Raton, NM NRA Whittington Center April 21-22, 2012

[TaosGlock]

Once again the National Rifle Association Whittington Center hosted The Appleseed Project's American Heritage and Marksmanship course in Raton, New Mexico.
28 shooters showed up from Colorado and New Mexico.
Among the groups were the Boy Scouts of America from Troop 280, Parker, Colorado who were brought by their Father's.
Thanks Dana for being the boots on the ground for the Scouts.  And thanks for the lunch on Sat!

Also, the Boy Scouts Of America Co-ed Venturing Crew 1225 in Colorado Springs joined us.
These Americans stepped up to join us at the NRA's Whittington Center for our annual April 19th celebratory shoot.
Thanks Taralyn for bringing your crew!

All shooters  left with marksmanship skills and an understanding of their heritage: history that we care about.
This is the heart and soul of the Appleseed message.

As you know, this weekend we celebrated that special day: April 19th, 1775.: The day we became Americans.
28 of America's finest Patriots arrived at the NRAWC in Raton, NM to learn about the sacrifices made on April 19th.
Fathers with sons and daughters, mothers with daughters and sons, couples and individuals all joined us.

Look at that line! What a fantastic group of Americans. Our Founders would be proud!

"Posterity! You will never know how much it cost the present Generation to preserve your Freedom!
I hope you will make good use of it. If you do not, I shall repent in Heaven, that I ever took half the Pains to preserve it."
― John Adams

I can assure you Mr. Adams we have not forgot the sacrifices you and your countrymen made!


Long Rifle (Alan) coaches while BlueFeather (Gill) acts as the line boss. Tom and CSHR are on the ground instructing students.



"Oh what a glorious morning"-Sam Adams on April 19, 1775.
Indeed, and what a "glorious" weekend!




Tom(twh731), and CSHR with binos and Gill instruct.


BlueFeather and twh731 (Gill and Tom) fire off the positional check points for the loop and prone position. CSHR watches the line.



....more to come!

[TaosGlock]

Marksmanship has always been a pillar of American culture. It defines who we are. Marksmanship gave us our liberties.
On April 19th, 1775,  America was born by men, as the defeated Lord Percy said, "men who know very much what they are all about".
Let's not forget them nor the sacrifices that they made.
The "who we are" means we are not only marksmen, but men of clear vision who have a high degree of self control. Men we call "Riflemen".

By Day 2 we had one Rifleman!
Congrats Rob! To paraphrase Lord Percy said, "A man who knows very much what he is all about"


The young adults received Partiot Patches. Young adults and children made many sacrifices during April 19th.


These folks never missed a beat and kept up all weekend long.
Many had very little time behind a rifle until this weekend.
Thanks for hanging tough guys!
Our future is in good hands.





They did day 2 reviews of very important rifleman skills. Prone, kneeling and standing shown below.






...more to come!

[TaosGlock]

It's KD (known distance long range shooting) time. Here we are getting the logistics down as we split up this very long line.

The shooters await as if to say, "hurry up already!"
The kids especially love this part and many have never fired a high powered rifle. In this case a very heavy and accurate 308.
So we "adapt" with the bipod.



CSHR works one on one with Brad on the 300-925 steel.


Here is how it works....




What works at 25M works at 500M. Hold the first mil-dot on the center of the plate and squeeeeze the trigger.






...more to come!

[TaosGlock]

Gill (BlueFeather) explains the AQT( Army Qualifying Test). The penultimate target to test the "fundamentals" of precision marksmanship. These are the rifle skills that The Appleseed Project teaches...all in the spirit of traditional combat riflery.


Long Rifle gives a friendly "Public Service Announcement" reminding the shooters to focus their eye on the tip front sight or the center of the crosshair for the scope users. When groups suddenly open up, this may be one cause.


Coaching on the line during live fire is the norm de rigueur at an Appleseed.
Long Rifle does it like no other can.


As does Michael (CSHR) in prep...


...and Tom(twh731). Those pesky 10/22 bolt releases' can take some getting used to. 


Shooters are taught to stand tall and proud like an American when in the standing position and Rox does this in spades.
Good coaching and teachable attitudes lead to this perfect standing position.

[TaosGlock]

Between AQT's, Long Rifle (Alan) delivers a powerful and passionate story of the sacrifices common everyday folk made to secure our Liberties.


Tools of the Rifleman:
L-R. DPMS LR-308, WOA CMP profile AR-15, 1944 (Danish parts/VAR barrel M1 Garand, Ruger 10/22 ( modified for youth)


Below, CSHR explains the history of the M1 Garand while the shooters look on.

From one of the CMP Appleseed handouts, a paraphrase in part from Bill Mattocks, former Sgt, USMC, 1979-1985:
The most abundant surplus rifle in the CMP warehouse is the M1 Garand.
Gen. George S. Patton said: "the M1 is the finest battle implement ever devised".

The M1 is a semi auto rifle in 30-06.
The rifle is powerful and accurate and the 06 is the most popular and one of the best cartridges in the world.

Some say it is the rifle that won the war, meaning WW2. There is a lot of emotion tied up in this old reliable warhorse.

These M1's were lovingly stored in US arsenals in hopes we would never, ever, again have to use them to defend liberty on foreign shores.

We have always risen against tyranny and our country was born in bloody revolution. 
And since then we have never failed to step into the breech when called upon to do so.
As Americans, we have never bowed to anyone, from April 19th 1775 to today.

During the uncertain times of WW2,  our Republic was threatened by two enemies on two different fronts.
The M1 Garand gave us a decided edge in battle.

The M1 Garand represents us, our blood, sweat and liberty.  It represents our fathers and grandfathers lives in battle.
The M1 is not just our heritage but represents the terrible price of freedom.

The M1 may well represent who we are, who we were and who we will be in the future.

500 yard hits with an M1 Garand on the 4 minute steel target are a no brainer from prone.
The shooters easily see that what works at 25M works at 500 yards, the Rifleman's Quarter Mile.


Simply attending an Appleseed allows one to purchase an M1 Garand for about $525 delivered to your door.

A big thanks to everyone who attended our special 'April 19th' special event.
And to those repeat shooters and Scouts who brought friends and family back to Raton.
And to those returning to make this their yearly shoot.

There were no "summer soldiers" or "sunshine patriots" at this event.

A huge thanks to the NRA WC staff for allowing us the  privilege of this private range.

You better book your next Appleseed early at the NRA Whittington Center as the rooms and these events fill fast!
Next shoots are May, July and September!

[Orangedotfever]

I have been a shooter of many types of firearms for over 42 years. To my regret, I had never fired a round from the United States Rifle, caliber 30, Model 1. That is until I attended my first Appleseed last September. I had always thought of it as an antiquated rifle, one to be hung on a wall and forgotten. I was so wrong. After using the techniques taught to me by my instructors at the Bedford Contingent, it was pure pleasure to slide down behind this great piece of American history and squeeze the trigger. The M1 Garand is made to be fired, and is just plain magic in the hands of a rifleman. Just 2 months later, a fellow Appleseed attendee and I made the long drive to Camp Perry to hand pick our own personal M1 rifles from the CMP. This and Appleseed have proven to be great experiences that everyone should partake of at some time. Thank you all for the experience and direction. I hope to start my Orange Hat travels soon. God Bless America, she is ours to defend.

Mitch

[asminuteman]

Well done Lads & Lassie!

Congrats to all in attendance...
I see my friend Capt Sam (CSHR) in the photos.....glad to see him out of the snow!

I hope you folks are settled into your newish digs
and I SHALL see you someday down the trail

-k