AAR: Burlington Flats, NY October 8-9, 2011

[boltgun71]

This was simply a great Appleseed.  The weather was perfect(no Stoner effect I am told), the shooters were enthusiastic and attentive, and the instructors worked great and made the shoot flow like a well oiled machine.

Saturday morning brought us fourteen great Americans ready to learn about our heritage and improve their shooting.  Some came as far as Long Island and New Jersey to join us here in Central New York.  After the Welcome, 1st Strike by Tuscarora, and Safety brief  we were off to a day of learning and having fun on the 25m line.  This particular group of shooters was very well prepared and did better on the first morning Redcoat than most Appleseeds have at the end of the day of instruction and fine tuned zeroes.  Saturday brought us two new Rifleman and one repeat Rifleman.  Congratulations to the Allen family with a new Father-Son Rifleman status, and to Tom our repeat Rifleman from NJ.

Sunday we began with a class on ballistics and KD shooting that seemed to be very well received and by 10am we were heading out to the firing line, where we ran both a 25m line and Full Distance line out to 300yds, all day long.  Thanks to Sgtrock, we had the properly scaled targets to post at 300yds to represent the 400yd Stage 4, and all shooters who did KD where able to obtain zeroes at 100, 200, and 300yds and fire a Full Distance AQT.  Congratulations to Eric, another repeat Rifleman,  who fired a 235 on a FD AQT with his iron sighted M1A.  But up on the 25m line the score to beat went to Tom from NJ, who continued to score Rifleman, and managed a new personal best score of 249.  Yes, a 249 folks, and did I mention he is only like 17?  Gunslinger57l stopped by during lunch to tell us about a Dangerous Old Man and that went very well, especially for his first time giving it.  Finally at the end of the day and the close of the final Redcoat and Benediction, a great Appleseed was made even better by having Tom our high shooting master of the AQT take a Orange Hat.  Thank you Tom and welcome to the team!

Thanks again to everyone for making this shoot a success, both shooters and instructors alike!  It was my pleasure working with everyone this weekend.

[jmdavis]

Now that's an Appleseed! Way to go guys.

[R1SGx2]

249 - Sweet, need to work on it a little.... Nice work Tom, good work all. Nice shoot.

Out to 300 with KD, nice to know what a rifle can do.

[VietVet]

  Last Friday at about noon I decided to make a road trip and attend this event. As a Shooter.
I gave  a few of the Long Island Instructors a call and found someone as eager to attend as I was. Thanks Brad (bravo_juliet_mike) for being that willing person.
By 4:30PM Friday we were on the road.
Took us 7 hours to get there.

This event and the Instructors that ran it were OUTSTANDING!

What an Appleseed.
Beyond an Appleseed.

This was the grand Appleseed.

Boltgun ran a top notch event here.
The KD portion was just the icing on this perfectly designed cake.

7 Hours?.....worth every second of the trip.

To all involved in this event, thank you.
Shooters and Instructors made this an Appleseed I both totally enjoyed and learned from.

If you ever get the opportunity to attend a "KD Seed" run by boltgun DO NOT pass on the opportunity.

Again thanks to all.
Shooters, Instructors and Burlington Flats Fish and Game Club.....job well done.

Hey John.....still trying to figure out how that round shot in the rain isn't effected.
Would of bet money on that one but once you explained it made perfect sense.

That just proves even if you're an Instructor you can always learn something. Especially if the person teaching it
has it all together.

Never let the color of the hat you wear on your head lead you to believe there's no room left in it to learn.
Learn I did.
Enjoy it, I did.

[bravo juliet mike]

I had been thinking about attending this event, but for various reasons didn't think that I would be able to make it. Then on Friday I got a call from Rich (VietVet). It went a little like this.
Rich: "Hey Brad I'm thinking about doing something crazy..."
Me: "I'm in."
Rich: "But you don't even know what I'm asking."
Me: "You thinking about Burlington Flats?"
Rich: "Yeah, how did you know?"
Me: "Just a hunch. What time should I be at your house?"

So, I race home from work and start throwing things in a bag, grab my rifle and some ammo and head over to Rich's house. Seven hours later we were at the range. A half hour later we had the pop-up maneuvered into place. Another half hour and we had everything set up.

Saturday morning I showed up to my first Appleseed as a student in three years. So, the instructor became a student for a weekend and I saw and learned a lot. Boltgun put together a fantastic crew and COI. At first I was confused by the green stuff on the range, the running water and the nice clubhouse as Calverton has none of these things, but I quickly adapted. The KD class and shooting was fantastic as well. The next time you have the opportunity to learn the fundamentals of KD from someone with Boltgun's knowledge, take it. It was a great experience.

[Spartan]

It was a great Appleseed!!!  Thanks for letting me play.

[Odin]

As the others have said this was a great shoot.  The weather felt more like late August then early October.  The shooters did a fantastic job, watching the group sizes shrink with each round of instruction is always enjoyable.

[FWAllen]

Many thanks to everyone for a wonderful event.  We definitely learned a great deal and are very proud to have earned Rifleman status.  We will certainly put all that you've taught us (both about marksmanship and staying involved) to good use and do our best to consistently improve.  Looking forward to attending more events in the future and to getting the word out about this program!

[LittleMo]

A great Project Appleseed event! The shooters got a special treat of shooting known distance with Boltgun71 instructing. All the shooters were great and their smaller and smaller groups on the targets reflected the instruction they received. Congrats, Tom, on the great score and accepting an Orange Hat!

Thank you Burlington Flats, and of course a big thank you to the students!

Gary

[sgtrock]

A well run event,
Burlington Flats ends the year with a perfect Appleseed, With boltgun in the vanguard, the pace was set for a most educational weekend, For returning students and new ones alike the enthusiasm was contagious, KD was ticket for most all the students that were here, shows that it ain't hard to go to distance and get some work done with no wasted ammo, the deer heard should be smaller in this area of NY and beyond this was a great weekend.
CONGRATULATIONS TO THOMAS FOR STEPPING UP TO TAKE THE HAT! New Jersey just increased their instructor corps and you are always more than welcome here at Burlington Flats.
Burlington Flats is an easy drive from just about anywhere in NY so come on out for the best hospitality and instruction on the trail.
STAY ALERT FOR COMING SHOOTS! MIGHT BE A WINTERSEED A COMIN!
Hope to see you all soon

sgtrock

[The Mrs.]

Sorry for the delay in getting these out.  Thanks to all, instructors and shooter alike.  I always learn so much!!

[The Mrs.]

Oh yeah....that IS Stoner on the firing line!!!

[Another D.O.M.]

Outstanding!  And Stoner really got to shoot at this one?  That's the first Appleseed he's had the opportunity to shoot at in two years - nearly to the day.  Good for you my friend!
MJA

[Mph_VT]

Burlington Flats is always a best Appleseed,  evidently this one topped out as well.

I missed the great NYC black out in '65, getting a bus minutes before; I missed Woodstock in '69, being in north Africa with the USAF; now it seems I also missed this great Appleseed. Such is life.

It would have been good to be on the line with SgtRock, Spartan, VietVet again and with all those I've yet to meet.

High Five instructors.

I'll be back to BF,  Appleseed best anywhere.

[Spartan]

MPH
Hate to say I told you so,,,,but,,,,
we missed you there.
JC