14 outstanding Americans came to Burlington Flats the weekend of September 15 & 16th to become better riflemen and women, to partake in our shared heritage, to learn the history of our fine nation. This weekend we had a very strong showing of family teams, with a husband and wife, brother and sister, father and son, father and daughter, mother, daughter, cousin, aunt team. We had shooters who were young, and older ones, those who were brand new to the shooting world to those with more experience. This was a great weekend and at least for me was a very special one.
Yuriko, part of the husband-wife team, was a brand new shooter, paid close attention to the instruction and applied what was taught. I had a hard time believing that she had never shot before when looking at the tight groups she was shooting this weekend. Very impressive, she ended her weekend shooting a high of 178. Her goal was to shoot better then 170 (which was the high score that her husband Ed shot at the last Appleseed).
Teman and Talitha the brother-sister team decided to challenge themselves this weekend using Rugers 10/22s with factory sights. Those sights can be frustrating to use, but did that get to them? Nope, not in the leasts, with the spirit of riflemen they preserved. Sunday we were able to get them some loaners that were freed up with better iron sights. Their groups shrank impressively, which tells me they were learning well.
Tom, like everyone on the line this weekend, kept improving and applying what he was being taught. When he went to known distances, the steel target rang nice and loudly with his accurate fire.
The Johns (father-son team), did very well, both well on their way to becoming riflemen. I especially have to mention the younger John. In my time with Appleseed, I've come across two people who knew that Paul Revere didn't say "the British are coming." The first happened at the BFlats August shoot of 2012. The second this weekend with John, he is an impressive young man.
Sammie, part of our father-daughter team. Her AQTs Saturday were in the 170s, by the end of Sunday they were 199. She is knocking on the door to being a riflewoman. She has also already informed me that when she becomes a Shoot boss she is putting me to work. I look forward to that day.
Jake, Cindy, Rene part of the extended family team, were a pleasure to have on the line. They applied what was taught, they kept improving and improving and all of them are well on their way to becoming a rifleman (or woman).
Now onto the icing on the cake of this weekend, our 3 new riflemen and our riflewoman.
Dave (Kooch13), with a score of 210. Since Appleseed started at Bflats, Dave has been there helping set up, helping with take down, only on a few occasions has he actually shoot the seed. Mostly he has done whatever he can to help us run the shoots smoothly. I am very happy to be able to award him his patch, which he worked hard for. I am also honored to announce, he is New York's newest IIT and wasting no time he set his rifle down on Sunday to help with the line.
Jen with a score of 215 is our newest riflewoman. This weekend held some first for her, it was her first time at Appleseed, it was her first time shooting a rifle... All I can say is amazing.
Ed with a score of 216, I believe is trying to rescind people's ability to call the AQT a hard target with Semiautomatics. He shot the score with a single feed, bolt action rifle that has to be manually cocked... This is a testament that Appleseed works with any rifle, the shooter just has to know his rifle and apply what is being taught. I also have to say, Ed first shoot at the August event getting 170 as his high score, before that he had very little shooting experience. He is a fine example of what a rifleman can do. Congratulations Ed, and wow.
Russ with a score of 212 was our final rifleman of the day. As with Jen, this was his first Appleseed. He came to this weekend with two goals, hear the history of our nation and learn the fundamentals of shooting. The key to Appleseed is to bring a teachable attitude and he had it and it showed. Throughout the weekend his scores climbed and climbed. He also made it a special weekend for me, as he is my father. Words cannot say how happy and honored I was to be able to present him the Rifleman patch this weekend.
Finally to my instructors this weekend: Microred, Gthomas, Vibbit, and Sgtrock. Thank you for all the help you provided this weekend. The students and I were lucky you were able to instruct at this event. You are all great assets to the program and I look forward to the next time we get to work together.
Microred, gthomas, congratulations on your promotions, you worked hard and deserve them. Good Job.
Finally, I have to mention the weather. Saturday, it was overcast, a little windy. Sunday was worse, the sun was shinning, the wind wasn't gusting, it wasn't blistering hot, or freezing cold. The shooters endured this weather very well and allowed us to keep a steady pace with the instruction. I am worried what this weekend's weather will do to Bflats reputation.
