Evansville, IN KD shoot June 28-29 2014

[Mudcat]

Well there is one for the books after a whirlwind of activity and jumping through hoops, recruiting instructors we had a BLAST! This shoot sold out the Tuesday before the event with an old friend Dirk snagging the last ticket. But we had a full line come Saturday morning with a nice mix of previous and new Appleseeders. We had a young Clay brought by his dad Jimbo for his first event, Lilley was attending her second Appleseed and this time running an AR15 for both days brought by Kurtis. We had a pair of brothers Larry had so much fun at the Washington shoot he brought his brother Matt this time. We had Chris bring his friend Bob after seventh stepping him for quite some time. Chris had Bob well up to speed before shoot day by the way. We had Lee and Fireman Adam for their first shoot then we had 3 yes 3 Bens on the line and even an orange hat Ben as well. Ben S attended his first shoot Ben M was on his 3rd and redcoat Ben  for his second. Ben announced that he was out token redcoat for the weekend Saturday morning in a fine English accent and we had fun with him all weekend. When he gets his citizenship in a few months we will have one fine American even if he does talk a little funny. We had Steven a Soldier at his first shoot as well, thank you sir. Plus we had Tammy and Jasmine slip in on Sunday for a little KD.

This was the finest bunch of shooters an old shoot boss could ever ask for every single one of them had a passion and desire to learn all the could on Saturday on the 25m line with lots of questions during the instruction. They were very intent on the history but who could not pay attention with Unbridled Liberty and Redbaron giving first and second strikes. Lots of instructors were there to lend one on one help and answer questions. We finished up Saturday solid in our positions and everyone shooting within 5 moa or better having a good grasp of trajectory, IMC, NPOA, the steady hold factors and knowing more about their rifles than they imagined.

Sunday brought a nice cloudy morning and an early start to the KD day. a very quick review an few questions and we headed out. This was Lilley's picture from the 400 yard line.

No mats no excess "stuff" just the man or woman and their rifle as it should be. We got sighters at 100 yards with everyone taking the info and adding to their already extensive notes then we shot stage 1 of the AQT walked back to the 200 yard line shot sighters and gathered and recorded data then shot stage 2. Moved back to the 300 sighters and data recorded and shot stage 3. 400 sighters and data along with that slow fire stage 4. Then of course because we can we shot sighters and recorded data from 500. We ate lunch and Big John gave us 3rd strike and I told about some dangerous old men. We had one Rifleman out of the group Larry shot a 34! Congratulations Larry great job! I'm sure someone has a pic somewhere......please?
Then we went back out to shoot 2 more AQTs in the heat and sun but no one complained and with Rayne running the line she gave them little time if they had wanted to  . At the end of the day we had 2 broken rifles and 1 new Rifleman Kurtis with a yep you guessed it 32 so he got a dose on refreshing North Bridge Water. Great shooting!

Some items to note. Lilley shot her best group of the weekend on the 400 yard line with I believe a 9 and a really good 5 moa group with iron sights I might add.   I think she likes KD. When you drop off the paper go back to your last adjustment and see what you did, it was probably wrong. While 5 moa low at 300 you will still be on the backer 5 moa low at 400 you are not. Muzzle brakes can break target backers and cause a shooter to flinch  . Both old and new rifles can and will break an M1 broke a firing pin on stage 3 of the last AQT perhaps keeping a shooter from shooting Rifleman and an AR10 broke an extractor on stage 4  with the shooter having a 28 going into it. Both had good attitudes and learned a lot. Lots of new friendships were made without a doubt.

I want to thank all the shooters and instructors for coming out, for the weekend. When I have a group like you all on the line it really makes me feel like we do have hope in saving our country. Go forward and look around you a little differently, think about things from a different perspective knowing the sacrifices that were made. Think about the choices you make and think if you are being ignorant of what is going on, lazy about making the right choice or being apathetic about doing what you know should be done.

Don't forget about the Liberty Seeds for those that don't shoot if you want we will come tell the story to a group you put together. Feel free to contact me or any of the other instructors.

Here are a few pics of the weekend that I snapped feel free to post some if you have them and please leave us some comments. Huzzah!


Here is Rifleman Larry on Saturday.


Brother Matt made some great progress over the weekend.


Lets try this standing Bob, Chris, Adam and Ben M.


Unbridled Liberty watching, that line of center fire rifles making freedom ring.


Clay and Lee splattered like a bug on a windshield.


Steven finishing up a stage clearing that rifle before unslinging.


Now that is some comfy grass right there.


Our wet Rifleman Kurtis.


Our Soldier Steven rocking it during the 300 yard rapid fire stage.

[ironhead]

This was the second shoot I had the privilege of working and a better time could not have been had by all. The weather was a little warm at times but great none the less. Thanks to all of the instructors that helped me a little farther down my own Appleseed trail. It was good to be back on the line. So many fine Americans and 1 soon to be that will be a welcome addition to our fine country came out and had a blast learning about the history of April 19th 1775 as well as solid marksmanship skills. New friendships were made by all and everyone went away wanting more. I hope to see all of the shooters back again with a friend in tow. Remember that you can pratice the 6 steps to firing a shot through dry fire practice using dry fire targets. Get them here http://appleseedinfo.org/smf/index.php?topic=9833.0. A rifleman always persists.

