Project Appleseed

What an AMAZING weekend!  We were blessed with beautiful weather, eager Americans, and a lot of smiles.  Thank you all for coming.  I'll be back after work to say more, but let's get this party started!!!  Also,...

Hello all. Thank you for making this a fun weekend. We brought our kids 9 and 11 who did very well generally to the first day. My wife and I finished the second day and enjoyed the process.

The instructors did a great job of laying out the basics and making safety a priority. The kids and the adults enjoyed the story telling and general atmosphere.

Regarding the shooting experience, as we were very unexperienced with rifles it took a while to get "dialed in". Additionally, during the qualifying experience it was difficult to recall when to load 2 & 8 and when to load ten and how to shoot 2 change mag shoot 3 then shoot 5 on the second stage, but shoot 3, 4, 4 in the next stages etc... Next time around this will not be a challenge at all, but we would have done well to "study" a little prior to the event in order to not get bogged down in these simple details.

It would have been nice to have some practice at the "timing" of the shooting qualifier during our practice times prior to the qualifications. This is my only "negative" feedback at all.

Although we felt we did well for our first times, certainly there is more that could be improved by repeating this enjoyable 2 afternoon class. We will be back. Thank you to the enjoyable instructors who make this very easy for us, loaned us their equipment when needed, and volunteered to help us improve our skills and pass on a love of American history and marksmanship to the next generation.

Pictures to follow.

Brian

  OMG !!!  I had such an amazing week end !!! I had so much trouble with my sights.... Amy , Hernando, Atm, Loren and TJ,  YOU ALL ARE THE BEST INSTRUCTORS THAT I HAVE EVER MEET.   Each and every one of these instructors helped me personally. From my form, to the best possible position I could find and with my Ar15.  (optical) Problems galore to say the least.  I learned so much information not only about my rifle but about the History of the Revolution War. With Each Instructor, The story came to life and was Inspiring. Thank You soooooo much.  After I get a better scope  and get it zeroed in, I will be back to another Appleseed Shoot. I want to make Rifleman. I promised Pictures, so here they are....  Tonya. 

 

 

I tried to get them all on here, at the same time, but seem to be having a problem,,, This is my 4th attempt

I guess I can only do 5 pictures at a time....

Next 5, sorry you all, I can't post more then 5 at a time... sorry for so many posts. 

  My husband felt so bad because his projectiles kept hitting the guy next to him and burning him. Maybe those of us with the higher powered rifles should be spaced out better... Safety is very important.  And Pain really sucks.... So, sorry to the Gentlemen from those two days that got hurt by my Husbands rifle.

We will be back. You all Rock !!!  Tonya

Hey Brian (brianblack99), it was a real treat working with your family and every other shooter. We look forward to sharing another Appleseed with you all again.  And, yes it does take a few repetitions to get the hang of the AQT. There is so much to learn...or as it was in my case, to unlearn before "slow becomes smooth and smooth becomes fast." Most shooters who come back a second or third time settle into the timing as I can testify from personal experience. It took me three passes at it, a fair amount of driving back and forth on my part to and from Appleseeds and a lot of persistence by one instructor in particular before I would give up decades of lousy trigger control and get in the groove deep enough to accurately fire 10 rounds in stage two in 55 seconds.

I thought your entire family did a tremendous job of thoughtfully chasing that objective.   

I can also highly recommend for every new Appleseed participant some of the information on our website that helps folks prepare for what they will encounter - including a very informative video by one of our finest instructors. If you haven't already done so, for this information go to:

http://appleseedinfo.org/as_prepare.html

Tonya (Redwolf525) ...awesome photos and thanks for all your patience with your equipment problems. Regarding the issue of ejected hot brass, it is an issue, but to some extent it goes with the nature of shooting side by side on a range...whether with centerfire or rimfire rifles. Brass from either is hot after ejection.

As you know we did space things out a bit at that end on Sunday due to issues with brass ejection...but candidly that is not always possible at all ranges and while putting up temporary barriers between shooters is sometimes an option those barriers also can cause hot brass to bounce right back at the shooter or, worse, prevent instructors from seeing safety issues before they turn into a more serious event.

Really, the best remedy going forward is for every shooter to expect that rifles next to them will throw brass and to dress accordingly. I recommend shooters always wear a long sleeve (T or other) shirt and pants along with a ball cap and, of course, ear protection and protective glasses. We have come along way from the days when shooters had to contend with their faces being burned by the sparks and flash from the pan of a flintlock musket but when it comes to modern rifles a bit a cloth between your skin and hot brass makes a lot of sense.

We are delighted that folks enjoyed the history. As instructors, we truly are committed to teaching marksmanship. However, it is the history of our nation's founding that "charges" most of our batteries and keeps us coming back to teach again and again and again.

Hope to see you all again and the tremendous enthusiasm you all showed. You are why Appleseed exists. 

Loren         


 

I agree with you some what. You are Very Welcome for the photos, Sorry I had to put it in so many more posts... But I really hope you all can use them... Also,,,A BIG CONGRATULATIONS ON THE RED HAT....VERY WELL DESERVED. THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR HELP. You all are Great Instructors.  Tonya.

I agree Loren nice job on the Red Hat. Wonderful people willing to donate time to teach and share. Thank you for the comments and complements. We had a lot of fun. Great people in the shooting sports we have learned. I will check out the link. Did not know enough about what to expect before the first class, but will definitely have it down before the second!

Here are some pics as promised.

More pics

Brian, Those pictures are so wonderful !!! Your children did an amazing job. And I believe as a parent/Grandma myself , it is so wonderful to witness good parents train their children up right. Kudos to You and your wife.

