Guilford, Ct @ NHSC, November 11-12, 2017

[TOMINCT]

 A small but enthusiastic crew met for Appleseed at the New Haven Sportsmen's Club. Although the colder temps Saturday were not particularly appreciated the event went on as planned, and went very well. Many of the shooters were brand new at using firearms, all but one were first time attendees.

As mentioned Saturday started C-O-L-D, temps in the high teens and getting up to about 30 degrees before the sun dropped behind the intervening hills about 3 o'clock. The IT crew ran with POI's and demos to get everyone thru the regular instruction and an AQT before our shut down at 4:30.

Sunday started a little warmer, with many shooters returning plus a repeat Appleseed shooter. After the am redcoat and a tune up on squares  the AQT grind commenced, with some drills and extra instruction given to those who needed it. Before the end of the day we had a shooter requalify as Rifleman.

Joe, who got 3 new shooters started and to attend the event, fired a mix of stage by stage and RFAQT's to net scores in the mid 220's and a high score of 233.  HUZZAH!

Many other shooters, who had shown varying degrees of skill, made major improvements over the weekend, one doing so by going from 20 MOA groups to 6 MOA before the weekend wound down. All told improvement was seen with all of the attendees. Thank you all for your willingness to learn and tough out the cold temps. FWIW it had been in the 60's a week ago, so most of us don't have our winter fur just yet!

A big thank you goes out to the New Haven Sportman's Club, and Steve, the BOTG there. They are a huge suppporter of Appleseed in the south centarl part of Ct and we look forward to their hosting other events next year.

The IT crew including Parallax and Scout74 spent a lot of the extra time needed to get those little extra points in, whether tips SHF's or sling adjustment, it all made a difference. That plus the use of loaner rifles, one from the BOTG, that made things run much smoother than what would have been without. Thank you gentlemen.

As always, a Rifleman persists.

[RickC]

Hi Tom, nice to see that new shooters braved the cold weather to learn/improve their shooting abilities at a Appleseed event..

I stopped by for a short time during the event to pay my respects to you and the Appleseed crew, and as usual they were hard at work with the shooters, they looked like a dedicated group of shooters.. Glad to hear that it went well..

I'm looking forward to attending another event next year myself to continue improving my shooting skills, an Appleseed event is a great place to learn/practice those skills.


Rick..

[Parallax]

RickC, It was great to see you this weekend.

It was rewarding to spend the weekend with Appleseed attendees dedicated enough to brave the cold weather to learn rifle marksmanship and American history.

I look forward to having them back at future Appleseeds.