have a BOATLOAD of patches earned  .

  Sunday saw two M1As and a Garand on the line, barking lethal defiance at Redcoats and sinister sable squares...ahh, if only those bullets could cross the span of 233 years as easily as the span of 500 yards.  Had three ARs, all carbines, in action.  LOTS of LTRs  , and a couple of bolt .22's, whose operators did VERY good jobs of keeping up.  All present had very mature an teachable attitudes, and I thank you for that.  There were a couple of very good instructional targets that I got pictures of, and will be happy to share as soon as I figure how to get the film out of the digital camera...anybody got a 12 year old handy?

  Sanderman, I picked up a couple items you left, will bring them to the next one

SoM

[boltgun71]

The April 19th Toccoa Appleseed was excellent!  This was my wife and mines second Appleseed and the experience only gets better.  First rate instruction by the red hats SOM, Silence, and Flathead.  The shooters were a very motivated and persistent bunch.  All around great people to know and shoot with.  SOM started us out with a excellent history lesson on April 19, 1775 and then we took to slinging lead at the redcoats!  It rained breifly on us in the morning but nothing at all like the last Appleseed at Toccoa!  All day long on saturday you saw everyones groups shrink little by little on the never lying 1" squares.  The six steps were really settling in.  Thanks to SOM I found out the real difference between the Riflemans cadence "rapid fire" zero and the traditional "slow fire" zero.  I wouldn't have beleived the difference and effect if I hadn't seen and done it myself!  Just goes to show a Rifleman needs to have a open mind and continually learn new things.  Finally to end the day we prepped for our first AQT after another breif history lesson and patriotic pep talk by SOM and Flathead.  I couldn't help to be motivated and think of our great forefathers 233 years ago as I readied for the only AQT of the day.  I made my goal of Rifleman with a bolt action .22 on the AQT with a score of 226 and everyone else did a tremendous job as well.  My wife came so close to her Rifleman score but vowed she would get it the next day!  Saturday night ended with campfire stories and visions of redcoats and 1" squares in our minds.  Sunday brought a class on Inches, Minutes, and Clicks like only the Appleseed program can explain so effectively in such a short amount of time.  Then once noon hit it was AQT after AQT with a few 1" squares and redcoats thrown in occasionally on the 25yd line.  The nearly full distance AQT range was set-up and shooters transitioned back and forth to that.  I was able to barely get my Rifleman score shooting my bolt action .308 on the full distance AQT, only getting 9 rounds off each time for stages 2 and 3, ending with a 202.  It was a extremely fun and humbling experience.  I made it back to the 25yd line in time to see my wife shoot two Rifleman scores back to back with her bolt action .22, a 211 and 226!  All that persistence paid off, I was very proud of her.  Over all I think we qualified at least four new Rifleman and everyone had a fantastic time.  The instructers and shooters were all first rate Americans and I am looking forward to the next one to meet old friends and make new ones.  I am very proud to have participated in the Appleseed program on April 19th in honor of all the brave men that did so much for us 233 years ago.  Now lets just pass the tradition and legacy on to the rest of America and never forget our Rifleman roots!

[Deadeye]

 I had a great time at the Appleseed! It was much better than I anticipated. SoM, Silence (still trying to figure that nickname out), and Flathead were very competent instructors. All were patient and showed good humor.
My friend Tracy and I both shot "Rifleman" scores our first time out! It was Tracy's first experience with any type of formal marksmanship training, which I think reflects the very high quality of instruction. I had to contend with three extraction failures in my bolt action in addition to the mandatory magazine changes and still managed to qualify! Again, a reflection of the quality of instruction. Being able to return quickly to NPOA after dealing with that problem was something I couldn't have done when I showed up.

Congratulations to everyone who scored Rifleman! Sanderman, Boltgun and Sherry, and Tracy! Everyone else: Stick with it! With instruction this good, you cannot fail!

Thanks to everyone! The instructors and all the other Appleseeders! I am typically much more pessimistic about the future of our nation. It was great finding out that there is hope, after all!

