Ramseur Labor Day weekend Appleseed

[7.62BBQ]

  The weather was perfect for a late summer shoot. We had temperatures in the low 80's all three days and no rain. A total of 45 shooters on Saturday, 35 on Sunday, and 27 on Labor Day. The only problem I had this weekend was not having enough Rifleman patches to hand out(to be mailed ASAP). 18 shooters became Rifleman. Huzza! A lot of shooters are on the verge to becoming Rifleman. Persist my friends.

  We had a great bunch of Instructors and IIT's down in Ramseur. I'd like to thank crashkid2k, Hawkeye, Len1459, Lawman, The Kid, Lyn, and Wildman for making this a safe and fun Appleseed. I've been to my fair share of Appleseeds and I can say that this was my favorite one "so far". I met alot of great folks this weekend and hope to see them on the Appleseed Trail real soon.

 

[hawkeye]

Wow! What a great Appleseed, perfect weather, and a great bunch of people. I could tell by the groups on the third or fourth one inch squares that our job of forging Riflemen would be easy this time. I'd have to say that the folks attending really made this shoot great. After starting the first day on the 25 yard range,Sunday we sent the better shooters with center fires to the 500 yard range to confirm zeros at 200 yards and then to shoot pop ups. Even on the pop ups they were challenging each other. Lots of 10/22s on the line with tech-sights and enough loaners to fill in for the wrong type of rifles. I'm always happy to see some Garands on the line.I'd have to agree with Kevin that this was one of the better Appleseeds that I have attended.  Thank You to all the folks that came to the shoot!

[Gaurd Duck]

The KD range,
Picture taken on Monday:

[dev421]

Thanks to all who helped put on this shoot!  It was my first AS and won't be my last.  I learned much and met many great people.  After sorting some equipment issues and practicing at my home range I will be back looking for my patch soon.

Thanks again!
JP

[Gaurd Duck]

I actually did make Rifleman on Sunday, and Carrie made it Monday.

[Law man]

    The shooters really made the Appleseed last week. They were fairly knowledgeable and seemed to just absorb most of the info. The rifleman scores were unusually high for the ones that did make it kept going up right until Monday. The ones that went up to range 1 were kepin the 500yd ivan down and enjoyed it. They were just a good group over all. That had to be one of the best Appleseeds  for me so far. 

[Heavy Cav]

First I'm sorry for the long screen name.  How I got there would be off subject and I'm not going there.

I'd like to thank a long list of instructers, more than I can name but Bill, 7.62BBQ, Fred, Hawkeye, and others that I know by face but not name.  I stopped shooting in 1988 when I got out of the Army.  I was told about Appleseed by my Wife also ex-Army.  After 3 Appleseed events this year I scored Rifleman (221) to be exact.  I spent alot of time in the low 200's but could never put the shots together for that magic 210+ until Sat.

7.62BBQ I checked with the "Big Boss" and She said I have a weekend pass when ever I need one.  So I'll take that Orange Hat if it is still offered.

For anybody concerned I have ordered a new hand guard for the HK that should keep the reciever from blistering my hand.  Hawkeye was watching close and pointed out my dragging plastic with my trigger finger.  I'm sure he was correct but at the time I was wondering why my left hand was burning.......

As for Ivan, I made it past the 200, 300, and 400, targets.  When I got to Ivan I was shooting but with all the dust and other shooters on target I'm not sure if I ever made a hit or not.  Ivan kept going down over and over again.

[CarrieB]

I was there for the boot camp (about a dozen folks), and when all of you guys and gals came storming in Saturday morning I was blown away. So many people we had three between each post!
Kevin was great, I had been told ahead of time about what a nice guy he was and boy he lived up to that and then some. He always had a big grin on his face and time to answer any question.
The only instructors from the weekend I really got to meet/know were Robert and Keaton, the other guys were busy with other parts of the line. Big thanks to Keaton for sitting down next to my friend Jason and helping him get over that hump on his last AQT, it made all the difference in the world. From a 203 to a 231! 
Robert probably saved my life, idiot that I am. Eternal thanks to him for that... and no, the Ruger's barrel can't be saved. We've already got another one on order. Ah well. Better the barrel than me, eh?

Just how many Rifleman did we get? I know the percentage had to be high, there were calls of "We've got another Rifleman!" all day long, all three days.

[7.62BBQ]

To all of the Rifleman that did NOT get a patch during the Appleseed, I have them in my grubby little hands. They will go out in the mail tomorrow. Thanks again for making this a great shoot and I hope to see you on the Appleseed Trail real soon.

[CBT1]

The Best! 

Summary:  The instructors from NC are the greatest.  They were friendly, dedicated, sincere, and truly wanted everyone to succeed.  They run a tight range (safety-wise) and did not hesitate to challenge anyone that committed a safety violation.  Most violations were for not placing your weapon on safe or not placing the safety flag properly in the breech.  Although minor in nature - they demanded their students follow the rules!

Anyone willing to volunteer and spend three days on the rifle range training strangers how to shoot - is worthy of our respect.  The instructors age ranged from 15-to probably 55 years of age and everyone of them nailed targets out to 460 yards from the standing, prone, or sitting positions - it did not matter to them.  I am confident they can hit targets out further than that - but the range only goes out to 460.       

Saturday:  I arrived with my Garand, 400 rds of ammo, and clueless about Appleseed/M1s.  Having only previously fired 15 rounds through my Garand - I knew I needed training.  I did not have a shooting jacket and after 200 rds I could not raise my arm.  Robert suggested that I use his .22 the next day and even provided the ammo.  He refused my offer to pay for the .22 rounds. 

Sunday:  Fired all day with the loaner rifle and ammo.  I did not qualify as a Rifleman - believe it had to do with a sore shoulder, poor technique, and lack of a shooting jacket. 

Steve H. was the Range Boss and not only being friendly, interesting, dedicated, and a former senior Army drill sergeant - he is an authority on Garands.  The man can also shoot. I saw him pick up a rifle on the last day from the rack and nail targets at 400 yards from the standing position. 

Mon:  Robert (the guy that loaned me his rifle and ammo) returned to work and Kevin, another instructor loaned me his .22 and once again he refused to allow me to pay him for the .22 rounds I burnt-up. I did not qualify this weekend - but steadily improved, probaly doubling my score from Sat until Mon and I was not discouraged in the least and historically few qualify during there initial Appleseed.

The training was first class   I drove 6 hours to attend and headed back in Nov and Dec 09 if the good Lord is willing.

The negative of the enire event - was that Fred was no where to be found. Now that he is a famous celebrity - I am sure he is very busy and unable to be everywhere at the same time.  Who knows maybe I will get to shake his hand in Nov or Dec. 

I encourage anyone that has the ability to attend a Ramseur, NC
Appleseed to do so. It was fun - the people are great and you will find a finer group to train you than those boys' from NC.

VR
Chris