Lexington Park, MD (Sanners Lake) 18/19 April AAR

[navybowhunter]

This was an EPIC Weekend for sure.  Thanks to Sanners Lake Sportsmens Club for hosting us for the weekend.  Thanks to the instructors who gave of their time selflessly to make this a very successful event.  Thanks to the Attendees, who got off the couch this weekend, and hopefully learned something about the birth of this great nation and some marksmanship skills as well.

Weather could not have been better.  We had a FULL line, and had to run in relays.  At first I was skeptical on whether or not we would get more than 2 or 3 AQT's in, but the instructors helped me to manage the time wisely.  The students also moved with purpose, and by the end of the weekend we were able to get 6 AQT's in.

Victory Volley was AWESOME!  One of our instructors decorated a cake, with the Patriots day patch on it.  That was cool!  Thanks to Aninha!

Thanks to Cromwells Firearms, who gave all attendees and instructors a $10 gift certificate as well.  Nice to have Industry Partners that see the value in Project Appleseed!

This weekend we made 4 new Rifleman for the state of MD, they are:
Kevin L: 220
Jennifer C: 210
Christopher J: 213
Bruce D: 224
All were FIRST time Appleseed Attendees!
Two requalified, Braddbdl and USMC_2674, and also those two requested Orange Hats.
Additionally, Kevin L, Christopher J, Bradd L, Carol S, and Bruce D, CLEANED them Red Coats and were awarded the coveted MD Front Sight Patch.
We also were able to recruit some new members of AppleCore:
Bruce D, Carol S, Gayle N, Ericka N, Jenn C and Gabriel K all requested Blue Hats!  Thanks for stepping up volunteers!
I will edit this post this afternoon/evening with a link to pictures.  Was my honor to be among these passionate attendees this weekend.
R/
Chris

[navybowhunter]

My apologies for taking so long to get these pictures posted.  My Internet connnection is painfully Slow.

Please feel free to share these!

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0BxT3dg1kPb6Cfi0yYVlmMW42OXFyYm9Qald1T3pQRjFUQWx4VTVVbnFlTkRVTVdjcnQ5OWc&usp=sharing

[BeSwift]

We need to nominate you to lead our instructor recruitment effort Nationally!   Great work!

[braddbdl]

He is certainly persistent, as a rifleman should be.  He even water-boarded me with water from the North Bridge until I "volunteered." 

[Fishinfool]

Hello!  I'm new to the forum.  Shot my first Appleseed here April 18/19.  Sorry for the delayed response on this, but life has gotten very busy.  Anyway, I sent Chris a long Thank You email about the weekend, and he asked that I post it here.  So....

Chris,
Thank you for offering the gift certificate for the shoot this past weekend as a Christmas exchange gift!  I thoroughly enjoyed this past weekend.  The shooting was fun, the instruction was invaluable, and the history lessons were both eye-opening and inspiring!  As I think I told you before, its been many years, I think 1990 on a USMC rifle range, since I have fired a rifle in a structured shooting event.  Otherwise, it's been nothing but plinking in the back yard for the most part, since I'm not a hunter.

I also thank you for all the advice and help in advance, from the info on what to bring, to the contact info for Andy Trivette.  I really like that 10/22 with the bolt and trigger mods, not to mention the Hogue stock.

I thought after shooting the squares yesterday morning that it was going to be my day.  I got all five in the black on the center square, and then could have covered all five shots with a quarter on the second square.  That had me thinking that the 400 yd. targets were going to be my bread and butter for the AQT and the rest would fall into place.  Alas, the seated position appears to be my mortal enemy and will require a lot more practice, especially just find a suitable platform to shoot from.  I could not for the life of me settle on a position to shoot from there.

I did, through the some fantastic instruction, continue to improve throughout the day, and finished with a weekend best of 202, which I am not unhappy with.  I am not a dedicated shooter, and honestly am not driven to continue to shoot these events until I attain Rifleman status.  Fishing is my true passion, and the main reason I bailed on the June shoot is because I have a fishing tournament on the 21st I did not want to miss.  That said, I can definitely see myself shooting one or more of these a year, depending on schedule, just for the fun and information, both historical and instructional.  I will strive to take the time beforehand to get out back and practice, and to refine my sitting position and transition shooting, so that I am fully prepared to shoot Rifleman from the first shoot of the first morning.  I will also work with Tami on the same.

BTW, if she hasn't told you already, Tami is pretty sore.  Her elbows are pretty torn up, as she didn't fully understand until Joe's demonstration yesterday about getting the meat of her elbow on the ground for support rather than the bone.   But she enjoyed it, and wants to get the kids out for the next one we do to make it a family event.  She felt that the pace on Saturday was a bit too fast for the beginners, which she is for a structured shooting event like this.  She had never shot with a sling before, and so never had to adjust/change it during a preparation time, and Natural Point of Aim and the breathing technique was a new thing to her.  But she improved with each round of shooting, and in the end was instrumental in us winning the fun team shoot toward the end of the day, which I can honestly say was unexpected, given the number of people who qualified as Rifleman that shot together.  She has talked about framing that target!

In the end, it was well worth the time and money involved, and we will do it again sometime.  So again, THANK YOU!!

Dave