Project Appleseed

AAR for the Davilla, TX Appleseed, 10 & 11 November, 2007:

This Appleseed was the follow up from the Davilla Boot Camp of the previous week and the last Appleseed event of 2007. Total shooters on the line for Saturday was 65, with about 50 sticking it out for both days.
The target line had to be turned 90 degrees after the BC to lengthen it for the numbers anticipated and stretched over 100 yards long when finished. This may be a record for the longest single line at an Appleseed event.  This necessitated  having several IIT's echo the range commands from the center out to the ends and also to form 2 groups when doing position demonstrations and explaining things.  The line ran very well after the first couple of hours and continued to run well the next day.

Course of Fire, (COF) was basic Appleseed: Start off with the "Red Coats" target, which yielded typical results of half the shooters qualified at 100 yards and the rest not qualified at all or smatterings of 2, 3 and 400 yard shooters. A few intrepid marksmen shot the rectangle.

We then settled into the "4 Minute squares" targets for work on the 6 steps and position work. Next came the CAQTs, side by side for repetition work on the first 3 stages.  Rapid magazine changes were taught, as well as transitioning from standing to sitting , and when all seemed well, we shot the dreaded AQT in stages, allowing the shooters to see the results each time.  We ended the day with a CAQT target posted  and allowing for a "Mad Minute" for the shooters to put 20 rounds on the targets from the proper position in just a minute. OK, we gave them a few extra seconds

Shooters were treated to short, but exciting segments of the events of the most important day in American history; 19 April, 1775, as presented by The Guy. They got to hear details from the story throughout the day on both Saturday and Sunday.  It might be a while before they get another rendition as stirring as the one we got at this event.

Sunday broke wet and foggy on the range, but the shooters were on the line in a most unusually punctual time. They must have been ready to shoot!   The menu for the day called for  another "Red Coat" target, shot with spirit, and then more 4 Minute squares to warm things up. More repetition on the stages and we began hammering out Riflemen on the anvil of the AQT!  Scores were improving, but more importantly, shooters were improving!  They were learning about their rifles and how to make the best use of it.   More 19 April, more lunch, more shooting, and at the end of the day......More Riflemen!

We culled 4 more Riflemen from the ranks of the shooters there, including one from our very own Boot Camp, as "Sleepy Joe" pulled out a Riflemans score after working so hard at it all week.  Wade came in at last with a 209.  A 209!   And nobody at that Appleseed had worked harder for it!  But he knows that it will come, with sweat, perseverance, and  practice.  At least he didn't finish with a 210, since there really wasn't a body of water near enough in which to toss him.

The last "Red Coat" of the event was shot "Bunker Hill" style, after a rousing rendition of "Dangerous Old Men" by The Guy.  Tallying up the casualties after the fight showed that once again, the Regulars might have won the battle, but at a most terrible cost

Awarding the Riflemen's patches at the end of the day showed that we not only had "Men among us who knew what they were about", but women also!  "Smilin' Dan"'s Mom had shot a 215!

Dust, noise, wind, and riflery.......Man! Is this a great country or what?

Thanks to all who made the trip and shot, and a very special thanks to the gang down on the left end of the line with the blue shirts! Y'all are what we are about!  (And Vicki.....just hold the trigger back!)  JB

Thanks for the report JB.

Leaving Saturday night still sits in disagreement with me that I could not be there Sunday.

I want to say simply, THANK YOU for helping me realize that goal I set two years ago.

AND, thank you to the other instructors who were on the line at BC.  You ALL had a part in my earning my rifleman patch.

Your dedication to this project frankly leaves me in disbelief.

I have a hard time getting people just to email their representatives, yet these instructors travel hundreds of miles to make new riflemen ACROSS our Republic AND not even being paid for their time teaching us. 

God Almighty, there definitely are men and women amongst us who know what they are about!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I would venture to say that the Davilla BC and Appleseed weekend just lit a serious white hot flame in central TX.

The Guy did an outstanding job on Saturday with the "Three strikes of the match" speech.  Very inspiring.  I wish I would have brought a video camera.

brett out.

Me and my lonely FAL had a great time.  I'll be back, with more people next time ;)

I saw something new at this Appleseed.

A man buying a "bunch" of .22's for a group of youth, then bringing them out shooting.  I understand he emptied out a pawnshop or two getting these rifles.

I wonder if he knows the impact he has had on these men and women of tomorrow?  The future looks bright indeed.

The line was long, but the new Insructors, straight from the RBC, ran the line fairly well to begin with, then we running like a "well oiled machine" by the end of the weekend, to quote JB.

It was nice as always to put faces to screen names, and to meet new folks.

Scout needs to be comended on the effort he put forth on the range.  Thank you!

Texas seems to be a better place now, or at least a better shooting place.  Maybe Fred will get off their back a bit.  (?)

LOL!

Guy

Fred might say he wasn't there, at the Davilla Appleseed. Fred might think he was filling back orders (or some other mundane task) at home, instead of being 'On the Line' at Davilla. But if he thinks that, Fred is wrong! How many times has that been said? I went to Davilla looking for Fred - I found him there, too - Fred was a really helpful guy from far away who spent time with the FNG on Sunday trying to remind him how to be a Rifleman. Fred was "The Guy" who got down in the dirt with me, and repeatedly quietly and confidently encouraged and corrected me while I shot - no recrimination, just good, calm, instruction - always delivered with a smile, and genuine encouragement. Fred was on the trailer (stage) telling us about the "Dangerous Old Men" of The Revolution, and making us wish to God we could have been there - feeling like maybe some how we WERE there. Fred was in the camraderie, respect and emotion that ran through ALL of us. Fred was the one who told the 13 year old boy on the lane next to me "I'd have you on my fire team" - and  later that day told him "I'd be on YOUR fire team". I wish you could have seen his face! He tasted manhood that day. I am so honored to have been there. I WAS there, even if just for a Sunday. But it changed me. How can you be in the company of such Patriots and not be changed? Maybe next 'Davilla' I'll meet the Old Man, too....

