Coeur d'Alene, IDaho October 3-4, 2015

[eert]

One could not have had better weather for a north Idaho shoot in October!  With this sold out shoot, we had a full line of willing participants to enjoy the marksmanship lessons and reintroduction of our country's early heritage.

Saturday opened with the usual registration procedures, but the wiling students were running way early, so this Shoot Boss hadn't even unpacked the registration materials yet! The Fernan flag pole was repaired, and we had the wind cooperating with a nice display of our Nation's Flag during the Pledge of Allegiance.   As usual, Saturday seemed to get off a bit slow, and we fell subject to the time monkey.  We had lots of new shooters, all six of the Fernan Gun Club Ruger 10/22s being utilized, and several sighting issues of  unusual  nature.  Two Rugers had Tech Sights that just would not adjust, and the Instructor cadre had never experienced that before.

On Saturday we had 10 shooters using new or loaner rifles, and it took a lot of Instructor time to get shooters familiar with their actions, slings and sighting system.  It was well worth the investment, as these shooters all made vast improvement.  We enjoyed a nice lunch in the shade, hard to believe we were looking for shade in October!  At lunch, a rusty First Strike was presented by the Shoot Boss. We ended the day with Lance repeating his Rifleman qualification and new shooter Joshua shooting a Rifleman score on his very first AQT! 

Sunday opened early again, which is always nice, and we began with the Second Strike after the Pledge.  We did a bit of line shuffling to get the center fire shooters down on one end, and shot the day two redcoat, which every shooter stated they had improved on the previous day.  There's nothing a Shoot Boss likes to hear more than that! One of our new shooters, Ashley, who had a battery die on her red dot Saturday, gave me a packet of replacement batteries should that happen to a future shooter.  Now how's that for the Appleseed spirit?  Ashley and David are new Idaho residents, so welcome to Idaho, we are happy to have you.

Zach, one of our returnees, nailed his Rifleman score on the first AQT before Sunday lunch, and repeated it several times in the afternoon demonstrating his consistency.  Joshua and  Lance also nailed additional AQT targets demonstrating their consistency.  In fact, I think Lance shot a RM score on every single AQT Sunday afternoon (5).  Oh yeah, Lance joined the Instructor  cadre by taking up the Orange Hat too.  Huzzahs for sure.  Bob shot an AQT before he had to leave, so we were happy to send him on his way with a patch. 

For our new shooters:  Ashley, David, Sue, Dan, Peggy, Frits, Bill, Marlen, Jayden, Tanner, Mikayla; see the forum dry fire instructions and reduced targets.  Get to know your rifle and manipulations to improve transition speed, and practice your positions, especially stage one and two, to fine tune what is most comfortable for your body.   
A good Appleseed DRY Fire Practice primer can be found here:
http://appleseedinfo.org/smf/index.php?topic=34387.0

There are reduced scale 10, 12, and 25 foot targets at the bottom of the article.  Just ask Zach, dry fire practice works, and with a partner is the best way to practice those pesky short transition stages.  For you other shooters not shooing Rifleman scores consistently see the above!

On the down side, we again had issues with Federal Auto Match .22 ammo.  By mid afternoon Sunday, those using this ammo were having lots of feeding issues, killing them on stage 2 and 3.  Not unusual for Sunday, but all these rifles were Club loaners which started the weekend clean, had been boresnaked and action brushed Saturday evening.  Something about this ammo that doesn't like the Ruger 10/22.  Have others experienced this?  This ammo might be ok for AR 22's, but from what we've seen in Coeur d'Alene, it's not very compatible with the Ruger 10/22. 

Thanks to the returnees who brought first timers; Mary, Lance, Dirk, Zach, and Greg.  Thanks for spreading the Appleseed word, your help is what makes us successful. Overall, a great weekend introducing marksmanship and April 19, 1775 heritage to a full line of participants, but especially meeting the new Idaho residents: Ashley and David and Dan and Sue.  I can't think of a better way to welcome someone to our great state than having them at an Appleseed.  Be sure to check out Sue's prone form in the pictures below. No one would ever believe this was only her second day shooting by the textbook form of her prone! 

Thanks too to my Instructor Cadre.  Dirk came home from U of I to give his ole man a hand, and has become one of the best instructors I've seen. I wish I could have taped his Aftermath, it was truly a masterpiece.  Journey is well on his way to becoming a Red Hat, and presented solid history and instruction.  Wagon, thanks for stepping out of your comfort zone and doing some group instruction.  I have to apologize to you, as I forgot you wanted to shoot, and we had plenty of opportunity when folks left early or sat out AQTs on Sunday.  You'll just have to be more aggressive with this Shoot Boss!  Mr. Clean, always a pleasure, and with your current work schedule, I am really grateful you still donate this time to Appleseed.  We even had Bill (Borderrun) come by Sunday afternoon to take a multitude of pictures.  Thanks, bud, it was good to see you , and I hope and wish your wife a continued recovery. 

To all, I'm always open to go shooting, help you work out specific issues, etc. 
Hope to see you all on the Appleseed trail.

Shoot straight and spread the word,

EERT/Pat

[Radface Dantana]

This weekend was a game-changer.
My wife's first time shooting, and my first formal training in the art of marksmanship
We entered as very green newbies, and left with a considerable increase of skill and confidence, and a new appreciation for firearms and the practice required to shoot them properly.
The shoot instructors, from boss Pat, to his son Dirk, to the rest of the highly-qualified gentlemen volunteers overseeing our safety and education were A+++
We are telling our friends and family around the country to find their local shoots and ATTEND because this is invaluable training, as well as an invigorating exposure to the history of the formation of our nation, and the sacrifices made by our ancestors to provide us with a chance at freedom and liberty.
Go learn how to shoot, and shoot well, with Project Appleseed - you won't regret it.

