2015 After Action Reports from other sources

[eaglescouter]

http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=1030361

   Appleseed weekend whats your take..
I decided that it would be good to really see what I was capable of with my rifles and what my marksmanship skills actually were. Sure, I shoot pretty often, mostly off-hand, I sight in my rifles at the range on occasion but mostly just go out to a few spots up the hill from where I live. From shooting up close blasting away at stuff placed all around the area to actually setting up steel plates and paper targets out to around 300 yards. Now when it comes to shooting golf balls, cans, balloons and other various things from 25, 50, and 75 yards I'm hitting stuff for the most part. When shooting out at 100 I'm hitting the target ring but I'm not putting groups that look like anything great and I tell myself well I hit it every time so that's something. At 200 yards yeah I see some holes in paper and hear steel ring every now and then but groups are not there and I not dead sure where 4 or 5 of those rounds ended up. 300 and beyond hell it just feels good when I do hit the plate I don't waste paper targets out that far.

My girlfriend had participated in an Appleseed course back in 2009 in Colorado. I did not participate due to financial restraints at the time, but it caught my interest. I got to talk to the gentleman running the shoot, who was a local business owner extensively, he gave me all the info I needed to get out and do a shoot and some reading material. Fast forward. Due to life, kids, time and money I still had not gone out and participated in an Appleseed course by the end of 2014. Thanks to the awesomeness that is "Calguns" I caught the opportunity and took it.

So here is my Appleseed weekend:

I had a general idea of what to expect after talking with my gal and checking the RWVA website. So, I packed up my lunch, gear and some water and headed out to the range.

I showed up Saturday morning, a little early, when the Appleseed folks were setting up and getting everything together for the day. After a quick sign in and getting a packet and name tags, we got right to business. After a round of introductions and a safety briefing with line commands we got our rifles and went to the firing line.

I shot the first day using a stock 10/22 carbine with a 3x scope with a ohh so sweet 9.5 pound trigger pull

We started out with what they call the red coat target. It consists of four silhouettes and a 1" rectangle called Morgan's shingle. The four silhouettes are scaled to size so at 25 yards the represent man sized targets at 100,200,300 and 400 yards and the Morgan's shingle is a head shot at 250 yards. You can shoot the course of fire in any field position, standing, sitting, kneeling, squatting, or prone. 13 rounds three rounds each target and one for the head shot in 60 seconds. They do this to measure you current effective range with a rifle which is the smallest target you can hit three times.

My Saturday AM target was ot amazing. My furthest effective range was 200 yards and I only got the 100 yard target with the .30cal rule. After we shot the course we made our rifles safe after the line boss verified they were we went down range to collect our targets and post a new target sheet. We sounded off how we did and ate humble pie, well I did. They showed us the prone shooting position and a few different slings and back to the line. Our new targets were five 1" black squares on a sheet of grid paper, four in the corners and one in the middle. One mag, 5 rounds, and group them on the square using what you were just shown. This was repeated on the remaining four squares after being shown how to; acquire and adjust NPOA (natural point of aim), proper sight picture, how to read our groups and adjust our sights, what MOA is and how it works, the six steps to taking a shot, and squatting and standing shooting positions. For every five minutes on the line we were being taught for ten minutes, explaining the how and why to each position and being shown what works and doesn't work. After the bulk of the morning's teachings and getting aquatinted with positions, slings, steps to taking the shot, proper sight alignment and adjustment we got to the heart of the shooting half of Appleseed.

Well maybe not the heart but definitely where all the fundamentals of shooting come into play. The AQT is the Army qualification test or the Appleseed qualification test depending on who you ask. The AQT is four stages of timed fire.

The first stage is standing firing on the silhouette that represents a full sized target at 100yards. 10 rounds in 2 minutes.

The second stage is firing at the two targets representing full sized targets at 200yards. Two mags ( 2 rounds in one 8 in the other) starting in the standing position. On the fire command transition into sitting or kneeling, load the 2 round mag fire into the left target, reload fire three more shift to the right target then fire five more. Total time is 55 seconds.

The third stage is again two mags of 2 and 8 this time firing at three targets representing full sized targets at 300yards. Again start in standing on the fire command drop into prone load 2 rounds fire two into the left target reload fire one more then shift to the center target fire three shift to the right target and fire the last four. Total time is 65 seconds.

The fourth stage is slow fire prone on four targets representing full sized targets at 400yards. You start in prone with two mags (2 and load the 2 round mag fire two in the first two targets and three in the last two. Five minutes to get it done. Shots on this round count double.

First stage. My groups really open up standing I still need to work on my steady hold.

Second stage. Man this one was an *** kicker, take too long getting into position, hesitate or force the shot and the groups were bad or I didn't get all the shot off.

Third stage. I seemed to do pretty well on this one each time. I think it was due to the fact I took to prone fairly quick and had enough time to focus on my shots, 10 seconds is almost a lifetime.

Fourth stage. This stage was the deal breaker small targets but I had tons of time to make my shots. It really came down to using the lessons taught; trigger control foremost in my opinion. Although I had 30 seconds to make each shot I found that I still rushed and didn't make the best shots. I did this on a few of my AQT's.

So after our AQT it was getting to lunch time so we broke off the line got our lunches and circled up without anyone prompting to do so, it was kind of just natural. We had all been working hard both on and behind the line and we got to take off our respective hats had relax for a while. We started striking up conversations for a few minutes amongst ourselves then we got to the other half of Appleseed the history.

The three strikes of the match as our instructors called it. It was the story of April 19 1775 and the start of the revolutionary war. As we sat there eating lunch a few of the different instructors took turns telling of the march from Boston by the Red Coats up the road to Lexington and Concord and the powder alarm that proceeded them warning the countryside . I'm not going to go into the details as I wouldn't do it justice, but these folks did it straight from memory and I was really impressed.