Even if Son of Martha keeps calling me "Doug"   

Dave

[Daniel Boome]

To the great team of instructors and the All American participants in Toccoa. It was a real pleasure having ya'll both teach me and shoot shoulder to shoulder with me. I am very new to shooting as a precision sport. As a matter of fact, for me, it wasn't very precise until mid afternoon Saturday. I have shot before but only under my own guidance, (even barn doors were safe). I hope our aim with reviving and bringing back traditional AMERICAN values and heritage can be as accurate as our rifles can be. I believe we are a majority of Americans but have been too quiet and too tolerant for too long. Special thanks to SoM, Flathead and Silence, for reawakening the "John Wayne" in me.
Any body reading this thread who has not participated "You can't be an armchair Patriot." Go and do.
Thanks Tracy

[Sherry- RIP CPL MAYNE KIA 23FEB2009 IRAQ]

After spending an hour on here last night typing up my response to my first and second Appleseed's, I realized that I probably should've signed in for more than just an hour to avoid losing ALL of what I typed after hitting the POST button. Therefore, I'll TRY to make this one short and sweet...

First Appleseed: Taccoa, GA March 29-30th

I'll admit, i went kicking and screaming. I didn't want to go but wanted to make my husband happy. You all may know him as Boltgun71. I tried to talk my way out of going, but didn't work. So i sucked it up and said, what the hell. I'll give a shot.
We showed up a half hour early and waited at the gate to be let in. I had no idea what to expect. After a brief history lesson from SoM and Mighty Mouse, who happened to be our instructor throughout the day, we started shooting. Then came the rain... then the thunder... then the lightning. So we took cover for about an hour and did a lesson on minutes, clicks, etc. Still confused about that whole thing but i'll get it over time.
My husband John, of course, made Rifleman on his first AQT while I scored a 124. One whole stage messed up due to hot AR brass hit the back of my bare neck AND getting stuck in my jacket so I was unable to remove it. Oh yeah. Fun, Fun. That's ok, my next AQT was a 196. So the rest of the weekend I was focused on making that Rifleman score. With awesome instructors there helping and training me I felt pretty confident that I could make it.
On saturday i was using a bolt action .22 LR with a scope, the second day I used an AR. The AR was nice to use, but wasn't sighted in. And to sight it in you'd have to unscrew the scope and adjust it that way.. but who has time for that!? haha.
So that weekend came and went and I still didn't make Rifleman but had a BLAST!! I loved the Appleseed and the whole meaning behind it. I couldn't wait to go to my next Appleseed!!


My next Appleseed, Same place April 19th-20th.

John and I weren't even expecting to go to this Appleseed. We talked about it and I got the time off work and we registered a day or two prior. Kinda last minute decision. I couldn't quit teasing to go! I loved the first one so much that I wanted to go to this one! I had a goal set though. That Rifleman patch was waiting for me!
So we showed up and got a really good history lesson this time by SoM. Better than the first one we got. He made you feel like you were there, just waiting to shoot redcoats! It was awesome! Before we started shooting, Flathead asked me a question. The question was "So, are you going to make Rifleman this time?" My immediate response was "HELL YEAH!" I was determined! I had a goal that was waiting to be met! Our first shoot was at redcoats where I along with Raymond were the only ones to hit the officers. Raymond we decided at least made the officer lose an ear or a feather where I got that guy right between the eyes! "HELL YEAH!"  And you thought women couldn't shoot! So that right there gave me the confidence boost i needed to try a hand at an AQT. Well, after shooting all day saturday at black squares to try to figure out our NPOA (which i did awesome at! before i shot the last two anyways...) we ended the day doing an AQT. I didn't make it... came a hell of a lot closer than i did last time! I scored a 201! Still using the bolt action .22.
The next day Silence let me use his 10-22. A pretty cool gun that I never shot before. If only it ejected rounds like it should've i think i would've done better than what I did. Plus these were open sights, no scope and I still managed to impress myself. I loved the rifle and the sights. But when you came with a goal of getting Rifleman, there wasn't room for error. So i switched to Flathead's 10-22 that had a scope. But I still wasn't "feeling" it. Both easier to use than a Bolt action and now, because of Flathead and Silence, I think my next gun purchase will be a 10-22! After those two rifles i switched back to what i was familiar with. And after a few more red coat shoots and something to do with Evil Zombie Monkeys or whatever I was ready for another AQT!! BRING ON THE AQT!! we shot a few and I came closer, not being able to beat my score of 201 the day before but figuring out what it was i was doing wrong and fixing it. The last AQT's of the day we put two next to each other (there were about 4 people on the line so there was room). We didn't even go down range to score each stage which before would take a lot of time out of shooting.  And it was HOT out! After that was over we got our targets and brought them back to score them. I had a good feeling about both of them, but didn't get too excited.. yet. I scored one of them and I came up with a 210, Flathead came up with a 211. HELL YEAH! So we scored the next one and it was a 226!! OH HELL YEAH!!! I DID IT!! I had to go show SoM who was on the long distance range and he congratulated me. I was so excited! I couldn't have done it without my husband and without the knowledge i got from all of the instructors at both Appleseeds!

