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Piqua, OH, AAR - Aug. 17-18, 2013

Started by Unbridled Liberty, August 19, 2013, 10:23:26 PM

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Unbridled Liberty

August 19, 2013, 10:23:26 PM Last Edit: August 19, 2013, 11:35:50 PM by Unbridled Liberty
What a glorious weekend enjoying our priceless liberty in Piqua, Ohio!  Altogether, we had 10 Americans turn out for a weekend of learning both rifle marksmanship and our heritage and history!

We had two pairs of brothers;  Nick and Mark, and Steve and David, and we had two pairs of mothers and daughters; Linda and Haley, and Peggy and Alaina.  And finally, we had Jackie and Ben.  Thank you all for coming out; it was a pleasure meeting you!

I am happy to report that Ben, shooting a centerfire rifle, shot a 195 on his first AQT on Saturday, and then danced around a Rifleman score on Sunday, until he went over the top and scored a 221.  HUZZAH!  Congratulations Ben, and I hope you proceed down the Appleseed trail by taking an orange hat at your next event!

Another highlight was 7 year old Haley thoroughly perforating Redcoat targets on Sunday with a Savage Rascal.  What a delightful young lady.  Shooting off a designated marksman rest, she learned the fundamental steps of sight alignment, sight picture, respiratory pause, focus, squeeze and follow through.  Yes, she really did!  HUZZAH!

The final highlight was a friendly shooting "competition" between Daniel Morgan's Rifle Company (Ben and Mark) vs. Michael Cresap's Rifle Company (Alaina and Nick).  The goal was to take out two balloons per team at 100 yards with as few rounds as possible (due to the ammo crisis of 1775).  The balloons were 6 MOA and Alaina made the first hit...on her first shot!  HUZZAH!  Nick also took out his balloon with one shot, giving Team Cresap 2 balloons with 2 rounds.  On Daniel Morgan's team, Mark took his balloon out with one shot.  Ben made a slight miscalculation and barely missed his balloon, but Mark backed him up,  giving Morgan's Rifle Company 2 balloons with 3 shots.  The Buckeye Trapper handed out some nice prizes to Team Cresap; congratulations Alaina and Nick!  They all proved that we can be effective, while at the same time conserving precious ammo, with AIMED, ACCURATE fire, just like the founding generation.  That's called MARKSMANSHIP!

Thanks to a great team of instructors; DGMilty, The Buckeye Trapper, Coyote217, WY_Not and Shep.  You made my job easy AND enjoyable.

An RWVA Instructor would be happy to come and speak to your club or group and present the Three Strikes.  We call these non-shooting events "Libertyseeds".  Here is the website for more information: www.libertyseed.org. You may use the site to request a Libertyseed event, join the RWVA or make a donation.

An Rx for all attendees:
Get a copy of Paul Revere's Ride here: http://www.appleseedstore.flyingcart.com/?p=detail&pid=16&cat_id=
Get a GI web sling here: http://www.appleseedstore.flyingcart.com/?p=detail&pid=10&cat_id=
Lots of dry fire practice, by the numbers, making sure to first go through your Steady Hold Factors.
Practice finding, shifting and verifying your NPOA.
Practice Inches Minutes and Clicks.
Please attend another Appleseed clinic and bring at least two new people with you. 

Help Project Appleseed:
Promote Project Appleseed on your Facebook page. 
If you have not yet shot a Rifleman score, join Applecore (aka Blue Hats) and help at shoots with check in, range safety and other duties, or help behind the scenes with promotional efforts.  We will find a place for you if you volunteer!

Just a few ideas on how to help your community, state and nation:
First, start at home: Be a good spouse and parent. "Take good care of the children".  Make sure your household is prepared for natural disasters.
Then, get involved in your community: Be a good neighbor and watch out for each other. Become a block captain for your neighborhood. Build wheelchair ramps for the disabled, and meet other special needs in your community.  Attend school board and town council meetings, or better yet, run for a position! 

Get informed:
A compilation of public notices published anywhere in the state of Ohio:
http://www.publicnoticesohio.com/  (A public service by the members of the Ohio Newspaper Association)

Register to vote and then go vote, AFTER you research the candidates and issues you will be voting on!
Project Vote Smart http://votesmart.org/

Keep an eye on your representatives; keep them accountable! 
Congress.org
http://congress.org/congressorg/megavote/
http://www.govtrack.us

Ohio
Secretary of State:
http://www.sos.state.oh.us/

Ohio State Board of Elections:
http://www.sos.state.oh.us/SOS/elections.aspx

Ohio Legislature
http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/
Write letters and make phone calls to your representatives about issues that concern you. 

It is every American's birthright to own a .30 caliber battle rifle: Here is the CMP Garand sales page:
http://www.odcmp.com/Sales/m1garand.htm

An interesting CSPAN interview with Dr. David Hackett Fischer, author of Paul Revere's Ride:
http://www.booknotes.org/Watch/58074-1/David+Hackett+Fischer.aspx

An interesting video about the forensic evidence related to Dr. Joseph Warren's body: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdggCICMnkU

Everyone is invited to post here about your Appleseed experience.  Long live Liberty!  Long Live the Republic!

Pictures coming...

UL
For Liberty, each Freeman Strives
As its a Gift of God
And for it willing yield their Lives
And Seal it with their Blood

Thrice happy they who thus resign
Into the peacefull Grave
Much better there, in Death Confin'd
Than a Surviving Slave

This Motto may adorn their Tombs,
(Let tyrants come and view)
"We rather seek these silent Rooms
Than live as Slaves to You"

Lemuel Haynes, 1775

DGMilty

#1
August 20, 2013, 01:24:05 PM
I think Unbridled Liberty pretty much summed it up, and then some!  Thanks for making the trip to Piqua for an almost cancelled event.  We had two pre-regs for both days, and just one for Saturday only.  Shep had a verbal commitment from some individuals he knew, and I am SO GLAD they came and we had a shoot!