Windage and Elevation,

I didn't get to meet you because I had to catch a flight on Saturday morning but I certainly hope you will continue as part of the Appleseed Family. We need people who can shoot but we also need people who can put words to paper in such an eloquent manner.

VAshooter

Howdy all!

Just wanted to say a giant Thank You to everyone at Davilla, instructors, hosts and shooters alike. I haven't had such fun, met so many great folks or learned so much about myself in years. It's nice to know you still have the capacity to surprise yourself once in a while. No one screamed at me, gave me a hard time in any way or made fun of my 5.56 poodle-shooter. Hey, what can I say...I'd love an M1A, but having a rugrat makes it harder to scrape up the funds. One day, though! Not that I used it, but I've ditched the bipod as, thanks to Appleseed, I never see the need for it again. Anyone want a slightly used bipod for cheap?  ;D

The first day was tough, no foolin' but with a lot help from the instructors and a little buckling down, I finally made "rifleman" on the second day. I really got into the groove and was able to focus. I guess having a toddler at home was good training for ignoring loud noises and flying objects and concentrating on what's important: NPOA and the six steps. I will definitely be back, but in the meantime, I'll practice, practice practice. The AQT is only a baseline for me and I now know where I need to hone my skills. My only regret being that my little boy at home isn't (yet) big enough to attend! Spreading the word, too, as I've already got some interest in next year's shoots from some people I've been talking up the event to.

Thanks to all the instructors who came so far and donated time and knowledge to us attendees, as well as the level of enthusiasm and patience shown. You can tell these folks do it because they love it and believe in what they are doing. We'll all try to be worthy of your investment! The Guy, JB, Scout, Greg, Dan, Mark and everyone else whose names are jumbled together in my head with all the dust, gunfire, fun and instruction. Special thanks to Greg for the loan of the web sling, it made all the difference and I take it as a sign of the success of Appleseed that I can't find one for sale anywhere for love or money. Scout for hosting. The Guy for the fantastic history lessons unflagging encouragement of everyone.

Thanks to Fred, too, for making it all possible and having the gumption to do this in the first place. I was (only slightly) disappointed not to meet Fred, because I wanted to see if he had horns and fangs like I'd heard ;) , but maybe he'll take it a little easier on us Texans now that he's shamed us into showing up with all his SGN columns!

Didn't get a chance to talk much after the shoot because I was bushed and had to get home to get ready for work the next morning, but if anyone needs anything, please email or PM me here. I've got a place to shoot if any Appleseeders in the Central Texas area want to practice. It isn't geographically feasible for a full-sized Appleseed (maybe a mini-shoot) but at least people wouldn't have to go to a range and pay fees.

Slings?  Gunshows, gunshows, gunshows.  Everytime I go to a gunshow here in Richmond I buy a couple of brand new (cotton web sometimes, nylon other times) slings for $10 each.  Why do I buy a couple every trip?  Sooner or later someone at an Appleseed or RBC needs one so I pass on the good savings and put the money away for the next trip.

There are other places to get slings, most internet "stores" that sell surplus stuff sell slings, but I haven't seen anyone selling brand new ones for $10 including the S&H charges.

Hit some gunshows, buy some spares and pass them on at cost to the other Riflemen in training you meet along the Appleseed Trail.

 CDNN has brand new USGI web slings in cotton, $6.95 I seem to remember.
Gun Parts has used USGI web slings in Nylon about $7.00
Gun Parts has the extra sling clips(if you use one on front of the sling for quick detach)  for $1.10 ea. ( $.90 ea if you buy 10)

The prices may not be exact but they will be close.

  Well, I "donated" another sling at Davilla. That makes 5 now. I just hope the guy who stole it.....er...borrowed it until the next event.....gets some good use out of it. I'd hate to think of it lingering in the gun cabinet for months on end when it could be traveling the country with me, seeing the sights and helping make Riflemen!

   And Lab Rat- Don't think your kid can't attend an Appleseed!  One of the instructors brought his little boy when he was nigh on to a couple of months old!  And as I recall, he had on a cool Appleseed related T-shirt.   JB

 

Yeah...been checking on the slings. CDNN is out of them (like I said, a testament to Appleseed's success) and I couldn't find any at Gunparts (if that's www.gunparts.com, that is). I'll keep looking, though. There's a gunshow in town this weekend. I'll see if I can't get there and pick up a sling or two. Sorry you involuntarily donated one, JB. Let me know and I can pick up an extra or two for you if I get to the show this weekend. I'll keep that in mind about the critter, too. He could always use another T-shirt. Is Fred going to be available to babysit while I do the long-distance AQT?  ;D

Hey Labrat,

Bring him to Hinesville in March. I teach Kdg, believe it or not, and I bet I can have the little guy field stripping an M1 by the end of day one. My god daughters can swear to that. (Much to their mothers chagrin- I told her not to make me the god father! ;))

Plus, kids LOOOOVE cannons!!!

