Columbia Falls, Maine Dec. 3-4, 2011

[TOMINCT]

 Another great event from the easternmost Appleseed range in the country!

An outstanding group of people gathered to hear their American colonial history and  learn about marksmanship resulted in 4 rifleman and 2 new orange hats with several others showing good improvement.

I wanted to start this so others can add their experiences. I've got 7 hours to go before getting home so we'll fill things in better soon. Tominct

[SeanO]

Congratulations to the new Riflemen and to all those who took part, both students and instructors.  They were just a great bunch of very enthusiastic people, working together with cheerful cooperation.  I'm always amazed by the caliber of people Appleseed clinics attract.

First of all, Tom was immense.  No pun intended.  He did almost all the instruction at a well-modulated fire hose pace.  Hey, that's the only way to get through the material.  The students gave rapt attention, and never whined at the intensity of the presentation. 

The Old Man presided over the shoot like a proud uncle at a family gathering.  Birdsall modeled all the shooting positions in perfect form.  (Oh, to be young and supple again....)  In the absence of our usual gunsmith, Boreas took care of the inevitable adjustments that always have to be made.  And all the while Robin and I ranged up and down the line with them, tweaking shooting positions, and offering encouragement.

Among the shooters we had a married couple who are Maine State Troopers.  Reeeeally serious shooters, as you can well imagine. 

I think we might very well have had a first on the line - a nursing mother!  Her husband brought the baby to the club at, uh, lunch time.  This brings up the reminder that young shooters and women of child-bearing age should be especially careful to use alcohol wipes to clean the lead off their hands before eating anything out of hand or, certainly, before handling a baby.

The next shoot at Columbia will be during the Appleseed High Holidays in April.  Can't wait.

Best to all,  Sean O'

[birdsall]

As always I love going out to Columbia Falls. Great shoot, great students, great fun! We had a really teachable crowd and I hope to see all of you again soon.
Can't wait to get back out there.

[Boreas]

This was an especially good shoot for me as both my son and my lady friend made Rifleman, the latter becoming the first lady Orange Cap in Maine! One of the best groups of shooters I've seen, nice folks all and very motivated. One of our shooters was on his third try for Rifleman and was stymied by ammo issues (changed brands prior to the shoot). Goes to show, find what works before the shoot and stick with it. Once again, the infamous Pleasant River wind destroyed the target line, but with a little improvisation we were up and running again in short order. I'm going to work on getting some better infrastructure in place for future 'seeds that will better tolerate our fickle weather conditions. Big thanks to the Old Guide and TOMINCT for another job well done!

[TOMINCT]

 Okay, we're back. The Columbia Appleseed was another great shoot with a good strong start by the attendees. Early on several showed that they knew what they were about. The Saturday morning redcoat started with 2 400 yd shooters, 5 300 yd, 2 200yd and 7 100 yard shooters out of 19 participants! There were several prior AS attendees in attendance which MAY have helped.

The shooters were taught the SHF's and sling use, 6 steps, NPOA and IMC before lunch. The club served a good lunch and was immediately followed by TOG's telling of the 1st strike of the match.

At the start of the afternoon instruction cadence and rapid fire were taught. The shooter's got used to transitions on greencoats before starting the 1st AQT.  The AQT ran very well with he only thing getting us being the sun, or lack thereof to be more exact. Just finished the 4th stage when the light faded  for the day.

Some pics from Saturday

[TOMINCT]

 Sunday morning started with a refresher on squares and a return to the AQT. Although there were some difficulties to overcome such as sights that loosened, scopes falling apart and ammo issues things started to click for most of the shooters. However, Mother Nature had something else in mind. The wind picked up quickly to a variable gale force condition which wreaked havoc to the target line. Just one indicator.


Wind direction and speed shown by the Stars and Stripes


The target line was unusable so a quick regroup by the IIT crew determined that moving the line was the way to go. The target line was reconfigured tying it in with the club's target frames. The firing line was then moved forward to complete the changeover.

[TOMINCT]

 Sunday wound up with several folks getting their expertise down and culminated in several rifleman.


First was Maggie, with a sizzling 222!


Eric followed with a score of 212.


Devin with a 210 and some ice cold Poland springwater to go with it!


Peter requalified with a 214.


Our youth contingent with their well earned youth patch.

[TOMINCT]

 And, our new, shiny State of Maine Orangehats.


Maggie takes the hat


Followed by Everett.

Altogether a very good shoot, attended by a very good group of Americans. The instructor crew worked extremely well in getting the results that we got.

I want to thank the PRFGCA for the use of their facilities. They have been a cornerstone in Maine for Appleseed and we look forward to  holding shoots there in 2012.