I'll end with this. There is a lot of work put into Appleseeds and there are times when its 4am and you are finishing packing and hitting the road to get to a shoot that you wonder what is it that you have gotten yourself into. Then you meet fine Americans like the 14 who graced my line this weekend, you see their improvements, see them learning the history and making it their heritage and know what it is you gotten into and know that it is all worth it.
I didn't have much time to get pictures, but I know other instructors did and will hopefully be posting them soon. Thank you again to my shooters and my instructors, I hope to see you all again on the Appleseed trail. You are all welcome back to BFlats at any time.
Wow, what an event at Burlington Flats,NY
There was on our line, just a great group of Americans that truely know what they are about,,,
There were many highlights at this event, The amazing one was of Ed L. shooting a rifleman score of 216 with a Model 68 Winchester, manual cocking, single shot bolt gun, made around 1934-1936,,, Truely an outstanding accomplishment,, his first Appleseed in Aug this year, he shot a 170, and came back after having practiced, to achieve this score with this rifle is Outstanding,, Nothing is impossible if you like to have fun,,, Plus he brought his wife with him as well, and she, like him were joy to have with us,,, And they did very well on the KD range with thier rifles, Ed with his rifle at 100yds 4-5moa is a chinch, at a riflemans cadence with a Manual Cocker no less, he is fast,,, and accurate,,, His wife Yuriko did an outsanding job at KD as well, and ringing steel at a 100 is pretty fun too,,,
(http://i1044.photobucket.com/albums/b444/sgtrocke6/BFlats%2015%20Sep%2012/th_P8260128.jpg) (http://i1044.photobucket.com/albums/b444/sgtrocke6/BFlats%2015%20Sep%2012/P8260128.jpg)
(http://i1044.photobucket.com/albums/b444/sgtrocke6/BFlats%2015%20Sep%2012/th_P8260131.jpg) (http://i1044.photobucket.com/albums/b444/sgtrocke6/BFlats%2015%20Sep%2012/P8260131.jpg)
(http://i1044.photobucket.com/albums/b444/sgtrocke6/BFlats%2015%20Sep%2012/th_P8260132.jpg) (http://i1044.photobucket.com/albums/b444/sgtrocke6/BFlats%2015%20Sep%2012/P8260132.jpg)
Tom on the left in picture did a fine job on paper and steel with his Enfield rifle as well, a couple of pic's of the rifles as well the Enfield and the Winchester .22 single shot bolt,,,
(http://i1044.photobucket.com/albums/b444/sgtrocke6/BFlats%2015%20Sep%2012/th_P8260132.jpg) (http://i1044.photobucket.com/albums/b444/sgtrocke6/BFlats%2015%20Sep%2012/P8260132.jpg)
(http://i1044.photobucket.com/albums/b444/sgtrocke6/BFlats%2015%20Sep%2012/th_P8260133.jpg) (http://i1044.photobucket.com/albums/b444/sgtrocke6/BFlats%2015%20Sep%2012/P8260133.jpg)
(http://i1044.photobucket.com/albums/b444/sgtrocke6/BFlats%2015%20Sep%2012/th_P8260134.jpg) (http://i1044.photobucket.com/albums/b444/sgtrocke6/BFlats%2015%20Sep%2012/P8260134.jpg)
For those interested, that is a screw driver bit holder zip tied to Ed's rifle on the single shot,,,, engineer enginuity,,, awesome job,,,
Beware a man with only one Gun...
(http://i.imgur.com/AbcME.jpg)
Ed
PS. I shot a 173 the first weekend ;)
Good one Ed,,,
I'll add to that quote
Chances are, He knows how to use it,,, Great job Ed and very nice picture,,,,
I stand corrected 173,,, man I'm getting old,,, :slap: ::)
Nice report and looks like a very nice shoot, Great to see
Family on the line...
QuoteThe amazing one was of Ed L. shooting a rifleman score of 216 with a Model 68 Winchester, manual cocking, single shot bolt gun, made around 1934-1936,,,
Sweet...
QuoteChances are, He knows how to use it,,,
Knows what he is about...
Good job by all.....