CM61

http://www.e-gunparts.com/product.asp?chrProductSKU=954300A-----Nylon Sling

http://www.e-gunparts.com/DisplayAd.asp?chrProductSKU=537280&chrSuperSKU=&MC=---- Sling Hook

Thanks Ken! I should've thought of Numrich earlier! Going to order a few to have extras in case of "donations" or if anyone wants one.

Quote from: cannonman61 on November 13, 2007, 06:24:06 PM
Hey Labrat,

Bring him to Hinesville in March. I teach Kdg, believe it or not, and I bet I can have the little guy field stripping an M1 by the end of day one. My god daughters can swear to that. (Much to their mothers chagrin- I told her not to make me the god father! ;))

Plus, kids LOOOOVE cannons!!!

CM61

At this point, he'll get the M1 apart (like a lot of other things) but not sure he'll get it back together. Your Kdg classes must be interesting. Do you shoot off the 3 pdr to signal the end of recess?  ;D And yes, kids love cannons. Every time we drive past the local VFW post, he points to the old 8" "Atomic Annie" they've got out front and sez, "Kannun!!" I'm so proud!

  OK, just a gentle reminder folks......if it doesn't have to do with the title of the post, it doesn't belong. Use a PM or post it in the general section. This goes double for me!  :o  JB

More AAR info at http://appleseedinfo.org/smf/index.php?topic=1219.msg13410#msg13410.

I want to thank those who made my first RBC an outstanding experience, most especially Jr. Birdman, Scout (does he ever rest?), Dragonwood, VA Shooter, The other Doug, Smilin' Dan and of course The Guy as well as many others behind the scenes. If I've omitted mentioning someone it's not intentional. Every part of the event was handled in a most professional and candid manner and Scout was the perfect host. I still hear Jr. Birdman saying "Quickly!" in my head. What an awesome week!

I'd attended and enjoyed the Mingus, TX 2006 Appleseed last year with Beaner-Schnitzel (who's currently very busy serving in a Stryker Battalion in Iraq), my highest score being a 107. The AR's we used at Mingus were plagued by bad magazines (ban era "rebuilds - great for malfunction drills and little else) and crappy Olympic ammo, but got a good understanding of the Appleseed concept and what it would take to make Rifleman. After the event I bought 4 GI slings from Fred. Shoulda bought more.

Somehow, I failed to fire even a single live round between that Mingus Appleseed event and Davilla RBC2. I did at least spend a lot of time dry firing, which helped a lot. Mingus taught me to dislike iron sight AR carbines short sight radius. I managed to con, er, I mean convince my long time friends Sleepy Joe (Dragonwood gets credit for his moniker) and DT to attend RBC with me. I built a 20" upper for the former carbine AR I used at Mingus to loan to Sleepy Joe so he wouldn't be handicapped by the short iron sight radius of my carbine upper.

At Davilla RBC2, my trusty, well broken in Ruger (my first gun ever from back in the day), now in LTR trim, was along. My AR's redeemed themselves from the malfunction curse with new mil spec magazines and new U.S. produced .223 ammo  - eliminating malfunctions on the AR's allowed me to focus more attentively on the 6 steps. After Sleepy Joe corrected my late afternoon math on Tuesday Nov. 7th, I found I had a AQT score of 216 - my first Rifleman Score.   


Some of my most vivid memories in between the Range commands, dirt, dust, powder residue, bore solvent, hot brass, cold days (well, chilly for Texas) and hot days:

Getting to know all of the RBCr's. Everyone was unique, different and a pleasure to be with. Jr. Birdman has it right - "It truly is better among Riflemen!"

Voortrekker being an impressive shooter from the get go.

Mark making Rifleman with an AR carbine and Barnaul 55 gr. .223.

Sleepy Joe decided to install a scope on his 10/22 after using factory Ruger iron sights for most of the week. After he mounted the scope I was calling his shots while watching through binoculars to expedite things. I recall Dragonwood saying to me - "He should be calling his own shots." She was right!

Dennis and his impressive, inexpensive Sarco kit AR build (around $500). Very accurate with (relatively) inexpensive 55 gr. reloads. It was every bit as accurate (if not more than) as my $750 build and factory new ammo.

Big Rusty being my "brass catcher" on the trailer when firing at known distance.

Finding fired .30 cal projectiles with rifling marks but no damage just behind the haystacks on the known distance range.

Greg with his wife and daughter's participating. If I ever choose to marry I hope my family will participate like that. Near the end of the event Greg gave me a firearm tool that I'd been seeking for some time without success. Thanks again ever so much!

Wade exercising the statement that a Rifleman always persists! The distance he drove! A 209 score is so close!

The Guy reciting the "3 strikes of the match" from memory and making me feel that I was there.

Smilin' Dan's mom's reaction to her making Rifleman.

My long time friend DT putting aside his own Rifleman aspirations to help on the line during Appleseed.

Sleepy Joe, who's brand new 10/22 had been plagued with malfunctions all week (cotton pickin' painted Ruger receivers!), took a break on Saturday and part of Sunday to help with the line. He got back on the line Sunday afternoon shooting AQT's and his ornery rifle finally behaved long enough to get a 216 (same as mine) Rifleman score on Sunday, Nov 11th.  What most don't know is he'd had a call earlier in the day that his young adult son was in the emergency room (kid will be OK) that would have taxed the mind of most parents. This proved to me that Sleepy Joe definitely has step 4B down pat.

