This is an absolutely beautiful range. All the shooters still on their feet Sun. p.m. got to shoot 500 yds. and we only used half the range! 306 rounds down range Sat. and 403 Sun. Before you raise an eyebrow at those numbers, understand that we had a majority on the line at their first Appleseed, a few very new shooters, and we knocked off at 2:30 Sun. p.m. to zero centerfires and go long distance. This group of Appleseeders was 100 per cent cheerful,doggedly determined, open to instruction, persistent, generous(from vittles to equipment, and everything in between), every last one of them. It was my distinct pleasure and honor to (hopefully) be of some small service to them.
The weather was a bit inconvenient, and may have been responsible for over half of our preregs being no-shows. But, with a few walk-ons, we had a nice, manageable group of shooters. If I could have had just one more instructor like brickhouse, I could have spent the weekend sitting in my comfy chair, sipping hot chocolate, and occasionally calling out words of encouragement. O0 As it was, the wind blew, it rained some at about a 45 degree angle, and when it turned to snow it went sideways. Saturday p.m., during a period of snow, the talk turned to no-shows and then to those who stuck it out at Valley Forge. We all decided to take off our boots and socks and walk out to the 500 yd. line and back. There was one break in the weather. When the command to prep 13 rounds for the Volley for Liberty was given the clouds began to break up. By the first "fire" command we were bathed in sunshine. Two minutes after the line was clear the sky was completely gray again. I have witnesses. We didn't see blue sky again until Sunday p.m.
Saturday a.m. redcoat we had less than 50 percent 100yd. shooters and nothing else. By afternoon we had everyone at 100, half at 200 and some beyond. Sunday gave us 2 riflemen, over half hitting the redcoat headshot, everyone still standing making hits out to 500 yds, and two new IITs!! :D For those who could have made this shoot and did'nt, you have my deepest condolences.
The history component of this Appleseed got a little out of hand. Starting in 1756, we then stumbled upon an obstinate British Parliament, wandered over to Virginia to hear Patrick Henry give a bit of a speech(he only lost his train of thought once) and finally managed to get the regulars in their long boats, and Paul Revere on Deacon Larkin's "very fine" horse. The second strike was augmented by Imker's "Her name was Hannah....". Something I'm sure will be in high demand when word gets out. Thanks Alan. Brickhouse, you're a mind reader. And top notch regarding "Dangerous Old Men". Wonderful passion. O0
One more thing. One of our riflemen took the Purple Patch. And occasionally the western Pa. ridges and valleys would echo the sounds of the RWVA instructors bellowing out such gems as "If you're still dragging wood at this point Yotnottin to be", or "If yore still white knuckling that forend Yotnottin to be!!" and various other valuable nuggets in the same vein.
To those who made this event happen-Thanks nbw
A BIG THANK YOU FOR SB'N THE SHOOT FOR PA!!!!
Wish I could have been there.
Mooney
PA SC
Thank you NBW. You did a great job and so did your IiT Brickhouse ~~:)...we learned a lot and you made it fun but challenging. The respect for our history and the value in that was especially apparent, and is what made the experience much more valuable for me and the others attending, including my son. We hope to do another Appleseed event and hopefully with both of my sons this year. Hopefully next time we will be more experienced and better equipped both mentally and with a better centerfire rifle, hopefully a Garand!
The father and son team ;)
Northbridgewater and Brickhouse - thanks for the wonderful weekend despite the cold, wind, rain and snow (although I'm sure the weather conditions built character :D)! And thank you also for helping me to finally attain my rifleman patch! We couldn't have asked for a better group of wonderful people, and despite my sore back, legs, neck, etc I had a great time and learned a lot!
I'm looking forward to helping out at future Appleseeds....
and looking forward to seeing the pictures from this one! :)
The run and gun was awesome. The vision of our rifleman running towards the line would have put fear into the heart of any redcoat. For me it was even moreso; I'd seen how ably y'all perforated targets all day.
It was something to see the persistence of those on the line, consistently putting holes "into those little V's" despite full body shivers. (You didn't think we saw that did you, Ian?)
Alleman's is an awesome range. I'll be back at next opportunity. A big thanks to Northbridgewater for sharing his sweet MI Garand. Spanner and I are planning a trip to pick up one (or two....or three) ..:.. of our own thanks to the CMP.
As soon as somebody can tell this caveman how to post these pictures, :wb: I will.
I'm learnin too NBW, hoping this works. Using additional options and then browsing thru your computer to find the image file you want to attach, apparently you cannot preview image posts prior to making a final post.
Sunset at Allemans...wish I had a pic of Ian shooting that Garand.
Yes those are snow flurries in April!
Camping on the bluff at the edge of the Reade Range, no shooting pics before the camera battery died :'(
I have to second everything mentioned by PowderHorn & Arrigetch. This was an awesome experience. I had a blast. Like i said to northbridgewater, that was the most fun i've ever had being so miserable (from the weather). I really appreciate the instruction, the information and the enthusiasm to share & spread this aspect of our heritage from northbridgewater & Brickhouse. You guys are fantastic. I look forward to doing the same for others in the near future. I will definitely have to work on my oratory skills.
I hope to hit the Manheim PA shoot in May or June with a new 10/22 (big thanks again, nbw, they are nice little shooters) and I aim to bring a couple friends & their older kids along.
I will stand witness to the mighty unusual break in the constant rain/snow/sleet/wind we had most all weekend under perpetual low clouds & dark gray sky. It happened just like nbw said. As the line was prep'ed, the clouds parted and the winds died down. The Volley of Liberty was performed under a calm, sunny, blue sky as each name was called and a shot was fired in salute. Before we circled up to talk about it the sky darkened and the winds & sleet/drizzle picked back up to resume buffeting us the rest of the day. It's easy to pawn off stuff like that as coincidence, and to be honest at the time I didn't really even notice it much 'til it was half over (you know, concentrating on shooting by the numbers and all :-), but looking back, you gotta wonder... Perhaps a greater power did indeed look upon the founding of this nation & sends us little nudges of encouragement from time to time to keep that American spirit and tradition alive. Well, I aim to do just that.
QuotePerhaps a greater power did indeed look upon the founding of this nation & sends us little nudges of encouragement from time to time to keep that American spirit and tradition alive. Well, I aim to do just that.
Very well said, mal. No question about it, providence was very busy in April 1775!!
What's this?..... my screen just got all blurry (sniff).
QuoteAs soon as somebody can tell this caveman how to post these pictures
Sorry Caveman I'm not much help. I have managed to post pics here in the past. You can do it by direct link or by caching them somewhere and then calling them up remotely (I used photobucket.com). I am a bit fuzzy on the details.
not sure..... but isn't posting photos, along with appropriate witticisms, a pre-req for a red hat? ::)
I'll consider it part of my training to get more detailed advice to you
Let's see if this works.
(//)How about this.
AARRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!
How about this?
Third, err... forth time's the charm! Thanks for the pics :-)
A rifleman persists! (and listens to his 12 year old son)
Thanks, PowderHorn.
Brickhouse, I can just hear the conversation:
her: Sweetheart, we really need some more rifles.
him: Huh? Oh, yeah. O.K. ^:)^
Excellent pictures, NBW, thanks for posting these! :)
Just an Awesome job NBW, thanks for doing this SB duty :)