Here's Yuriko shooting a rapid fire AQT.
http://youtu.be/EJ9XYT4J0S4 (http://youtu.be/EJ9XYT4J0S4)
That was awesome Ed,, Nice Job Yuriko,,, for a very first time shooter at this event, you have come a long way,,,, I believe that is the first video of an event at Burlington Flats,,,,
Truely an amazing place with Great People,,
sgtrock
YES, Shoot Boss, it is worth it so early @ Burlington Flats!!!
Its great to see so many shooters improve over the weekend and its great to see so many new riflemen! Congrats to everyone who earned their patch and congrats to our new orange hat! Its definitely a different experience working a shoot as an IIT. I enjoyed the instructor side of the event just as much as I enjoyed the appleseeds I attended as a shooter. Odin, Microred, Vibbit, Sgtrock great job as always!
Just to add a little more to the emerging legend of Ed ... On Sunday we had an extra loner rifle. Every so often an instructor would suggest that Ed try shooting a semi-auto, he'd refuse. We got into some rapid fire AQT's, Ed was able to get off 36 or 37 well aimed shots, we'd try to get him to swap rifles, he'd refuse again ... and so on. Very nice work Ed! Impressive to say the least.
Beautiful Range as the fog lifts!
This weekend was a blast! pun intended ;-) my family and I really enjoyed meeting everyone there and sharing such an experience. There was much to learn over the course of two days, especially for a newbe like me, but there wasn't a point where we felt overwhelmed. The instructors did a great job and were a joy to be around all weekend. We are already talking about attending more Appelseed shoots in the future and hope to spread the news to other to join as well!
Ed, awesome video.
microred, great pictures.
JBrewer: You and your family were a pleasure to have on the line and are more then welcome on my line at any time. I look forward to seeing you at the next Appleseed.
Again, good job.
Always the great help from Dave, now has shot the score and excepted the Orange Hat!
First time with a Rifle.....was it luck....we don't think so..came with a teachable attitude (was listed in things to bring to an Appleseed) Listened and Applied. Expert score and a Patch to Jen!
Fought thru it! Felt it, used the hot tub....came determined to apply marksmanship techniques and Russ came away Shooting expert as The Shoot Boss hands him his patch. Now those are two big smiles!!!
Last but not the least of the Rifleman came the famous Ed....Practice, Practice, Practice he said and smooth as silk,.....SMOOOTH is FAASST!
Dave has never ducked the work and now accepts the Orange Hat!AAAANND the North
Bridge water from his daugher.
Sorry Dave here is your Orange Hat!!!
Thanks to all instructors for their hard work and help. In particular, I would like to thank those who gave loaner rifles to my sister and I. Handling a rifle that is properly set up is an education in and of itself for newbies like us. I also would like to thank Ed for being inspiring. I think I will remember Ed qualifying with that rifle for as long as I live. I was going to say more but the computer ate it and now it is late. Maybe tomorrow.
Thanks again.
Great, Great weekend anyone and everyone can do this and learn as a family....Husband and wife, sister and brother, cousin and nephew, mother and daughter, father and son and here is the whole group.
Everyone Ready on the Line.
It was a great weekend. I want to give a special thanks to Odin and Stg Rock for all the help they have gave me for the three yrs. I also want to thank all the other instructors this weekend.
Ed; getting that score with a singe shoot was GREAT. I'm glad I was their for it. Hope to see you at more shoots.
Microred, those are some great pics, thank you for sharing them.
Ape man: Having equipment that is friendly to Appleseed is a help. However; that is not the most important thing to bring to an Appleseed. The most important thing you could bring is a teachable attitude, and you and your sister definitely had that. Through out the day on Saturday your groups shrank and shrank and when we were able to get you some loaners on Sunday they really shrank. This tells me that while your equipment may have held you back a little, it was not impeding your ability to learn. That is impressive.
As far as the computer eating your initial response, to combat that I like to type up replies in other programs like MS Word, that way when my internet connection decides to try and eat a reply I have a copy of it.
Kooch13: You are welcome, it was very gratifying to see you get the score and then take the hat. While it may have been a three year journey to the hat, that number is a little deceptive. After all, for the many shoots we have held at Bflats, you have only been a shooter for a handful of them. The rest of the time, you were there helping out behind the scenes making the events run smoothly.
