Lima, OH June 30 - July 1

[KAH]

Well, I packed the gear for the weekend expecting temperatures in the mid 90's with humid conditions and lots of sun. I packed the water jugs, the sun screen, and the shade canopies and headed for Lima, anticipating another wonderful Appleseed weekend.

As I headed west, across US 30 (the Lincoln Highway) the skies began to turn dark and the wind picked up.  Certainly not what I expected for the weekend!  After several phone calls to check on things, and a few glances at the radar on my IPhone (kids - don't try that while you're driving!) I began to think that the weekend weather forecast might be changing a bit. 

I pulled in to the Lima Sabres Shooting Association about three hours later and all was well.  While the surrounding area had suffered some sporadic tree damage and had power loss in spots, all was well at the range. Dangerous D arrived from Columbus a few minutes later and reported significant power and tree issues in her area. We quickly set up the line and got ourselves ready for Saturday morning.

Friday night proved to be stormy and the winds continued. And Saturday morning continued with some light rains. However, our Instructor Cadre (which had grown from 2 on Thursday to 7 by Saturday morning) showed up and got things organized just before our shooters arrived. Thanks to all the Instructors that responded on short notice (never thought we'd get so many in such a short time) and spent a day or two of their weekend.

The shooters came early, and brought the most positive, teachable attitudes that I have seen!  Most Appleseeds are positive experiences, but these folks were all above-and-beyond in their excitement to learn the marksmanship and heritage of our founding generation. We got started right away with our safety briefing.

Red coats and a reminder of Daniel Morgan and his story started our course of fire.  We had some decent results as we established our baseline of skills, prior to instruction. Then, we hung squares and began the instruction. Our groups shrank as the temperatures rose and before too long, it was time for a break have some lunch and a lesson in the First Strike of the Match.  Our afternoon progressed just as quickly, with several hydration breaks, more history, and the final Red Coat, which confirmed that much learning had taken place.  We wrapped up the day with the benediction and a reminder to hydrate, hydrate, hydrate over the course of the evening.

Sunday arrived and all but one shooter returned to hone the skills they learned on Saturday. We continued to see great improvement from everyone involved!  After our Known Distance lesson we proved to ourselves that the skills we learned at 25m worked at 200!!  The sound of steel was great, and the looks on our shooters' faces was priceless!

Forrest and Ben - It's always great to have a father and son come and spend the weekend together. Keep up the dry fire practice and join us again. Perhaps New Philadelphia, Wooster or again in Lima. Thanks for purchasing the ROC Card Forrest, you won't regret the investment.

Chuck - nice job with the AR. I think we worked out a couple of items that you will move you along the path to Rifleman. I like what I'm seeing. It's just a matter of time, and persistence.

Roy - I hope you enjoyed the Saturday portion. It was great talking to you, and I think it would be wonderful if your son and his youths from the church could join us. Hopefully, the temps and humidity didn't wear you out too uh, and you can join us again in the fall. Keep looking for a range for us in northwest Ohio and we'll be there!

Dylan and Zack - you guys rocked! You were super awesome students, and answered all the tough questions that the grown-ups couldn't. Nice job. Stay active with your NRA shooting at Lima Sabres and talk a few of your friends into coming next time! 

Patricia - you came to hone your Riflewoman skills, and we were excited to see you reconfirming your skills on every AQT we shot! All of them were 220+!!  Congrats on the new personal best of 230. We'd love to see you with an Orange Hat!  Don't forget to come to one of our two remaining Ladyseeds this year.

Vern - Your progress over the past year has been remarkable, you are sooooo close!  Keep at it, and work with your personal trainer Dougum, and the patch will be yours in no time.

Sean - thanks for joining us on Saturday. Your new rifle shoots great, especially now that the scope is dialed in. Good luck in college (GO BUCKS!!) and I hope to see you on the trail this year.

Take good care
KAH

Everyone - check out Ohio Appleseed's Facebook page. I posted a few pix from the weekend there.

[Corvette]

I agree with KAH, what a great weekend.  There was enough of a breeze that it wasn't too bad most of the time. Lots of water and lots of hard work led to a successful event.  But with leaders like KAH and DangerousD how could it be otherwise. Look forward to seeing everyone on the trail as the year moves forward.

Corvette

[Dougum]

AAR video in the works and will hopefully be posted soon. Hope to see you all soon.

Doug

[Cadence]

KAH,
It was a pleasure working with you and Dangerous D again as well as meeting new AS friends like Corvette, DGMilty, Dougum, and Chevyshooter. I think the great attitude of all the shooters more than compensated for the rather warm and humid weather.

The expression on the faces of Zak and Dylan when they were ringing steel at 200 yards was well worth the the trip to Lima. You just can't beat the feeling of seeing someone fire an M1 Garand for the first time. It will take weeks to wipe the smile from their faces and mine!

My only regret was that the 200 yd. silhouette fell down before I got a chance to try some 30-06 AP in my Garand. 
Thanks to Dougum and his Dad for bringing the steel.

If anyone has seen the pictures KAH posted on the facebook page and was wondering about the the rifle with the forward mounted scope, it's a Swiss K31, 7.5x55 with a Burris extended eye relief scout scope. I know Dougum will be saving his money to buy one in the near future!