New Bremen NY - May 26 & 27 2012

[Another D.O.M.]

This was an unseasonably hot weekend on the Tug Hill Plateau in north central New York - temps on both Saturday and Sunday were in the mid to upper 80s.  There was little cloud cover, but an occasional breeze helped to keep it tolerable.

Thanks to the instructors who came to help teach and inspire our students - gunville from the Syracuse, NY area and SMURF from the Saratoga Springs area.  You both helped to make this a rewarding event for everyone who attended.  And a huge thanks goes out to the New Bremen Fish & Game Club for allowing us to use their facilities for the weekend.

We began Saturday with five students:  Doug from the U.S. CBP (who had not used his rifle for nearly 20 years); and Brad and his three children Bradley, Meagan and Matt.  Brad & Bradley had attended an Appleseed at New Bremen in the past, Meagan arrived with some experience shooting a rifle, and Matt at 11 years old was shooting his Crosman pump-action .177 air rifle at 15 yards.

The Saturday morning Redcoat produced two 100 yard and two 200 yard shooters, as well as one Morgan's Rifleman.  Throughout the day on Saturday groups continued to become smaller and more accurate.  We did have some equipment issues early on with Doug's scoped 10/22 (scope rail mounting screws and action screw were both loose, causing shotgun patterns and frustration until they were diagnosed and fixed); and the OEM open sights on Meagan's Marlin 795 could not be easily adjusted at 25 meters.  However, everyone persevered and went home smiling and pleased with their day's work.

On Sunday Brad stopped by to tell us that he and his family had decided to engage in other activities over the remainder of the holiday weekend and would not be joining us.  With three instructors and one student for the day Doug received ample one-on-one instruction and his skills and groups improved throughout the day.  Doug's Saturday morning Redcoat showed him to be a 100 yard shooter.  However, by the end of the day on Sunday he had improved to 200 yards and he missed the third shot in the 300 by about .10".  AND he nailed the shingle dead-center!  There were big smiles all around when he retrieved the final target of the weekend; and Doug left each instructor with a souvenir of the weekend, a new & unopened box of 50 rounds of Winchester Super-X .22 LR ammo  rubber-stamped with a price of $0.55 per box (I'll let SMURF relay the details of how and where Doug acquired this rare and unique treasure).

A great time was had by all, and this was an Appleseed weekend I'll not soon forget.  I'm sure we'll be seeing all of our students again at New Bremen.

[Smurf]

10,000 rounds the vintage Winchester .22 rimfire ammo was purchased at a PX in the Phillipines in 1970 and was transported on the USS Bainbridge (CGN25) eventually to the United States. The last boxes of this historic ammo was presented to the Appleseed instructors.

[LittleMo]

An excellent job by both the shooters and the Instructors!  Remember to practice and dry-fire to hone your skills for your next Appleseed!

Gary

[The Mrs.]

Great job all!!  What's a little heat when your having fun!! 

[Josey Wales]

..Another D.O.M., gunville & Smurf..

..Good Job and Thank You for making this event a successful one.  I miss good old New Breman, that is where I first met gunville in June of 2009..

......Strength & Honor................JW................................