Odin...happy to share the pics :). It was such a great weekend! I was down to my last sentence last night and it disappeared on me. :wb:..so I will rewrite it in MS word and then post it tomorrow night
Here are a couple more pics with the Fog on Sunday morning!
::)I have a lot of pics to share if you all want to see them and I will write tonite, I promise. A couple pics of the group again and of Burlington Flats.
Thanks to everyone for posting pictures! I brought my camera along but never found the time to use it.
Odin,
I normally put long posts in MS word myself. But it was late and I was not thinking.
I understand what you are saying about a teachable attitude (though I would say that is only half the battle. Good instruction is at least as important). But I would not sell short the learning that happens when you are able see other equipment and other ways of doing things.
One of the reasons I did not get tech sights to begin with (even though I knew Appleseed recommend them) is that my Dad can shoot so well with regular sights. My Dad is one of those disgusting people who almost never fires a gun and yet can hit anything the first try when he does pick one up. He never really tried to teach me about guns partially because of health problems and partially because he was just not that interested in guns himself. But when I finally got around to buying a gun myself I asked him to help me learn how to shoot it and to help me sight it in preparation for Appleseed.
To make a long story short, he could never figure out how to get my sights to work the way they were supposed to (although he got them closer than they were from the factory). But that did not really matter to him because he just compensated for them and shot ridiculously small groups right on the bulls-eye anyway . I figured that if a half crippled old guy with bad eye sight could shoot such small groups with the sights that came with my gun, they must be good enough.
And I am sure that if I had all the time in the world, I could learn how to make them work. But right now I am not interested in learning how to make bad equipment work. I just want to learn to reliably hit targets so that I can do what I need to do. I am interested in learning what equipment I need that will best help with that goal. And I learned a long time ago that if you want to learn something you don't go to people who are naturally good at the thing you want to learn. They will not be able to explain how they do it and they will not be able to figure out why you can't.
I can't agrue with you there Ape Man.
The first Appleseed I shot was with a bolt gun with factory sights... Suffice to say I did upgrade my equipment for my next Appleseed and have been very happy that I did, so I certainly understand where you are coming from.
tech-sights are a very good and relatively inexpensive upgrade, also automatic bolt release will make your lives a lot easier as well. Depending on how comfortable you are with modifying parts, the auto bolt release can be done for no cost by modifying a part in the trigger assembly, or you can buy an aftermarket replacement part.
Those two I modifications/upgrades I would say are the most important. Replacing the firing pin and extractor also can make your life a lot easier.
quote from Ape Man
And I learned a long time ago that if you want to learn something you don't go to people who are naturally good at the thing you want to learn. They will not be able to explain how they do it and they will not be able to figure out why you can't.
end quote
Ape Man
I think you would be very surprised,,, Let me know if you can get to B-Flats on a weekend such as this one coming up, and I will teach you,,,, Other than looking thru your eyes, with your equipment,,, I can put you into a military rifle and see what you are looking at, I have a device that will allow me to see what you are seeing,,, With the proper equipment, good things are possible,, I am more than willing to spend time on the line on weekends for any Appleseeder that comes here, my targets, my dime, my time, your willingness to learn,,, its that easy,,,
sgtrock
Ed patiently waiting to put "Smooth is Fast" in motion! Bolt gun, single feed, manual cocking, Amazingly SMOOTH!!! And the result : Expert score! OK Ed I really do have a pic ...but for some reason it is not letting me post it...I will work on it and get back here, with better results, I hope.
OK Ed changed format, let's see if this does it
I cropped that pic a bit.
Good Grief do I ever look impatient in that photo.
sgtrock,
Thanks for the kind offer. I would like to take you up on it sometime. I just don't know that it will be this year.
I picked the worst year possible in terms of free time to learn how to shoot. The only reason I even made the time that I did is that this year is that I went from wanting to learn how to shoot to feeling like I needed to learn how to shoot in the space of a week. So I pushed other things out of the way to make time. But I recently bought a house that needs work and I am trying to work on my parents place at the same time. This means that while I can continue to practice my shooting/dry fire in the evenings, my weekends are pretty much shot with other obligations.
