Simsbury, CT July 25-26 2009

[crak]

Thanks to Centerpunch for organizing the first (and definitely not last) Appleseed at the Metacon Gun Club in Simsbury, CT.  We 20+ shooters, 5 riflemen, and 2 new IITs.  The range was beautiful.

I'm swamped right now, so I can't do a huge report.  But Buzz should be in here shortly with a few dozen pictures, which is the only thing anybody looks at in these AARs anyway.  Thanks to everyone who came out and made it a great weekend.

[Buzzworth]

This is a nice range we will soon have three ranges in CT and a good crop of IIT's
I see at least one or two shoots a month for next year
You CT folks need to get them on the ranges schedule ASAP     





Len talking the talk 
WELL DONE! 


Franken target creation   
Gordon and I got it down to one fold and two pieces of tape  < 


IT'S A-L-I-V-E!  


(CortJestir) Todd is COOL! and made the cut and took a HAT!! way to go Todd   
That is North bridge water that SeanO is getting him with (love that dirty w-a-t-e-r)


Jeff made the cut too!   maybe he will take a hat at Colebrook


Will made the cut too!! 
L@@K at that nice big roof man that kept us dry and cool


Tom made the the cut too!!!  15yo  Tim Murphy would proud



another Tom made the cut too!!! 



O.K. comment away
don't worry he shot a Mauser 98K the correct way

My Name is BUZZWORTH and I LOVE this stuff!!!!   

[CortJestir]

(CortJestir) Todd is COOL! and made the cut and took a HAT!! way to go Todd   
That is North bridge water that SeanO is getting him with (love that dirty w-a-t-e-r)

An Appleseed baptism with only the best stuff. Man, was that water warm - almost hot. I think SeanO purposely left it in his trunk the whole weekend to warm up. He got me good with that. I was soaked the whole ride home!  Good times.

I had a blast. Yes, I made Rifleman, a goal to be sure. But the best part for me wasn't gettin' the patch. It was Sunday afternoon, when Crak and Buzz gave me a small taste of the Instructor life as a newly-minted IIT. So thanks for that. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone on the Appleseed Trail. (Although, shooting a 230 with my .22 and a 220 with my AR came very close to being the best thing about the weekend  )

Len and SeanO, it was great to see you again. Hope to see you at Colebrook in a few.

What a great weekend! I'm psyched and honored to be a part of such an important organization.

[ETA] And thanks for posting the pics, Buzz.

[McIntosh]

Sorry for my late post in this AAR - had some troubles getting registered, but those are now resolved. 

This was my first Appleseed and it did not disappoint.  I learned a lot and saw great improvement in my skill over the course of the weekend and reached rifleman on Sunday.  The instructors (shoot boss Crak, Buzzworth, and Sean O with help from Len, Tony, Thor, Todd, and Gordon) were knowledgable, friendly, enthusiastic, committed and persistent (fabricating AQT targets when supplies ran low).  A good move, appreciated by many, on Sunday was putting the large caliber folks at one end of the line and the 22LR folks at the other (a short barrel 308 next to you can be distracting for a beginner).  Having Tony, a gunsmith, at the event was a big plus.  He was busy all weekend building up stocks for folks who couldn't get a cheekweld with a scope, troubleshooting rifle function issues, etc..  He didn't charge for his labor and folks were happy to take him up on "tactical bolt release" mods to their 10/22s.  He made the line run much more efficiently by letting the red hats focus on teaching and not having red hats troubleshoot equipment issues for students.  A few students asked for recommended reading and Sean O provided a personal typed up list of books that cover the history of early America.  It'd be great if such a list were posted on the Appleseed website. 

For improvement, I'd recommend the standard Appleseed flyer be modified to say something like "sign-in starts at 8am and instruction starts at 8:30" (or something to that effect) instead of just "all shoots start at 8:30" which is unclear as to whether that's when you arrive to sign in or when you put lead downrange.  Getting the sign-ins done promptly would let the event get going on time better. 

Again, thanks.  I look forward to attending more Appleseeds.