Noblesville, IN July 7-8

[Swamp Thing]

OK, just got home and wanted to get something going on this amazing event.

1. 5 hour drive home wasn't all that bad. Safe and sound. 

2. Hoosiers are made of some seriously tough stock. It was kinda hot.

3. More to come when the truck is unpacked and I get some sleep.

4. Don't be afraid to post up some comments and pics before my official report. I'll be back tomorrow.

5. Good night.

ST

And I'm back!

So it was an interesting drive to the range.

I left Saginaw, MI on Thursday and drove over to St. Joseph, MI (200 miles) to take a fishing trip with some other instructors on Friday. Link here:

http://appleseedinfo.org/smf/index.php?topic=30494.0

Then left the docks and drove down to Indy via Rensselaer to pick up a target line and some other supplies (210 miles). Then on Saturday it's off to the Hamilton County Fish and Game club for another weekend of fun, shooting, fun, history, fun, and rekindling some of that good ole fire of liberty in yet another batch of rock solid Americans!

OK, we can add the word hot after every comma in that last sentence. 105 on Saturday. I don't care where you're from that's just hot right there.

But that doesn't matter. We had 8 people there for an Appleseed and that's what we were gonna give em. Unfortunately, one of our younger shooters showed up a bit under the weather and never made it to the line, done for the weekend. I suspect that when dad tells him what he missed out on, he'll be back. Down to seven, but we're all ready to go.

Did I mention the heat, cause we had some.

Shooting-wise, Saturday morning saw some very good groups early on and Spitfire51 and I were getting excited thinking about a possible 100% rifleman rate. We covered an aggressive course of fire (while still taking plenty of water/shade breaks to cool off, relatively). Throughout the morning the groups got tighter and tighter as the building blocks used to make a rifleman started to stack up. Spitfire51 and I knew we had this one in the bag.

Hey, it's gettin kinda hot out here.

Yep, that fat old sun started taking its toll. By late afternoon things changed a little bit. No riflemen on the first AQT and after the second one with still no riflemen and lower scores, things were grinding down. But.... These Hoosiers proved to be made of iron. While the shooting performance started to taper off due to some wicked heat, everybody stayed mentally sharp as a tack. Safety was never an issue all day. Congrats to all of the shooters for remembering safety first, safety always.

Also on Saturday, we got to hear some amazing history about our shared American heritage that quite frankly needs to be heard more often and be more widespread. The shooters listened intently as they heard about what really happened on that day of April 19, 1775 when our forefathers woke up as British servants to the crown and went to bed as Americans! We spoke about the long line of men and women who have and continue to make sacrifices to preserve our freedom and how it began with a group of men and women who GAVE us our freedom. The little spark turned into a flame as I could see in the shooters eyes that the connections were coming together....the choice between submission and a musket was made 237 years ago and the prize won was twofold. 1. A free country. 2. A new choice, participation! The most powerful option of all!

As we wrapped up day one, the shooters had a fresh perspective on things. Not only are we Americans, we are America!

Day two: Everybody returns for more torture fun!

Much cooler today, high of 98. Almost feels chilly this morning.

After some opening words about safety, hydration, shade and a review of instruction, its on to the AQT's. No new riflemen on the first try but hey, wait a minute, scores are up by 50-80 points! That mental focus from yesterday stuck with em. Can we do it?

Second AQT, the bubble is popped. Austin quits knocking on the door and kicks it in with a 230! Huzzah! I ask, OK, who's next? Spitfire51 hands me another one. Josh with 224! We're also seeing 192, 198, and a 100 point improvement over yesterday with a 182. Another AQT, Austin hits again with a 234! And young Tyler drives everybody crazy with a 207. Ugh. It's starting to heat up again. Can he do it? Will he get frustrated and lose his cool? Those last few points are the hardest.

He shoots, he scores! A 222 on the last AQT of the day! Seven shooters, 3 riflemen, 2 shooters in the 190's and two more in the 180's! We need to be careful, people might start to think that this stuff works.

Let's see, what else? Oh yeah, a fun shoot that ends in a dead tie, everybody wins a prize. And Spitfire51 has some show and tell. It's a M1A, and he's brought enough ammo to share with the class. Everybody gets to put 8 rounds down range and hear the most American sound there is......8th round boom ping!