Ironhead

[Unbridled Liberty]

Great to see old friends and make new ones.  This sums up the prevailing attitude; at 1500 on Sunday, when Mudcat asked if folks wanted to shoot one more AQT, I heard an unhesitating, instant, enthusiastic "YES!" from everyone within earshot.  HUZZAH!  What a great group of Americans!  I have a few pictures to post as well, but I am out of town at the moment. 

UL

[ironjaw]

I had an awesome time again. Seeing Larry get excited like he did when Mudcat called his name was priceless. Having my oldest daughter there, shooting right beside me is what it's all about. This was my 2nd rifleman patch. I can't begin to say enough about the instructors and their willingness to help teach history,  marksmanship and offer friendship. Outstanding job again!

[Big John]

Very hot couple of days, but we did have some cloud cover at times.

Groups were consistently impressive across the line and improved as we went on. KD Appleseed's are fun, people brought out the "big boy" (or girl) rifles. Lots of ARs, but we had Chris with the always classic Garand, and one of the Bens with a AR-10 .308 with a muzzle brake that he promises me he will etch my comment of "Inappropriately Loud" on the lower receiver.

The shooters were very attentive, and drank from the firehose with abandon. The history was experienced with interest as Unbridled Liberty and Redbaron gave it out on Saturday. I hope to have Clay, our lone .22 slinger, return to another Appleseed this season; he's on his way.

Sunday had us take the green of the 500 yard line. I even got to shoot one AQT in the AM, and I am proud to say this IIT got outshot by a few folks. Very professional firing lines, both on the shooter end, and the instructor end. Rifles, ammo, mags, water, notebooks, pen, and a bag for it all were all we took, and all we needed. We had a lot of people on paper at 500 yards, many of which had never shot that distance, which shows This Stuff Works.

Thanks for the round of applause after I did the Third Strike; I was afraid I muffed it.

I did pits in the afternoon, so not a lot of stories from there, other than I had the privilege of being on the receiving end of Redcoat Ben's fire. There is one man who has the persistence. He will return, and we will patch him. Even asked me for homework on the way out, to which I said "Mag changes, NPOA, positions, steady hold factors, proper sling use, dry fire, and these all can be done in your living room, just make sure the ammo is not in the same room while you do it." Good advice for us all.

[Titanium_Frost]

My rifle wasn't THAT bad... But I did break an extractor which kept me from finishing my last string. Besides that, it was a hoot to shoot a group over a quarter of a mile with the pasters covering five holes! Like Big John said I for one never fired at that distance before and this was a nearly new rifle that was only sighted in before this Appleseed. This stuff works folks!

Mudcat puts on a fantastic 'seed and I enjoy them more each time. Great big thanks to all the instructors and certainly the guys working the line on Sunday who were busting butt to get our targets pasted and back up so we could finish on time. A few of us didn't make it easy with shooting the wrong targets and all...

The best news has to be that my flinching buddy and coach Adam isn't deaf and only lost minor hearing!

[Rayne]

~

[Unbridled Liberty]

Pictures#1

[Unbridled Liberty]

Pictures#2

[Unbridled Liberty]

Pictures#3

[Rayne]

~

[ironjaw]

It was most definitely worth it! Pup and redbaron had way too much fun with that tho. I will work on getting better so I can score higher next time tho.:biggrin:

[Mudcat]

That is what buddies are good for.

[TheAtticRat]

Had a great time and I can't wait for my next Appleseed shoot.  I should have a few slow-mo videos of some shooting to share before too long.


---Adam

[Mudcat]

Awesome Adam I am looking forward to seeing them, and to having you on the line again.

[TheAtticRat]

Here is some Slo-mo video of Loud Ben shooting the seated portion of the AQT.  Video only.  No audio

http://youtu.be/22AOkWWhFmw

[TheAtticRat]

And here is the other video I snagged of Ben shooting his final prone stage.  Too bad his extractor broke (I edited that part out at the end because it was painfully slow to watch even before it was in slow motion)



http://youtu.be/WQa6VXFTaPg


On a side note...... I think I have recovered most of my hearing.   

[vanny37]

http://youtu.be/22AOkWWhFmw

Nice.  Thanks for sharing.  Sat behind Ben (because to the side was louder) and watched the vapor trails at the 500 line - that was cool too.

As usual, a great weekend.  Thanks to Mudcat and crew for your time and knowledge.  I learned some more and had a great time doing it.  It was good to see familiar faces and meet new ones.

A few thoughts:

• No matter how many times I hear the history, it is always moving and forever timely. 
• Take notes!  After Atterbury last year, I've been trying my best to record as much as I can.  It came in handy during the shoot and saved me several times - from rear sights coming loose, to verifying rules of thumb, to getting hits on sighters at 500.
• Tend to overestimate wind.  It was fun to have UL's handy-dandy wind dew-hickey thing and get some numbers to compare to what we felt and saw.
• From Redcoat Ben on the Garand's clip ejection - "It is a sound of completion" 
• .30cal will tell you what you are doing wrong; try to listen.
• A broken rifle is an excellent chance to ball and dummy yourself - thanks for the bright side UL!

Off to purchase a firing pin...

[vanny37]

Tend to overestimate wind.

Edit: We/I tend to...