The Friday evening "instant berm" was something I'll never forget.

After much thoughtful consideration, I was on the line as an Instructor in Training beginning Saturday. I was impressed by all of the RBC attendee's that chose to be on the line running the Appleseed. Everyone had many strengths that manifested during the day as we became more confident in our respective roles. I think my favorite part was yelling the "FIRE" command. I felt I had a very small taste of what an ancestor of mine must have felt like yelling the same command to his men, in a battle long, long ago.

I saw more than a few Mingus "veterans" at the Davilla Appleseed. Nice to see familiar faces and new ones as well.

Early in the day I'd borrowed an Appleseeder's M1A for a position demonstration (same guy later made Rifleman). I felt bad about changing the Appleseeder's sling and returning it to him, so when I had the chance I asked Sleepy Joe to retrieve one of my AR's so it could be used by instructors to demonstrate positions and preclude the need to borrow a rifle from an Appleseeder. During a demonstration I gently set the bolt on the chamber flag so it wouldn't fall out. After we finished I grounded the rifle on a mat. When firing began again and the line was subsequently cleared, I'd left the AR it that condition - chamber flag in, safety on, but bolt forward against the flag. Next scene is The Guy loudly declaring that anyone with a hat lying on top of his or her rifle was in violation of a safety procedure. Nothing quite like having that sinking feeling when I realized The Guy's own red hat was on my demo AR. Needless to say, I didn't allow that violation to happen again and on Sunday as Right Side RSO I was a bit obsessive in checking for safety violations when I walked the line after it was declared clear. I found none.

RBC registration? $200   :)

Assembling a 20" AR upper 3 days before RBC when you should be packing? - $450  :)

The shame of having The Guy's red hat on your rifle? Priceless!   :P :P ;) :D ;D ;D   


SNAITF out.

  I had lots of pics, but here's a few:

Top pic: the fire ring where we had our camp fires.

Next is the 25m line coming together

Third is the backers going on the 25m line

4th is 3HolePete doing a beautiful example of "cross Ankle" position

5th is a few of the Riflemen who were awarded patches, early in the week

Last is the 100 yard long 25m line for the Appleseed being built.

JB had the RWVA engineers humming on Saturday before BC. And again on Friday night before the Appleseed. Thanks to all who showed up early, or stayed up late to help.

    JB: That's mighty unkind, putting those pics up, leaving the rest of us weeping because we couldn't be there.

     Seriously (no smiley face, only weeping Elmer, here :'()

     There's a story of "The RWVA Engineers In Action" waiting to be told.

     Then we can have a poll to see which wins - the recent Phoenix "Battling the Wind Engineers" - or "The Davilla Line Expanding Engineers". ;D

  Battlefield engineer/ master at adaptation, improvisation, and overcomation.  Just another tool in the Rifleman's tool bag!  The shooters  pitched in with the work and in no time we had one of the most beautiful 25m lines I've ever seen ready for the RBC shooters. Then again, after it was over on Friday night, they pitched in, and following Scout's lead, had a target line 100 yards long in time for supper!  It's amazing the things you learn at a Boot Camp!  JB

Whenever you go on different firearms forums on the internet, one of the things you will regularly see is someone complaining about not haveing a place to shoot. Or some "Practical Shooting School" talking about "we are just a host range away from having a rifle course". This, usually after they have talked down the Appleseed program, so you find out that they are not even actually teaching, just talking, because they have no place to teach shooting.

But if they did, their teaching would be soooo much better than ours. They just need someone to build something for them, and boy, then they will sure show us.

And, I don't want to get sidetracked, but how much more "Practical" can you get than Appleseed? I mean, our slogan could well be "We teach you to hit what you aim at with the rifle you happen to have in your hand" But I digress...

So, while the rest of the "schools" are waiting, I hope they won't mind if we just go ahead and build our own ranges all across the nation and set up our firing lines in rain and snow, hurricanes and 50+ mile an hour winds, and then shoot them in that same wind after all the other groups, CMP, NRA etc. fold up their tents and leave the range, "you can't shoot in this wind" they said, (oops!, we didn't know that  ;) ) even go from no range to a one hundred yard firing line, capable of holding one hundred shooters in one day and night.

And continue to teach our shooters to shoot their (obviously under-par) four minute of angle shooting skills, from multiple positions, with standard no frills rifles and off the shelf surplus ammo.

In some cases, taking people who can not get on paper day one, to people who can clean a redcoat out to 400 meters by day two. That is three shots apiece on four targets, and one on the fifth, with the last being a one inch square from 82 feet,(in a little over one minute). Two days of instruction at a cost of about $3.50 and hour for the instruction, for each attendee. Man, that is not even minimum wage.

You have read about the RWVA Engineers already in many adventures including the AAR from Phoenix where they had their range built, commercial target stands actually disentegrating in the wind and blowing all the way back up range to the firing line.

What did they do? Pack up and go home like the rest of the rifle organizations? Ummm, no. They got wire and rope and made stakes. Reinforced their target holders and staked them down, then went back on the line and got down in the dirt and "fired, Appleseed shooters fire, for God's sake they fired, as fast as they could". Shooting one of the timed portions of the AQT where you have 50 seconds to put ten rounds in a target smaller than a quarter from 82 feet, without any support other than your sling, and most people using iron sights.

How, I ask you, do you get more practical? How to solve multiple real life problems and shoot in adverse conditions in one fell swoop. What will we do with these Appleseed people?

