Piru, California 13-4 October 2012

[gratefuldog]

There was an Appleseed shoot in the subject location on the subject dates. It was Good. Details to follow.

[rrhartley]

Thank You G. D. for starting this. I will try to report tonight after work and Foppish Dandy (Sam) took lots of pictures that he will post if he isn't eaten by the bear.

rrhartley (Rick)

[SemiAuto]

Thank You.... to the folks who hosted the Appleseed event in Piru, CA this past weekend.  I had the privilege of attending the event with my daughter, who had only fired a rifle once or twice before.  The Appleseed instructors were phenomenal in teaching her the skills of true marksmanship, gun safety and target shooting.   
The history lesson was unlike anything you get in school and I left with a much better appreciation of the sacrifices our forefathers made so we could enjoy the freedoms we have today. 
I am a huge fan of the Appleseed Project and can't wait to bring my wife for the next training class.
Thanks again for the awesome experience!!!
Tom
P.S.  In my last visit to the range with my 10/22, at 25 yards I had a grouping of nine rounds in an inch and quarter.   I never shot this tight of a grouping before attending Appleseed.

[rrhartley]

I arrived at Piru Friday at 1:30pm and checked in with Mike, the cool owner of the range, and he told me to go on up. When I got to the site it looked like someone had been bowling with ten pins against the berm all lying down full of holes. After cleaning them up I made quick work of the firing and equipment lines and set up camp. I took my target stand out and sighted a couple of rifles so they would be ready as loaners. Now it was time to settle in with a good book, (Paul Reveres Ride) for t little review of history. Shortly after dark the first shooter (Douglas) drives up so we start the camp fire and Foppish Dandy (Sam) drives up with his faithful four legged companion Dina. This dog has a great personality and is a lot of fun. Sam shared his bear encounter with us. Mr. B shows up right on time the next morning for sausage biscuits with egg, orange juice, and COFFEE. We had nine pre Registered and sixteen on the line at shoot time. Tom flew in his DAUGHTER from Tennessee to partake in the festivities at Piru. I think Tom holds Appleseed high on his list, thanks, Tom. The Red Coat scores were really good, 1 HS, 3 400 yard, 1 300 yard, 2 200 yard, 5 100yrd. I new I had some real marksmen amongst me. The teaching began with Mr. B and, well, pretty much stayed with Mr. B. I will explain in a bit. Everything was going well as the groups began to form up and shrink in size. We had one young gentleman, John Higgins III, with Dad next to him, getting in the dirt and working hard with the rest. At lunch, along with some great strike stories, we had the pleasure of Bob 210, in Revolutionary War dress and Flintlock pistol, to augment "the shot heard around the world" with a few more after that. Lunch is over and it is AQT time, and yes we have a new Rifleman amongst us. Great shooting, Jerry Richardson, scoring a 212 on his first AQT of the day. We tried to find a way the shave 2 points but that wasn't going to happen with his solid score. Another AQT and it was stress relief time on the pumpkin provided by Bob. The 22s were piercing but the ARs were slicing and dicing that poor pumpkin. On the final Red Coat we jumped from 1 head shot to 4. Morgan would be proud to have you in his rifle company. With the line clear and brass policed it was time for rewards. Bob 210 awarded rrhartley with the coveted Shoot Boss hat and Mr. B with the renowned Red hat. This is why Mr. B was the teacher most of the day. Nicely done Brian. It was a pleasure to observe a fantastic job all day long. Thanks for the laughs also!!! Wait there's more. You remember the Rifleman I mentioned earlier, he stepped forward and accepted the challenge of Instructor by putting on his new Orange hat. Of course we honored young John Higgins with the Luther Blanchard patch for giving it his all and persevering. When he was told he did not have to transition with the group he decided that wasn't going to happen. He transitioned with the best!
The second day shrank two five with two new walk-ons and another Red hat, GreatfulDog, to add to the great staff. The new shooters were not first timers so the teaching went quickly. As I looked at the first set of squares I was impressed. All but one had a nice starting group. Marat, after grinding all day Saturday, was back for some more. We reviewed all that we did the day before and started the AQT grind. With high expectations for the AQTs came the Piru winds and dust. Being Riflemen in their BUBBLE they didn't let that stop them, the grind went on. We broke the day up with what was to be a little pumpkin carving with turned into a pumpkin massacre. The ARs dived the pumpkin in two and continued until it cried for mercy. I think I heard the Irish Mr. B call the bloody thing a WANKER. Jerry, our new Orange hat was tossed under the bus, not really, but he did get a shot at working the line and did a great job. I brought back the memory of my first day on the line and an Oriental Shoot Boss from Hawaii walking past me with one word, VERBATUM, many times that day. Thanks for the memories Mr. Pete, I miss you! Until the next shoot, God Bless you all.
rrhartley (Rick)   

[rrhartley]

Semi Auto, I t was indeed our pleasure to meet your DAUGHTER. Forgive my OOPS! I do hope to see you at Glen Helen in December with your wife. I will try my best to not OOPS again!