I really enjoyed working with UL as well as the other Instructors and ESPECIALLY the shooters!  It always makes me feel good that we did our jobs and people LEARNED something!  Improvement throughout the weekend is what I really like to see with the skills, but most importantly is a SAFE and FUN event.

UL brought some different instructional "tools" with him which were new to us Ohio Instructors!  I am hoping I can implement them in the future.  And you made OUR jobs as Instructors easy as well.  Thanks!

Congrats to the new Rifleman, Ben, and hope to see you VERY soon and we can discuss that Orange Hat a bit further! 

The "ammo crisis of 1775" ...did Michael Cresup's or Daniel Morgan's "team" think they'd actually be able to hit those 6 MOA targets?  This goes to show that the skills we teach at 25M can be used out to a distance, and ACCURATELY!  Way to go, guys!!!

Practice, practice, practice.  Do your homework, lots of "dry practice" and trigger control.  NPOA and 6 steps! 

Hope to see you all VERY SOON.  Don't forget the 7th step!


The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.   -Thomas Jefferson

Unbridled Liberty

#2
August 20, 2013, 07:41:16 PM
Pictures, as promised...
For Liberty, each Freeman Strives
As its a Gift of God
And for it willing yield their Lives
And Seal it with their Blood

Thrice happy they who thus resign
Into the peacefull Grave
Much better there, in Death Confin'd
Than a Surviving Slave

This Motto may adorn their Tombs,
(Let tyrants come and view)
"We rather seek these silent Rooms
Than live as Slaves to You"

Lemuel Haynes, 1775

RifleBen

#3
August 21, 2013, 12:21:03 AM
 ;D

I had a great time learning out to deliver aimed, accurate fire with a great team of instructors and an inspiring group of fellow American marksmen. Achieving Rifleman is definitely the high point of my shooting accomplishments, and Appleseed the greatest growth of my ability by far.

My first Redcoat I cleared the 100 yard target only, and got lucky and hit the "Daniel Morgan's Marksmen" pail. After learning more than I had in my previous three years of shooting rifles on my own, Saturday afternoon I cleared my Redcoat out, hitting all the targets. As Unbridled Liberty said, watching the other shooters use Inches, Minutes, Clicks to sight their 22s in for 100 yards, and then participate in our ammo shortage rifleman's challenge pretty much exemplified the weekend we had.

We took our respective positions in pairs, loading our rifles confidently upon hearing the "Load!" command. After working through our Steady Hold Factors, we began to work through our Six Steps to firing the shot, finding our NPOA and adjusting ourselves accordingly as we awaited the "Fire!" command. Alaina was to fire first for Cresaps's team and I for Morgan's.

"All ready on the left, all ready on the right, ALL READY ON THE FIRING LINE... FIRE!"

Breathe in, breathe out, squeeeeze....

Allaina fired first, the pop of her rifle sounding clear across the firing line. Everyone held their breath for that long 1/3rd of a second...

:pop:

The balloon was struck, immediately all but invisible at 100 yards, just empty cardboard and flour scattered and floating down silently.  ^:)^

I refocused on my own target, relax, squeeeeeze...

Bang! Dust flies from the impact on the berm... but the balloon remains.

Mark prepares to fire on his own balloon, relaxed holding his NPOA. A little breath in, a little back out, squeeeeeze...

Pop! A long moment later, the balloon dissappears from view, flour raining down in its place. Perhaps just an echo of the shot, perhaps the actual sound, perhaps entirely from my imagination, I hear the pop of the balloon.

Nick takes his shot soon after, recently acquired skills kicking into gear at full distance. Another POP!, another pop, perhaps only imagined, as a third balloon falls to a marksman.

I squeeeeeze...

Hook releases hammer, hammer strikes firing pin, firing pin pecks primer, primer ignites powder, powder burns to gas, gas propels projectile, gas drives piston, piston cycles bolt....

Dust flies, but no flour. The balloon remains.

Mark shifts to my balloon, recalls what he has been taught, goes through the Steps... Pop!...

And the last balloon is gone!

^:)^

O0 Nice shooting everyone.

I have marked the calendar and requested off work for September 28-29. I hope to be in Wilmington for my second Appleseed and an Orange Hat.

More importantly, I hope to bring along my twin brother so he can learn the way of the rifleman, and my little brother as well, confident he will end the weekend with a greater appreciation and fascination with his heritage as well as i established shooting skills.


"Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends."
                                                                             John 15:13

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.
-Theodore Roosevelt

Shep

#4
August 22, 2013, 08:22:52 AM
What a great weekend! Thanks to all who attended, it was a wonderful group of shooters to work with.  I see more rifleman scores in the future as everyone put together the fundamentals of firing the shot.  It was also great to see such an interest in our heritage.

A special THANK YOU to my fellow instructors that talked my daughter Haley, into shooting.  She was absolutely delighted to have all the special attention from everyone, and is still proudly showing the hits on her target.  She is very excited about the October shoot in Piqua, and insisted that she has to have her own shooting bag and equipment by then.... and so it begins!!

Shep
"The constitutions of most of our States assert that all power is inherent in the people; that... it is their right and duty to be at all times armed." -Thomas Jefferson

Coyote217

#5
August 24, 2013, 10:17:24 PM
Have to say it was a great weekend to spend with American Patriots.  What a great read from Ben.  Hope to see Alaina, Mark and Nick at the next shoot so they can improve on their balloon shoot. 
"These are the times that try men's souls." Thomas Paine

Hannibal ante portas!
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