Ramseur 9/19-20 AAR

[7.62BBQ]

  It was another great Appleseed in Ramseur. No rain, a little overcast on Saturday, and perfect weather on Sunday. We had 16 shooters muster up for a double dose of heritage and marksmanship on Saturday, and 13 shooters on Sunday.

  Shooters got to drink from the Appleseed firehose: proper sling use, six steps to firing the shoot, NPOA, Steady hold factors, and all positions, and of course the April 19,1775 story. There were a great bunch of Instructors at this Appleseed. I'd like to thank Hawkeye, Lawman, The Kid, Txpirate, P Shooter, friedenmeister, bagel, and last but not least Fred.

  By the end of the day on Saturday we were not able to hand out any Rifleman patches. After a night of rest, some advil, and lots of water they were back on Sunday to step up and give it their all. A few shooter went up to the 500 yard range with Hawkeye to confirm their zeros and tackle the pop-ups out to 500 yards. The rest stayed down on the 25 yard range determined to get THEIR patch by the end of the day. Well persistence paid off for 2 of my fellow patriots! The high score of the weekend went to Sherry(who is married to one of the Insrtuctors )this was her first Appleseed(and I know it won't be her last). She shot a 222! She probably would have gotten there sooner but her AR/22 was jamming a bit. The other patch went to Tom F.(way to hang in there). Both shooters scored Rifleman on the last AQT of the day on Sunday. Huzza!!

  We always tell the shooters that we are an all volunteer organization. I'm here to tell you that my "pay" comes from the new friends I make and being able to help pass down the American tradition of Marksmanship and the telling of the 4/19/75 story. As always it was an honor to spend some quality time with Rifleman and soon to be Rifleman at the RWVA home range. Now get out and practice everything we taught you and take a buddy to the range and pass on the Tradition. Who knows, they might just run for elected office someday. They'll have my vote!

[Fred]

   There was a slight embarrassment on the first Redcoat target of the day.

    Asked "who has three shots on the 400 yard target?" only one person raised her hand (note that "her", guys).

    Asked "who has three hits on the 300 yard target?", three more hands went up - all girls!

    Man, it was tough to be an hombre that morning...

[LayloPro]

[txpirate]

As this was my first Appleseed since I moved from Texas, it was wonderful to meet everyone, shooters and instructors alike, even if I did ask Fred who he was on Saturday morning 
I've heard it many times before, and I'll repeat it myself: You meet the best people in the world at Appleseeds. This was no exception. It is both cathartic and motivating to spend the weekend in the company of riflemen and awakened Americans (soon-to-be riflemen).

Thank you shooters, you are on the road to being rifleman. Don't stop. Mrs. P-Shooter and Tom F., you are now on the road to making rifleman out of our fellow Americans.

I will say this: Appleseeders and Instructors at Ramseur have it real easy. These facilities are incredible!!!

[M1NC]

Well I finally got around to registering after spending many weeks lurking around the board.  To those who remember I was the guy who shot the M1 at the far right end of the lane the whole weekend.

This was my third time ever shooting the Garand, and 376 rounds of M2 Ball later I'm pretty beat up (gotta get that shooting jacket).

My highest AQT score was a 164 - I got a long way to go, but I'm a stubborn type of person.  The road to Rifleman starts with a first step and I'd like to think this weekend was that.  My talking targets are yelling that I need to stop bucking and flinching so I have my work cut out for me. 

My father came with me and even though he has only been shooting for one month he got a 130 - already he is planning out dry-firing practice sessions to get that score up!

A hearty "huzzah" to all the instructors and "men of hats" who assisted with the line.  A big thanks to 7.62BBQ for taking me under his wing and giving me several pointers about how to manage my rifle.  The two younger instructors (missed their names) aimed the fire-hose o' knowledge straight at me and I hope I picked enough of it up.

Hawkeye's Garand clinic was great - I learned a lot of neat things about the "greatest battle implement ever devised" and look forward to making it "my" rifle.

Towards late afternoon my fine motor skills were shot so far as the AQT goes so I went to the long distance range.  What do you know - its easier to shoot at real distance!  Once I got my NPOA down I had 7 of 8 in the black at 200 with three in the 10 ring!  It sure gave me confidence to apply what I had been taught.

It was great to hear Fred share his thoughts on the Appleseed project at the wrap-up.  The opinions and ideas expressed by everyone was a fantastic way to close the weekend.

[Law man]

                 As txpirate said the home range has it easy. 25 yards in the morning and pop ups in the afternoon, you just cant beat it. A bunch of nice folks who gave it there best came which seems to be stereotypical of this program no matter where you go. Give em another Appleseed and most of them will get rifle man. Thanks Kevin for being shoot boss at another great Appleseed.

[SurpriseBreak]

My thanks as well to all the great instructors and fellow Appleseeders that came out to learn and teach. The Appleseed "firehose" of knowledge was wide-open and I drank what I could. I had a fantastic time and look forward to doing it again soon.

7.62BBQ jumped me into the Orange-Hat gang so I will do my best to live up to that honor.

It was great also to have Fred there to impart his passion for the Appleseed Project. There's nothing like being exposed to the source to gain the best understanding possible.

My high score was 191 and shot on Saturday but that's not really important. I learned a LOT at this Appleseed and know that with practice I can shoot a Rifleman Score consistently. I appreciate the patience and humble manner displayed by all of the instructors and other Appleseeders. Everyone was there to learn and left their egos at home. That doesn't mean that there wasn't frustration, I had my share, but the instructors knew exactly when to push and when to just let it ride. And it's professionalism like that that will help enable the program to double every year to fulfill Fred's vision and the vision of the many other faithful Appleseeders.

By Sunday after the first couple of volleys, I could have just listened to and discussed history for the rest of the day. You folks know your stuff and it is an inspiration.

Thanks again to Fred, Kevin and all involved for all that they do to make this thing happen. The fact that this organization exists gives me hope.

Huzzah!!!!

--SurpriseBreak

[AwkwardStage]

Hello from a newbie!

Ramseur 9/19-20 was my first Appleseed in what will hopefully be the start of a series.  All of the instructors were superb and 7.62BBQ ran a safe and tight ship wearing the red hat.  I just wish I was as limber as the "teenager" instructors.  Flexibility is helpful, but what do you do with your belly when trying to go elbows on the ground from sitting?

Aside from the training received, I also learned that this is a REAL test of mind and equipment.  My equipment wasn't quite up to grade, even shooting the lowly Ruger 10/22.  At the end of the first day, I discovered that my "cheapo" Wal-Mart rimfire scope had lost its power ring set screw and was rattling in its rings.  It was replaced with a fixed power 4x scope which also allowed me to shoot prone with a normal cheek weld.  Although I used LockTight, I forgot to degrease the scope rail.  By the midpoint on the second day, the scope rings had shifted enough that the rear ring was completely off the rail.  So much for the negligible recoil from a 22LR.  I was able to finish the day shooting an AR-15 I had brought as a backup.

Kudos to all the Appleseed staff and as Arnie used to say in the movies "I'll be back"!!!!

AS