Our last RWVA Engineers feat was performed at the Davilla Texas Rifleman's Boot Camp and then again at the Davilla Appleseed.

At the Boot Camp, Junior Birdman found out we would be having triple the number of usual participants the night before the start of boot camp and had the RBC guys put up a completely new firing line Saturday evening that was double the length of old one. Also covering the line with plywood and marking the line and the safety line and setting up the instructors area.

Near the end of the boot camp on Friday morning, RifleWoman sent an email to the instructors at Davilla. She said "hey guys, you are about to get almost 70 shooters tomorrow, do you have enough room for them?"

Uh-oh.....

We only had room for about 15 more shooters on our current line, and it had to be used all day to run the "mock Appleseed" for the new instructors. So what to do. JB did the only thing he could do. "Scout" he said "we need the RWVA Engineers".

To: Scout      From: RWVA Engineers Headquarters      Subject: Attention to Orders....

"Greetings....."

A call was quickly put in to the RWVA engineers (myself and a couple of the other guys who were not instructing). I called in a fellow with some heavy equipment and a dump truck and brought my own tractor with front loader up to the line. We then proceeded to remove about 400-500 cubic yards of material working right up to the very edge of the still hot and firing line. Trees ,rocks, and sand were removed and piled ten feet high to make a one hundred yard long berm for the shooters the next day.

Then, when the firing line went cold at the end of the day, when the sun was going down, the real work began. We marked out a straight line and pounded in end posts and made anchors for them. Then we measured out the intervals and pounded in about 25 or so more posts. Then barbed wire was strung between the posts and stratched tight and connected to the standing posts. I had scrounged another 20 or more sheets of plywood this day also and we added it to our existing wood and drilled and mounted about 40 sheets of plywood to the line.

Now, keep in mind that all of this except the first popping of the straigt line was done by the light of tractor floodlights and truck headlights.

We then marked the shooting line, the instructors line and safety line,moved the instructors area, moved all the shooting mats and the American Colonial Flag to their new positions and we were ready for the Davilla Texas Appleseed.

We did not marvel at the new range, as it is all in a days work for the RWVA Engineers. We did however, retire to the RWVA commissary and have a nice meal of inch thick brisket steaks and plenty of chickens and hams and beans and cole slaw for a nice dinner for all the Engineers.

A quick Instructors meeting was held after dinner and we were set to go for the next day's Appleseed, which as it turned out, was another roaring success.

Appleseed.

That's really the only word I have to say about that ;) ;D ;D ;D
   


I want to make clear that I did not do all the work. When the firing line went cold, JB, The Guy, VA Shooter and all the rest of the instructors and most of the students put our shoulders to the wheel together.

 

My pulse actually picked up as I read that, Scout!

And

QuoteThen barbed wire was strung between the posts

The Texas contigent is hard-core!  We just used whatever wire was cheapest!

Now, I would've figured texans for being Army types, seeing that there's so many Army posts there (Air Force, too, and they used to be part of the Army).

But, I'm apparently wrong, must be SeaBees, as those guys down there work just as hard as the proverbial SeaBees.

Yup, a Rifleman persists, and I see some of them Texans just won't let anything get them down.

Job Well Done, folks.

Just wanted to check in here and say a couple of things.

First, thanks for the kind words in a few earlier posts.

Second, thanks to all who put this RBC and Appleseed together for us.  It was truly one of the most memorable times my family has had since we became a family!

Third, I'll see some of you at the Appleseed in January.  I look forward to more training in calling the line...  ;)

I have a ton of pix and a write up on the event that I need to get posted.  I'm still recovering from the whole thing somewhat and being in the middle of trying to sell my house and the approaching holidays, it's been a touch hectic.  I hope to have that stuff up and posted by the end of the long weekend coming up.

Thank You Greg. You are one of the fellows I was talking about earlier in the engineer post above, who worked into the evening hours in the dark pulling barbed wire and setting target backs. One of the "Workers". We could not have done it without you and the rest enlisting as RWVA engineers. Thanks

I look forward to seeing you working the line at the Jan. Appleseed if not before. ;) ;D

Scout is right. He didn't do all the work at Davila but anyone who was there will tell you he did way more than his share.

VAshooter

Scout reminds me of two folks, my neighbor and the Energizer Bunny, he just keeps going and going and going.  I am proud to be associated with him, its people like Scout, JB and the rest of the staff that make this country and Appleseed a wining proposition.  Davilla was a wonderful time, can you believe it, eight (8!) days of shooting and more importantly associating with like-minded individuals.  And on top of that getting to be part of a plan to save the country!  Is this great or what!  I cannot wait to get on the Appleseed Trail in 2008.  Hopefully we can come up with an Appleseed Midnight Engineer rocker to complement the Davilla RBC2 patches.

PJ,

Does this mean you just stepped to the plate to make an Appleseed weekend happen in the great neighborly state of Oklahoma!!!?

When you find a place, make sure it's not in the realm of the Trans Texas Corridor. ;)

BTW, your buddies left, but you stayed for the Appleseed weekend.

THANKS. 

I think you are a natural in as far as being an instructor.  This organization needs instructors like you.  This nation needs instructors like you.

Thanks for the morning coffee neighbor.

I want to give a big thank you to everyone there at the RBC and the Appleseed, the instructors as well as just the people who came.

My dad, Groundhog, brought all of us down there and I have to say it was one of the most amazing times of my life. Not just learning how to shoot either, but learning the history, and meeting all of the people there.