Next year I plan on being different as I don't want to spend my entire life doing home improvements. Hopefully by that time I will have taken care of the major issues and maybe then I can take advantage of your generosity (if the offer still stands). I certainly plan on making it to another Appleseed at the very least.
And I would like to make it clear that I did not mean the instructors at Appleseed when I said you don't learn from people with natural ability. What I was trying to say was that the ability to teach and that ability to shoot well are not the same thing. I know a couple of good shots whose only real advice is a put a lot of bullets down range until you figure it out. I am sure that would work over the long haul, but it is an expensive way to learn. Especially for those of us who are not naturally talented.
But the instruction I got at Appleseed was very helpful. Now I have a much more structured training program with much clearer goals in mind. I know the weak areas I need to work on and I have some good ideas of how to work on them. And all this thanks to instruction I received at Burlington Flats.
Bottom Line: I think it is a lot better to have a plan then to just put rounds down range and hope to get better. And a plan is one of the things that I feel like I gained by going to Appleseed.
{quote from Ape Man}
And I would like to make it clear that I did not mean the instructors at Appleseed when I said you don't learn from people with natural ability. What I was trying to say was that the ability to teach and that ability to shoot well are not the same thing. I know a couple of good shots whose only real advice is a put a lot of bullets down range until you figure it out. I am sure that would work over the long haul, but it is an expensive way to learn. Especially for those of us who are not naturally talented.{end quote}
No worries Ape Man
I knew what you were saying,, I've seen it a lot over the years and I still see it in todays world,,, Some people in the shooting world, just can't begin to put it into words that makes sense,,, The offer is always there,, Range time with good people is always good for the soul,,, at least in my book anyways,,,, When your schedule frees up give us a call,,, Like you said, you now have enough material to see you thru the winter,,, Thanks for being there,,,
sgtrock
Apeman,
Don't get down on yourself. You did learn to shoot this past weekend. You know the six steps to taking a shot, you have the basics down. And most importantly you now know how to properly shoot a rifle without any bad habits that need to be unlearned.
What did you score this weekend? Marksman? Sharpshooter? You are a 4moa shooter now. That's pretty impressive.
http://www.chuckhawks.com/practical_accuracy.htm
Have you gone back and shot the stock sights on your 10/22? I think your improvements on Sunday are more you than the sights.
Ed
Ed,
I am sure my groups have tightened up even with my old sights. Lately, it has been so dark when I get done with everything else that dry firing is the only thing that is practical for after work. But I may try to slip in some shooting this weekend. Especially if it rains tomorrow (rain is always a good excuse to goof off).
How about yourself? What do you do after you qualify with a bolt action single shot?
Ape Man
Me? I'm going to spend the next couple of weeks leisurely sighting in my heritage carcano. I'm very curious about its performance using commercial .264 vs my handloaded .268 bullets. (I really need to justify to my self the expense of that reloading press :) )
After my first weekend (where you are now) I spent a lot of time dry firing and practicing my natural point of aim. I spend a weekend or two sighing in my old single shot bolt .22 to get it ready for last weekend's appleseed (the sights on that needed to be drifted over quite a bit).
To be honest, right now I'm in a good place. I'm thrilled to have gotten my rifleman patch on my second appleseed (I attribute that to the great instruction I received of course). I feel that I'm a solid 4moa shooter and that's a nice feeling.
I'm looking forward to next year's appleseed. I'm going to gift my father a ticket for his xmas present. I really hope to bring a nice sighted in carcano to the KD range. I can't see any reason not to keep going with my winchester 68 at this point.
Hope to see everyone again in the spring!
Ed
I really want to thank everyone involved in the Appleseed Project. Including not only all the great students but my fellow instructors who I continually learn from. It is a great solice to meet with like-minded individuals, to learn of our hard fought for Heritage and safely learn to handle firearms, as everyone should.
Ape Man, it was a pleasure to have you and your sister on the line, and remember that a little bit of practice helps tremendously, even to those that already know the six steps to taking the shot.
And Ed thank you for the informative link, it really can help bring it all together.
Can't wait to see you all back at beautiful Burlington Flats, or anywhere else along the Appleseed trail, with all your friends and family.
..Great Job Odin..
.Microred, Gthomas, Vibbit, and Sgtrock thanks for all you do, really good stuff.............JW......................