And last but certainly not least.

America, be prepared to have some very large buckets of ignorance, laziness, and apathy thrown overboard as these fine Americans head home and get to work on helping us all do some much needed bailing!

I'm calling this one a success folks. How about you?

Shooters, your comment and pic posting period begins now!

ST

[AuntieBellum]

Want MOAR now!!!     Thanks, Swamp Thing, for coming all the way down to help us out in Indiana.  I'm certain everyone had a great time.  Can't wait to hear more (MOAR!!!).   

[rabbitdave]

First Appleseed with my son.
+ Son shooting Rifleman at his first shoot
+ Proof that 10/22's are accurate and can shoot small groups
++ Learning a ton about history and marksmanship
+ 5 minutes of rain and cooler temps on day 2

- Heat on Day 1 at 105 with 60%+ humidity. Is there a patch for 100 degree+ shoots?

One suggestion, Swamp Thing suggested an all M1 shoot, would it be possible to put something on the calendar for this? Especially at a range with a 400m line? Would love an excuse to get an M1 just for this.

Big thanks to Swamp Thing for driving to Indiana to be the Shoot Boss and making the history interesting. Thank you Spitfire for all your help and letting my son shoot the M1 (he has the fever now).

[Swamp Thing]

Quick bump with a modified OP

A few pics coming soon.

P.S. thanks rabbitdave, it was an honor meeting you and your son. And yes, there is a patch for 100+ degree shoots. But it's a rifleman patch, unfortunately, nobody shot rifleman on Saturday and Sunday topped off at 98.

See you in August maybe? Go for that infernoseed patch?

ST

[rabbitdave]

Here is a quick video of Tyler shooting the M1A.

http://youtu.be/3gShSZSPspQ

Thanks again....I plan on going to the Atlanta Shoot in August and hopefully shoot Rifleman.

Rabbitdave

[spitfire51]

What a brutal yet fantastic weekend.  We were blessed with a great group of shooters who stuck it out through the heat, humidity, and that one little bit of rain that felt real good for the 30 seconds it lasted before giving way to more sun.  Everyone was shooting great throughout the instructional periods on both days.  We had shooters who literally doubled their AQT scores between Saturday and Sunday.  I truly believe that if it had been about 10-15 degrees cooler out, we could've put a rifleman patch on everyone there.  I appreciate everyone's attentive attitude to both the marksmanship and history, now go forth and share what you've learned.

Once again, thank you all for being safe, not pushing yourselves too hard, and soaking in the lessons of our forefathers.

[spitfire51]

Ok, so here's a couple pics of our outstanding shooters

Austin, who initially signed up for Saturday only, but decided to come back Sunday and knock out Rifleman scores left and right


Josh after scoring Rifleman, which I'm only partially crediting to the magazine he borrowed


Tyler receiving his youth shooter patch, a small token of appreciation for sticking it out all weekend.


Hmm, I seem to remember Tyler had another important picture taken this weekend of something else he earned...someone will have to go hunting for that one.

[Swamp Thing]

Hey Spitfire51, I think I know what photo you're talking about.

It has to be this one of him shooting the United States Rifle, 30 caliber, Model 1. Right?

[Swamp Thing]

Maybe it's one of these photos....

[Swamp Thing]

I only took one more photo.

It might be this one.   

[Rotortech]

I just wanted to give a big Thanks! to Swamp Thing and spitfire51 for putting on a great Appleseed weekend for us in Noblesville. Like they said - it was HOT. When I showed up on Sunday morning I claimed to be at 90% but I was wrong. I was really at about 60% and sinking fast. Hats off to the guys who scored Rifleman at this shoot. You guys were tough.

This was my second Appleseed and I brought my friend Mark.

Mark and I were the Old Guys there this weekend. We both flirted with AQT scores right around 200 but didn't quite have the right stuff yet. We'll be back.

Here are a couple more pics of our group during a training session.


The photos would give a better idea of the conditions if they showed a couple of animal carcasses laying around.

Mark and I are going again in October and hope to get a couple of other shooters out there. I sold my tube fed rifle and will be getting a 10/22 set up for my next shoot.