I'm itching to do it again, and really excited to see what January brings with new people to the Appleseed. (Hopefully some of those people will be my good friends and their families.)

Once again, Thank you. I really did have the time of my life that week.

Anyone who believes that todays young people lack ambition and drive or care only about video games need only to meet this young lady. She is bright, energetic and very intent on improving herself and learning to shoot. She will develop into a strong leader and, I hope, an Appleseed Instructor.

VAshooter

Welcome aboard, Sliptail.

I hear you've turned a few heads, and around here, that's a really good thing.

I'm sure you'll become an accomplished Rifleman, and a definite asset to the Appleseed Program.

Thank you, guys. :D

I really am excited and that is the path I'm looking at, becoming and Appleseed instructor.

I just posted Part I of my AAR over on the M14 firing line forums here:

http://www.m14firinglineforum.com/upload/showpost.php?p=303332&postcount=1 (http://www.m14firinglineforum.com/upload/showpost.php?p=303332&postcount=1)

Part two is coming.  Somebody read it and let me know if you think I should dual post it over here too.  Hate to double post.

It probably wouldn't be a bad idea.  Seems like you have to register there to read posts and some folks here are registered over there (no idea why really since it's a great source of info about our favorite rifles).

Alright, here's the entire thing (part 1 at least).

The Rifleman's Boot Camp

Early in the morning on November 4th, my family and I arrived at the Adam's ranch about a mile past the intersection that marks the tiny town of Davilla, Texas. The directions were simple and the gate well marked. Our small caravan (we brought two vehicles) pulled into the camping area and checked in at the main desk. After getting the paperwork done and greeting a few people, we scurried back to the camp site to start throwing gear out and getting rifles ready. No time to set up camp now as we had to be on the line pretty fast. The weather was excellent, which was a little surprising as we had already had over two weeks of some of the finest Texas fall weather you could imagine and we were over due for a storm. After the initial safety briefing, one of the most fun and memorable times my family has had to date, started.

I don't want to get overly detailed here for fear of losing your attention so I'll try my best to condense the 8 days of training into a small package. Sunday through Thursday of the Rifle Boot Camp or RBC was spent training pretty much solely on our rifle skills. The instructors took us through several stages of progression starting with trying to get your shots on the paper to see if you had a group. We then learned how to tighten that group by following the 6 rules of shooting as taught by the RWVA folks. To nut shell that for you, they are:

1. Site Alignment
2. Site Picture
3. Respiratory Pause
4. A) Focus on Front Sight, and B) Focus your Mind
5. Trigger Squeeze
6. A) Follow Through, and B) Mental Snapshot of your Shot.

Naturally, there was a lot of elaboration on these steps throughout our training. The basic idea though was that if you were having a hard time putting rounds on the target, you needed to practice these steps more. Once we had groups, we learned how to calculate Minute of Angle measurements to correct our groups so they were on target (zeroing the rifle for practical purposes). Next (simultaneously really) came learning your natural point of aim or NPOA and how to correct that so you could be accurate repeatedly. This was accomplished by learning where the rifle wanted to point when you were in one of the three firing positions we were taught, standing, kneeling or sitting, and prone. Use of a good sling was taught to add great stability to your aim while in these positions. A standard GI issue web sling will suffice. I have yet to figure out how to duplicate the precision with my tacticool sling, but I'm working on it! We learned to shoot in the afore mentioned three positions and how to transition from standing to either the sitting or prone.

All of that was done to teach us how to shoot and qualify using the Army Qualification Test or AQT. I don't know if that test is actually used by the Army somewhere today or not but when I was in the Infantry, we shot our qualifications on a popup target range and were never taught some of the finer points of marksmanship that we learned at this school.

All of this was done at the 25 yard range. I think it was actually measured in meters if I recall correctly, but what's a few feet amongst friends? Once we had the basics down, we practiced our point of aim as well as shooting all 4 stages of the AQT over and over again. You had to shoot from both the standing and prone positions. You also had to shoot sitting and prone after transitioning there from a standing position and it was all timed. As people practiced this, they got better and better. All of us progressed at different rates. Several people scored the expert score of 'Rifleman' each day we practiced. Out of 21 students I believe over half made it to that coveted rank. Most of the rest were, as the instructors said, knocking on the door pretty hard by the end of the event. There was not a single member among us that was not dangerously effective with their rifle by the end of our training! Once you had the technique down, it was repetitive practice until you achieved Rifleman. Once there, some continued to shoot, others started working on instructing.

On Thursday we got split into too groups, those of us who had already achieved Rifleman or were knocking on the door, went to the known distance or KD range where we actually got to shoot out to 400 meters. This is where I was able to finally make the grade and earn my patch. We also spent the day gathering data on how our rifles shot at those known distances and what the targets looked like through our sights. By the time we were done with that we could tell you what range a target was at by how big it looked next to your front sight. Friday, we ended up in three groups and moved between them somewhat. Those that needed more individual help continued both Thursday and Friday on the 25 meter range and improved their skills with a few moving to the KD range. Those knocking on the door went to the KD, and those of us who were training for instructor positions went back to 25 meters to practice. Private Doofus was my favorite student during that part of the training. He was quite a challenge. The end of the day Friday marked the end of the RBC. Saturday and Sunday was the Appleseed event and people started arriving for that throughout the day on Friday. About half our group left Friday, having gotten some awesome instruction and trigger time for a steal. We had our last meal together as students that evening. Each day also had several history lessons taught. Some of these were training where we students would attempt to tell the story of April 19th, 1775, "The Shot Heard Round the World." All history lessons were concentrated on the events of that day. Good thing people back then took copious notes!