So my goals now for the next Appleseed experience: 1.) Get more women involved! 2.) Score Rifleman on the long distance range, 3.) Complete a Boot Camp and 4.) SPREAD THE WORD!

Thank you to all the instructors who took the extra step for all the shooters, not just me. I was happy to see all the shooters improve there scores.  And thanks to all the shooters who showed up and participated, especially both days! You are all a great bunch of people! It's too bad we all don't live closer! And thanks for a GREAT program!

Sherry

[VAshooter]

I remember you from the "Mud Shoot". Sorry I couldn't be there for this one.

Congratulations, You persisted and it paid off. I hope you stay with the program and become an instructor.  We need more like you.

VAshooter

[Son of Martha]

OK, I promised pics:



They're laughing inside...






Shooters to the line.






Flathead in a reflective mood.






How can we fit this much class in one picture?






Busy, busy.




And some instructional ones (all groups shot in order top->bottom and left->right):




This shooter has his NPOA to the right of where he thinks it is, also he broke position during string 4.






Just before string 4, shooter was reminded to focus on the front sight and followthrough...This stuff works, folks.






Continuous improvement made by new shooter.  When I complimented his progress, he said, "I'm just listening to ya'll and trying to do what you say."



Did I mention that this stuff works? 

If you have them, post 'em...

SoM

[Fred]

     Good story, there, Armywife.

      Now, let me add to your quote below:

So my goals now for the next Appleseed experience: 1.) Get more women involved! 2.) Score Rifleman on the long distance range, 3.) Complete a Boot Camp and 4.) SPREAD THE WORD!

     Certainly all four are admirable, and should be done. But first on your list should be to become an instructor (maybe what #3 is all about, but you don't have to wait for a BC to become an instructor).

     We're having a lot of females coming into the program as instructors - at least two in CA, one in KS, and several in other states (IN comes to mind).

     We need one in GA, too.

[Flathead]

Sherry, glad you posted your story on here. It was great attitudes like her that made this week end fly by. Also the 2 AQT's  posted side by side, and not going down rangeto check targets, helped eliminate the shooters losing focus on the next stage if they blew the prior one.
  Can't wait until we can get some of these shooters back to the line and see how they have improved. So everyone out there continue to practise on your own.

[wcmartin1]

Good story, ArmyWife71004.  Congrats!

[Sherry- RIP CPL MAYNE KIA 23FEB2009 IRAQ]

Thanks for the info, Fred! If only I lived in GA or closer to Taccoa I would LOVE to! I'd love to be a member of there club... Guess I'll just have to settle for SC and try to find a club nearby my husband and I can shoot at.

[Sherry- RIP CPL MAYNE KIA 23FEB2009 IRAQ]

Here's a few pics of the range we shot on at Taccoa 4/19-4/20.

[Sherry- RIP CPL MAYNE KIA 23FEB2009 IRAQ]

Flathead's "good side!" 

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[attachment=2]

[Nickle]

Good story, ArmyWife71004.  Congrats!

+1

And a big congrats for doing it the hard way, with a bolt gun.

Now, I know you've heard the pitch, but it's got to be said. How about becoming an Instructor in Training?

[Junior Birdman]

   South Carolina?  ArmyWife, did you say you were from South Carolina?  Y'all need to PM me immediately, while there's still time to erase the dark blot that stains our great state's reputation stemming from its reluctance to have an Appleseed!  Surely with enough of us in SC we can get a place to hold a shoot!  So please, don't waste a minute! Contact me, Talon, or anyone else on here from SC!  JB

[Sherry- RIP CPL MAYNE KIA 23FEB2009 IRAQ]

As I told Flathead when he asked if I would get Rifleman... HELL YEAH!!