  TJ where is that video you promised ? The Three Strikes of the Match by Yellow House Jake at the NRA Meeting?

BTW,  I just found out that one of my Friends used to be an Instructor for the Appleseed. Great guy. He goes by the name of Joker. 

Greyfox is correct about unlearning some old habits and learning new good ones, I had that issue. I never used a sling before while shooting and had to get used to that, had to work on my trigger squeeze and hold technique a lot. Once I started getting one bad habit under control I would have to work on another. At the end I was getting it and during the competition at the end I actually got the Red Coat Shingle!

I now know what to work on so I will be better prepared for the next event. I had thought about watching some videos on YouTube but then thought I would wait and get it straight from the instructors. I am so glad I did, they see all the little things and help break those old habits.

I have been to a lot of training both civilian and military and this was by far the funnest I have ever had.

AWESOME JOB Appleseed Instructors!
Thanks so much.
Bill

I really wish I could have made it back to continue with you all on Sunday, what a great group of Americans!

You all did great and it was a pleasure to share the wonderful ProTEQ range with you on Saturday, improving our marksmanship and sharing in the stories of the birth of our nation, both facets of our unique heritage.

As a group, our own little micro-community, we overcame various obstacles (and yes, maybe a few bad habits  ) as we got to know our equipment set-ups and practiced incorporating all those fundamentals into a shooting system. More importantly, we laid to rest a few romanticized myths about our history and learned a better story - the real story.

We touched on the ideas, the thoughts, the actual choices our founding generation faced, the principles they held most dear and the sacrifices they were willing to make... and while we were humbled, we were also inspired. I tell ya, that's the magic. 

Make sure to come back and bring all your friends and family.  I hope to see each of you again, especially Carter and Savannah with a Q - our posterity. I encourage each of you to take an active and responsible role in improving the country they and their generation will soon inherit.

Liberty and Union.

Now go make your rifles safe! 

ATM

Quote from: Redwolf525 on September 30, 2014, 02:04:03 AM
TJ where is that video you promised ? The Three Strikes of the Match by Yellow House Jake at the NRA Meeting?

Ask and ye shall receive: RWVA LibertySeed

Gather us a group, we'll come tell the story every American should know.

Brian:

Fabulous photos...the children were a joy to work with.

And...do take the time to watch the video of yellowhousejake tell the story of April 19 during the 2014 NRA Convention. (See ATM's post and link.) I was there in the audience for that LibertySeed and had several family members with me.

It was way cool. The man tells it true and from the heart.

Loren     

For once being a day late and a dollar short has paid off ... Tonya and Brian got the pictures posted, and ATM got the video link up ... it looks like my work here is done.

I do want to echo the comments by greyfox.  It's a true pleasure to work with such fine Americans.  Each and every one showed great improvement and even greater persistence; the mark of a Rifleman.  Nobody gave up regardless of how frustrating their equipment proved to be.  And, yes, it was equipment issues.

I spent time watching each and every one of the shooters, and everybody was applying the Steady Hold Factors to their various shooting positions, everybody was using the 6-steps to firing the shot, and everybody was shifting their NPOA between targets.  Trigger control was being successfully applied as was rifleman's cadence.

Was all this happening for every shot?  Well, no.  But it was happening more and more by each person as they got more and more practice.

Keep up your practice at home by dry-firing your rifles.  Get into position on the floor, pick a point on the wall, verify NPOA, squeeeeeeeeeeeeeze the trigger during your respiratory pause, then pick another point, rinse and repeat.  Do this for each of the positions several times a week and at your next Appleseed you might just claim that elusive Rifleman's patch.

Enough words ... here's some more pictures.

Instruction























Practice



















Awards

Had another great shoot at a great facility.  I shot an unofficial rifleman score, but my neighbor put 10 additional holes in my stage one target. Maybe targets alternating in color could help with that unless the color scheme is an integral part of the test.

Met some wonderful folks and will be at another Brazil event in the future.

Great job on the Red Hat Loren!  Very well-deserved.  Now the red IU chair...I'm not so sure about that ;-)

Darrell (Purdue Grad. who uses a black and gold chair at Appleseeds...MUCH nicer than say, a red and white chair IMHO)

Glad you found your watch WD. I plowed through our bags and the truck searching for it.  How many of the Instructors are going to be at the one on Nov 1st and 2nd?  I really enjoyed learning from all you. I hope I get to see you again in November.   Tonya  (This time we will have a good scope)   

Thank you for the pictures TJ. You each did a great job of the instructions.

Where can I find barrel chamber flags like the ones we used in the appleseed?

Other suggestions?

Thanks. 

BHB

I much prefer this style to the Appleseed chamber flag ... http://www.midwayusa.com/product/421743/boonie-packer-chamber-checker-safety-flag-polymer-yellow-package-of-5?cm_vc=ProductFinding ... it's so much more flexible and easier to insert into a .22 chamber.  However, I'm paid to promote the store brand.

While you're on the Midway site, you can find the highly reliable and very affordable shooting mat sported by many an AS Instructor ... http://www.midwayusa.com/product/169107/midwayusa-competition-shooting-mat-pvc-coated-polyester-olive-drab

Or, step up to the bigger, but also very affordable version ... http://www.midwayusa.com/product/276544/midwayusa-pro-series-competition-shooting-mat-pvc-coated-polyester-olive-drab

Truth be told Brian, you can use a length of weed eater line hot glued to a foam ear plug to make very nice and colorful chamber flags.

Quote from: TJ Kackowski on October 07, 2014, 01:51:43 PM
I much prefer this style to the Appleseed chamber flag...

I much prefer this style, safety can be delicious...