The Appleseed

The masses started arriving the morning of the 10th. It felt like an invasion. No time to mingle for us Instructors In Training! Off to the line to prepare. To nutshell an Appleseed for you, just read all the above stuff and compress it into about a paragraph and a half. We basically tried to pass on all of the above training to people in a much more abbreviated format. We ended up with over 60 people on the line Saturday. Some appeared to be there just to zero their rifles. Some were at their second or third Appleseed. Many were hungry for instruction. The biggest plus I saw was a pretty good turn out of youth. I'd bet we had more than 10 young people on the line. Several belonged to an organized youth group. Very neat! All of us trainees rotated through the various instructing positions, calling the line, line safety officer (LSO hangs out at the end of the line looking for safety issues and calls their part of line), and coaches. We all did demo's of the positions, NPOA, sling techniques, etc. also. The line ran very well. On Sunday, we had about 10 less Appleseeders. The line ran like clockwork. Everyone got the history lesson in parts. The last bit of practice was accomplished and AQT's were shot multiple times. We had several join the ranks of Rifleman over the two days that it ran.

At the end of the day, a lot of shooting and a lot of instructing (and learning) had taken place over the course of our adventure. We were whooped, happy but whooped. Bloody but victorious (literally, my elbows bled!). It was an awesome event to attend. In part II, I will go over the more personal experiences I had and give you more of my perception and opinion of the event. Hopefully my tips can help someone avoid my mistakes and have an even better experience at one. I will include a link to a lot of pictures of the event that you can look through at your leisure. Due to band width issues I'll only post one or two in the next post. So stay tuned...

Groundhog Out.

P.S. I forgot to mention the cost of this event. The true cost will be discussed in the next post as I cover preparedness. The only fee charged for the entire event was my $200 cost to register. This year, military, women and children shot free. Needless to say I took full advantage of that deal!
The Appleseed was less, $70 for both days, $45 for one. Boot camp covered the Appleseed cost.

Greg,

I read your post over at the M14firinglineforum.com and thought is was very well written.

Thanks for doing that.  I saw 2 or 3 guys wearing the M14firinglineforum.com T-shirts during check-in at the Davilla Appleseed.

I am looking forward to part II. :)

With the first real TX norther coming in for this 2007 year, I'm look for some heavy antlered mean ole' brush bucks this Thanksgiving Holiday.

Oughtta be some good hunting, right in time with the rut.  Perfect.

Thanks, Greg.


Good people, good times, memories for a lifetime.....

Appleseed!


Not gonna last forever...get in on it while the gettin's good....

SoM

Sorry for the late post. I would like to thank Scout for the use of his land and the instructors for the use of their time, I am grateful that men like you still exist. Theres so many things I want to say but others have already summed it more eloquently than I ever could. This was my frist Appleseed and it was everything I hoped for and more, even though I only stayed for Saturday, it was an "awakening". I dragged my buddy along too, we both had a really good time even though the wife is still giving him grief for "playing war with his stupid friends" hehehehe. I invited her out for the next Appleseed........she just looked at me funny. Oh well, I tried :)

Best Regards,

NM

A little video of the line on sat morning:
http://jettrail.net/Photos/Movie_0005.avi (http://jettrail.net/Photos/Movie_0005.avi)

In part one of my narrative, I wanted to get across what the RBC and Appleseed courses teach you and what to expect from a more academic perspective. This part is my personal experience and some pictures of the event.

Boot Camp - Arrive Early, Arrive Prepared.

That sums up what you need to do in order to have a pleasant unhurried experience at a RBC event. At least the beginning of one. By their nature, both RBC's and Appleseeds are hurried things. There is too much to teach and too little time to do it in. That's not saying it's not a quality experience though in any way. It's just... fast! At the Boot Camp, you will eat, breathe, and dream the shooting drills every day. You'll feel it. Boy will you feel it! I'm pretty sure even an 18 year old would be sore after a day or two of it but if you are 30 or over (I'm 42), you'll feel it but good. To me, the irony of that was the fact that all you did was stand, sit, lay down, shoot, and walk some. That's the extent of your physical exertion. Allowances are made for folks with disabilities. I hope my experience simply reflected on my sedentary life style and wasn't indicative of my permanent physical abilities!

