Manchester, TN 26-27 July 2014

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This past weekend was a beautiful in Manchester/Tullahoma, TN where the Highland Rim Shooters Club hosted the July Project Appleseed Marksmanship and Heritage clinic.

After registration, we started the day out with Ben (Living Hand) sharing with us a stirring telling of the Redcoats' march to Lexington.  We then had a safety briefing and our 14 shooters brought rifles to the line!

Upon completion of the Hits Count target, we all got down to some serious (but fun) learning.  It was a warm day and all of our shooters kept up in the increasing heat.  My thanks to the HRSC for providing coolers of iced down bottled water!  It was fun watching the new shooters on the line, including a few who had never handled a rifle, learn and demonstrate new skills! 

During the a well-deserved break for lunch, Lyndon (Tneagle) jumped in with the Second Strike.  The shooters hit the line again and we learned about how our targets talk to us, how to make sight adjustments, and Rifleman's cadence.  It was great seeing entire families on the line together!  We ended the day with the Third Strike, shared by Everett (CokeGuy) and another Redcoat target which showed a bunch of improvement, especially considering the heat!

Right before we broke for cleanup, we took a moment to recognize CokeGuy who had completed all the tasks & self-study he needed to earn his Red Hat.  A HUZZAH for Everett!!

Pam, you and your boys did really well.  It was a pleasure to have you on Saturday and I hope y'all can make it back out to another weekend.  It was wonderful to see Matthew and Nathan learn.

Sunday we faced the same warm weather, so we started early with a quick review of the day prior... then to the firing line.  Jacob served as lineboss and kept us moving right along.  After a couple of squares, we did our first AQT of the weekend and all the practice came together for shooters. 

At lunch, Andy told us all about the Dangerous Old Men - men who came out and made sacrifices when they weren't expected to.  They were examples to us all - people who said "Somebody ought to do something.  Hey, I'm somebody!"

After the DOM, we had a moment to recognize Sherri with some water from the North Bridge.  Right before the lunch break, she scored a 210 on her AQT! Outstanding! Anthony, it's your turn next!   

After awarding Sherri her patch, Ben (SI RamblinWreck) gave his Known Distance presentation.  I can only encourage everyone who attended to keep striving in your marksmanship and come out for one of our KD events.  There are a number happening in the Tri-State area soon!

Back at the firing line, the shooters were back at it and a couple of folks joined us after church   Groups were tightening up and we had another Rifleman.  Kaleb posted a decisive score of 219 on his AQT!  Well done!

We closed out the day with another Hits Count target and the words of Major Buttrick, "Fire fellow soldiers, for God's sake fire!  Fire as fast as you can!"

My thanks go out to all of the shooters who attended this weekend for the privilege of serving you.  You are truly part of the Appleseed family.  I hope that each of you returns and brings a friend to hear the message of Liberty and learn the quintessential American skill of marksmanship!

in Liberty,
Rusty

We'll be adding some pictures below... if there are any you like, don't hesitate to drop me a note.   

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Here are a few of the pictures taken, most by our lovely and talented Applecore member, Tejaslady!

The rest, almost a hundred pics, can be found in this album!



Cokeguy and JasonR teaching sling use.



Checking the targets after squares



Kaleb and Matthew!



How many rounds in Morgan's Shingle?

[Living Hand]

Congratulations to the new Riflemen and Redhat!  And thanks to everyone for coming.  I hope to see you all at another Appleseed soon.

[GTEngineer]

Pam, you are showing a great deal of improvement throughout the day, I hope to see you again on the line somewhere in the tri-state area with your family to aim for that rifleman patch!  Now that we all know which muscles we haven't used much before, it'll help a lot to stretch those muscles first next time around.  I promise the discomfort goes away once we get accustomed to the position.

Sherri and Kaleb, it was a pleasure working with you at this Appleseed event and congratulations on your Riflewoman (and Rifleman) scores!  I hope to see you again on the line sometime in the future, maybe even with an orange hat on your head!   

CokeGuy, congratulations on your promotion!

It was a pleasure working with all of the other students and instructors at my first event at Manchester.  Thank you for taking the time to join us to learn about the shared heritage of all Americans and the sacrifices made for us.