Thanks again, Rick


PS Appleseed thanks you also.
Many blessings!

[White_Knuckle]

Absolutely a fantastic weekend!  The volunteers dedication and passion to the Appleseed Project and our great history is amazing. Definitely inspiring and I am looking forward to further educating myself in our history and marksmanship.  Next time I can make it out for a weekend I will hopefully bring my wife and some friends. God Bless you guys!

[Johnnyappleseed]

Congratulations Rick !

[MR B (549)]

How about that ...? A shoot boss , a red hat , a rifleman who then  took an Orange hat all in one weekend ...

I had an amazing time this weekend with a great bunch of shooters and I was very impressed with the dedication the shooters showed given the amount of instruction that was thrown at them . It's not easy sometimes to try new things and you all showed a great amount of courage and diligence to stick it out and deliver those nice tight well placed groups . We as instructors feel honored that you guys took the time to spend your weekend with us and were hopefully inspired by what you witnessed . If you were then tell a friend . It sure seemed like we had some talent on the line and I'm always happy to see a father and son team (John and John jr ) and even happier to see a father and daughter team (Tom and Julia ) , Julia is btw serving in the ROTC and we thank you for your service 

All in all to see people showing up while its hot, dusty and windy and get down in the dirt and shoot great groups and listen and be engaged in the history and heritage leaves me with a nice warm American feeling inside
Well done to all!!!!!!

[Foppish Dandy]

As usual, I manage to comment a week late...

Every weekend at Piru manages to be even more awesome than the last. Couldn't have asked for a better day for the shoot... the weather cooled off significantly and gave us a gorgeous Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday presented us with a slew of new shooters as well as a few Appleseed veterans. It was great to have Jerry, George, Doug and Dave all return to get down into the dirt. Dave brought out his son Todd, but they weren't the only family shooting on Saturday. Virginia came out with her sons Joe, Adam and Max. Julia came in from Tennessee to join her DAD (paying attention Rick?!  ) Tom and John Jr. brought his son John III. It was also great to see Dan, Marat and yet ANOTHER John (not confusing at all) celebrating their liberty.

By the time lunch came around, everyone was showing SERIOUS improvement on those squares. During lunch, we were honored by a visit from a great friend of the program and range-owner, Mike Thompson. Mike took a moment to encourage all the shooters and remind them of the importance of holding on to our freedoms in this country.

As we settled into our end of the day AQT, the shooters really got down to business. We saw some impressive scores, but it was our veteran Jerry who finally topped that Rifleman score with a VERY solid 212. I say that with authority, 'cause as Rick said, we desperately tried to find two sketchy points to shave. However, Jerry managed to avoid staying out of that North Bridge water. Not only did Jerry acquire a brand new Rifleman patch, but he also stepped up and took a shiny new ORANGE HAT! 

Jerry wasn't the only one to walk away in a brand new hat... Red-hat Rick finished his training and was promoted to SHOOT BOSS! CONGRATS! Also, Mr. B finished up his last bit of instructor training and walked away with the coveted RED HAT of a full-blown instructor! HUZZZAH!  Well-deserved both!

Just like our shooters groups, our group of shooters shrunk on Sunday (GET IT?! Heh? See what I did there?)... Doug, Todd, Dave and Marat stuck it out for a second day and were joined by a couple more Appleseed veterans, Brian and Steve.

All through the day, the wind picked up, but so did the scores. While we didn't pass out any additional patches, everyone on the line Sunday was well on their way to topping that 210.

Many thanks to all the shooters that came out to honor the Founders by taking advantage of our unique liberties here in the United States. As well, thank you to Bob210, Rick, GratefulDog and Mr. B for letting me work alongside them.

Now for what all y'all wanna see... PICTURES!
For those of you on Facebook, please take a moment to "Like" our Facebook page and tag yourself in the photos: http://www.facebook.com/SoCalAppleseed

[Foppish Dandy]

Day 1 - Part 1

[Foppish Dandy]

Day 1 - Part 2

[Foppish Dandy]

Day 1 - Part 3

[gonejohnny]

O U T - S T A N D I N G ! ! !
W E L L - D O N E, everyone!!!
     

[SniperCat]

Congrats Rick!

Sorry to have missed the earlier posts and the RangeRat clan is happy we were part of you quest. 
Glen Helen is very lucky to have you!     
Looking forward to working with you again soon!!

Again Congrats,
Bobbi