[Undercroft]

Back with an AAR of my second Appleseed.

I'd like to second eert on the weather. Leading up to the shoot I had made a habit of steadily checking the forecasts. What had initially threatened to be a chilly and rainy affair ended up being a wonderfully temperate weekend to be outdoors.

Taking a second crack at Appleseed made it much more uncomfortable than my first time. I felt like I could stand on my own a bit better; without having to watch the other returning shooters for cues or worry quite so much about what was going on. This was a good thing because I wanted to focus as much as possible on shooting a RM score.

In my head leading up to the shoot I had constructed this mental image of shooting a RM AQT on day one, exhaling a big sigh of relief, and sauntering on to day 2 to enjoy the history sessions and work on some light polishing. If I had maintained that relaxed mental image I might have been able to do precisely that. However, overthinking proved to be my downfall. I didn't quite trust my sights on the day 2 AQT and held low "just to be safe". The results was a streak of threes and one complete miss, wrecking a very promising target.

Dirk returned my target, telling me "I marked everything I knew you could shoot much better," complete with frowny faces alongside each of the fourth stage silhouettes.
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As a result, Day 2 was more stressful than I had anticipated. I spent most of the evening and the hour and a half drive to the range playing over the six steps and imagining a RM shooting performance as best I could. Perhaps it was the mental gymnastics, or perhaps the way channeling the self induced stress significantly tightened my cadence, but I managed to clean the first red coat of the day. This was also the first time I'd cleaned a red coat ever, although I had come within one round of doing so with my AR-15 at the Appleseed in April. Continued on for the smallest group I'd ever shot. Five rounds touching in the center of the 25 meter sighting target. Things were looking up, significantly.

Nerves started to bunch, however, once the AQTs went up and prep period began. I knew that I had this AQT, and maybe one or two more before fatigue started to set in and I would be fight for a patch in "extra innings." This was a scenario I wanted to avoid at all costs. After some encouragement to relax and focus from Dirk, I toed the firing line with all the other shooters and went to work.

The blessing and the curse of shooting with open sights is that you're essentially shooting Schrodinger's Target. You have no idea how well or how poorly you're shooting until the line is cold and it's all over. In my case this can be a liability, because overthinking can lead to significant changes in form during the course of the target that are almost always disastrous. However, with a little mental discipline, this can be a blessing as well. Without being able to see ones shots, one is less tempted to chase them.

Once again I felt the stress tightening up my cadence. Not speeding it as much as eliminating the longer respiratory pause holds. Waiting less for the "perfect" alignment that so often shifts to terrible alignment the moment the trigger is half way squeezed. However, once the shooting was done I barely even looked at the target before scribbling my name on it and handing it to Dirk. There were a few fives on the fourth stage, but other than that I was entirely unsure whether or not the effort would pay off. One shot putting very VERY far off the first stage silhouette did little to improve my chances, I felt.
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To make matters worse, we took a lunch break right after the AQT. I love listening to the Strikes quite a bit, but I couldn't resist peeking over to see targets being scored now and then. There was no indication whatsoever of success or failure. I even tried to stalk the instructor cadre afterwards, but other than the package of Rifleman patches going in to eert's pocket there was no indication. To make matters worse I knew that Josh (Dirk's roommate who had nailed a RM on Day 1 with aplomb) and Lance were once the line, and it was quite possible that either of them had qualified as well, so I couldn't take the targets rolled up in eert's hand as a given either. It was a little nerve wracking as the command was given to circle up in the gravel.

As it turns out, I had nothing to worry about. A target scored 221, a RM patch, and a handshake soon graced my hands. With the pressure lifted a bit I managed to repeat with another 221 on the second AQT and proceeded to happily burn some more ammo on in to the close of the day.
_____

A huge thank you to all of the instructors for donating your time. It was a wonderful weekend and greatly worth the time, money, and ammo to attend.

Special thanks to Dirk, and kudos to his roommate Josh. All the folks are friendly at Appleseed as far as I've seen, but when you're in the under-30 crowd in this part of Idaho it can be rare to find folks your own age to talk with and enjoy the company of. Especially if you tend to be of a more reserved mindset, like myself. Common interests are a wonderful social lubricant and I had a great time chatting with Dirk and Josh before the shooting and between targets.

Extra special thanks to eert as well, for being the range boss and also for letting me tag along soon after my first Appleseed in April. Shooting his 10/22 gave me the impetus to purchase one of my own, and the confidence to bear down and accomplish my resolution to shoot a RM score with open sights. Without the cheaper ammo cost of a 10/22 I wouldn't have had nearly the practice I had going in to this Appleseed. As a results it would have been anyone's guess whether or not I would have been successful in the attempt.

Right now I'm aiming towards doing a KD Appleseed some time soon. Budgeting for ammo, and either some upgrades to my 10/22 for practice (that stock Ruger trigger needs to GO), or a scope for my AR-15 to banish the self-imposed masochism of working again with iron sights. I'm looking forward to the challenge, and searching for something cool to sew my RM patch on to...

Cheers,
Undercroft

[Border-Run]

 

[Undercroft]

Nice pic! Thanks for posting that Border-Run.

[Border-Run]

It's go up one at a time

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[Undercroft]

Do you mind if I repost one or two of these to Facebook Border-Run?

[Border-Run]

go for it.   

[Flipper]

Awesome job guys  it's fun to read up on events in Idaho can't believe how far Idaho has come.
I hope one day I'll get to work with u Eert I haven't had the privilege yet

Flipper

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[eert]

Borderrun,

Thanks for posting all the great photos.  I noted several shooters lacking a sling-hand wrap! 

EERT

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