A quick note on our instructors, we had eight folks out there from young adults (maybe 20? I don't know I didn't ask) to folks starting to go silver. Three of them were women including our shoot boss Laurie who was running the show. So it was cool to have young people carrying the torch and folks that have been here for a while doing the same with just as much vigor. It resonated with me that these men and women from different generations and walks of life all held great passion for what the Appleseed program stands for and the message they are passing onto the posterity of the people of that day in April 1775.

After lunch, we got back to the line. Our shoot boss and other instructors gave use some more instruction and we shot a few more AQT's and finished up with a red coat. On my last few AQT's of the day I posted a 219 and a 229 score. We shot the one that got a 219 I thought I did pretty well, but we were on a roll so I got right into my next AQT and shot it. When it was done they all had signed my first Rifleman AQT and surprised me with the info. I was stoked to say the least. We shot one more and I improved my score to a 229 the high for my day. The last target was another red coat I did a lot better than the morning, I didn't clear it but all my groups would fit under a nickel.

Sunday was all business I was happy with Saturday and wanted to improve, so, I decided to shoot center fire with iron sights. I brought out my AR took off the red dot I had on it and threw on a carry handle off my brother's colt. I built my AR , a nice sub moa barrel free floated, a quad rail that eats flesh, a decent trigger and all the little parts to build my upper and lower. It's a shame I didn't just let the rifle shoot its self out there on the line, it might have done pretty well. With me behind it, well, not so much. I had to adjust the sights on the five 1" square targets. Then I had to manage to get my elbow under the pinned 20 Magpul mags I was running and finally focus on the six steps which sight picture and alignment played a big part. I shot ok but not great.

We took lunch again after working on some NPOA shift practice. Our shoot boss and instructors on the line noticed we were not making full use of the shifts and were muscling the shot instead. So they set up four different impromptu targets along the back stop and called out the different shapes to direct fire. They were so far apart we didn't have a choice but shift and well wouldn't you know it, it was a whole lot easier that way. So we took lunch and after the three strikes the day before didn't really what ground we would cover about that day in April. Well it was pretty remarkable to hear about some of the different indivuals that were just common people that had a big effect on the day. From crack shot marksmen to burly English men who threw down their guns to surrender to a little old lady. I enjoyed it and I thought it set a clear picture just how unforeseen the event and actions of that day really were.

I could group but I could not break past 208 on my AQT scores for the day. I cleared my red coat at the end of the day so I did end it on a up note. I earned my Rifleman's patch but I got some work to do and im looking forward to it.

So what do you guys think is this something you guys would do and how do you think you would do before the course and then after?

I'll get some pictures up of my targets... else it didn't happen

[Two Wolves]

Nice write up 

[WinterRider]

Good to see this got posted here. I was needing to go to bed last night after writing it so I only posted it over at calguns. Thanks eaglescouter

[Fixer]

In the same CalGuns thread (someone should reach out to this person):

I signed up myself, my wife and my daughter last July or August for a Appleseed in Corona. I ended up on call for work that weekend and couldn't attend. Many emails to various email addresses to get either my money back or credit for the next Appleseed went unanswered. Eff them.

[bob 210]

I sent a PM @ calguns.....we'll see if he responds.

[scuzzy]

I sent a PM @ calguns.....we'll see if he responds.

If he responds ask him which emails he sent an email to.

We're doing a pretty good job of taking care of any and everybody that sends us an email - at least to info@appleseedinfo.org

Oh - and latest news updated:

https://appleseedinfo.org/latest_news.html

also found this review from 1/17/2015:

http://www.longislandfirearms.com/forum/topic/121078-appleseed-january-2015-after-action-report/

[viperrt1]

Wait is it me or did winter rider just say he wrote it? Looks like his story. -:)

Maybe it's me.......

[WinterRider]

Yeah I actually had some time last night after I got the kids to bed and I told you guys and gals out at the range  I would do my part to engage some other people in Appleseed. So I got to it!

[viperrt1]

We appreciate all your help. We are all happy you enjoyed the shoot and learned a lot. Thank you Rifleman!

[Ducky]

Elliott (aka WinterRider  ), Thank you so much for posting this to the CalGuns forum! And Joe (aka eaglescouter), thank you, too, for making sure we saw it!

It's so rewarding, to see someone detail how our hard work has positively affected them. We oftentimes get to see the results in the "talking targets," and after-history discussions that are inspired by the significance of the stories of April 19th. But it's a rare treat for us to see when an attendee has taken the time to write a such a beautiful account of what really impressed them about our program. That's the kind of thing that helps keep our motivation running, Elliott. And I'm sure others on CalGuns (or anywhere else you share this) will find this information very helpful. Hopefully, they'll decide to come to an Appleseed, themselves!

Thanks again for putting all your hard work into that weekend--it was great working with you, and we look forward to seeing you out there again in a few short weeks!

Take care,
Linda (Ducky)

[Vinnie]

I added these pix over at that Calguns thread:

       


       


     

[WinterRider]

these are a few of the red coats and AQT's.

ok maybe not "under the size of a nickle" but I'm still pleased with it

[Rocket Man]

Some good press on Calguns:  http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=1037546

Excerpt: 

I've been plinking for about 3 years. Going into this, I considered myself a fair shot, but this class opened my eyes and taught me many valuable lessons (not all of them marksmanship related).

[...]

The Appleseed staff and participants are all very friendly with the single goal of helping each other. I would encourage everyone to take a day or two to enjoy making new friends, learning history, and improve your marksmanship along the way. Go to the appleseed subforum on CGN and sign up for the next class.