My family and I, hereafter referred to as Fire Team Groundhog, arrived Sunday morning. We had never camped out before as a family. Being married for 16 years, that meant I was a touch rusty. We literally worked for weeks to get all the stuff ready we'd need, much of it borrowed from a good friend of mine. I don't recommend this approach! However, as it was our only option at the time, we went with it. The final packing showed us just how ill prepared we were. We couldn't get everything into our mini-van and ended up packing my car too. All that caused us to be so far behind that our host, Scout, recommended that we wait and drive up in the morning. A sound recommendation that was! At least we got there on time and had the presence of mind to have the shooting gear accessible so we were able to grab and go. The instructors don't dilly dally, there's just no time for it. Every break we got was spent doing what we could to get Fire Base Groundhog set up. Unfortunately, that amounted to just unloading a lot of stuff. Most days we shot until the sun went down. On our first day we actually had a little light left at the end but we still ended up setting up the tent mostly in the dark. A friends tent. One we'd never, ever, used before... This hapless situation is where the true spirit of the Boot Camp starts to come out in people. Several of our fellow students showed up and helped us get the tent into a tent like shape. Once that was conquered, we put just enough stuff down to sleep on and collapsed. I'm pretty sure we ate in there somewhere too. Scout fed us darned near every day. Now if you attend anRBC elsewhere, you probably won't get that kind of treatment. I'm just warning ya. Scout went waaaay above and beyond for this venture. Hmmm, just might be his undoing there. I can see it now... Nobody wants to attend the other boot camps, everyone waits until Davilla! Well, there's worse problems to have. At any rate, that is pretty much how the first day went except for one other minor thing. Scout had planned a run toBrenham to pick up ammo for them that needed it. I had NO ammo for the wife's AR and only about half of what I needed. The run got delayed a hair and once again the true spirit of the last class of '07 showed itself as plenty of ammo was offered in the mean time. There's that whole preparedness thingy rearing it's ugly head again.

Some of the best parts of the learning experience was having 'classes'. This gave us a chance to get away from the line for a bit and sit. In a chair and everything! Speaking of which, I highly recommend bringing folding chairs, the $10 camp kind. The classes went over the more technical aspects of what we learned on the line as well as our history lessons. There were two or three a day and functioned as a breather as much as a class. Some of the more entertaining moments of these classes were watching smoke come out of peoples ears. By that I don't mean anger, I mean more like pressure in your head trying to get an idea out. You could just see it (in your imagination anyway). JuniorBirdman and Dragon Wood both experienced these moments on rare occasion when trying to get a concept over to some of us who had our granite shields up. We students regularly experienced it when trying to get our shields DOWN! You do actually go over some complex stuff in a couple of these classes. Nothing the average Joe up and coming Rifleman can't handle mind you but it's not easy street either.

The action all takes place on the line. Two lines if you're lucky, the 25 meter and the Known Distance (KD) range. Our KD went out to 400m and could have easily accommodated 500 to 600 I'd bet. Most of what takes place on the line got a good going over in Part I of my narrative. From a personal perspective there were some things that stood out. One was how safe the line was. There was no complacency. There was a learning curve on the first day or two for the newer and rusty amongst us but that was to be expected. The supervision of this critical aspect of the camp was outstanding. I also found that my twisted version of the Boy Scout motto worked against me. Mine is apparently "Be OVER Prepared". I'll have to work on this. What I'm trying to say though is, take as little as possible to the line with you. It's just a pain to haul it all around. And yeah, I know I said I was unprepared in the beginning. That unpreparedness tended to exacerbate the overkill later. You are, however, on the line, all... day... long!!! So prepare accordingly. Sunscreen. Water. Hat. Think about what you'd need to go hiking all day. You get breaks of course, but you are out in mother nature all day. This might be no big deal if you happen to be an active duty infantry soldier but if you are a computer network administrator like myself it's quite a change. I am now in the market for one of those tacti-cool rifle carts. I think that would help a lot for dragging what you must down to the line and back. The KD range is a real eye opener. When I shot for the Army over 20 years ago, we never fired at paper past 25m. Our 'test' was on pop-ups that you never got to examine. Seeing what actually happens to your shots as the range increases is extremely educational. Also learning to gauge distance with how big things appear based on your front sites size next to it is very helpful. It would take more than the time we spent at the KD for me to get good at that though. They have you record data for your rifle based on it so at least you can go back later and know what you did.

Scout's place was great. I wish I lived on a huge ranch like that. The 25m range was down in a shallow depression that was ringed by a concrete curb. Scout said it was where the moon shiners backed up the trucks to load them back in the 30's. I suspect it was really for the old greyhound race track that used to be there. We camped just above this. It only rained one night and not very much, thank goodness. But the wind. My goodness it was strong and lasted for hours at a time. I seriously thought parts of my camp would blow away at times. The KD range was a long, gently sloping field about 150m away from the 25m range. We had the luxurious benefit of Scout's shuttle service to and from there courtesy of his tractor and a flat bed trailer. Don't sit over the wheels when Junior Birdman drives... Our backstop on the KD range was a bunch of the huge round hay bails, and of course, the angle of fire put you in the dirt shortly after that. We experienced something kind of neat with those hay bails though. Some of our bullets went through them and got slowed down enough that they just plopped out the back side and ended up on the ground for us to find. Several got a nice trophy out of that. Firebase Groundhog ended up being fairly comfortable but I could have made it more so if I had some experience at this camping stuff. We had electricity. Facilities were port-o-potties. He had set up a neat shower rig with a wood stove to heat the water so you could have a warm shower every evening. I got a cold one one morning. You move a lot faster when it's cold! As I mentioned, Scout fed the boot camp crew nearly every night and quite a few lunches too. Him and his Dad went through some serious brisket doing that. I tried my hand at breakfast tacos for everyone on Friday morning. That turned out OK but I needed to be better organized. We had a nice camp fire that lots of us hung around most evenings, assuming you were prepared and didn't have other things to do. Fire Team Groundhog ended up going to town two or three times to get supplies. On Friday evening a bunch of us worked to turn the 25m range sideways to get the line longer. Who knew the RWVA had a seabees outfit?

If I could have done this over again there are some things I would have changed based on personal experience and observation. Not all the tips and changes I'm going to describe are my personal experience! Guns and Ammo. Idealy you'll want a spare gun along for those "just in case" scenarios where your primary breaks. If that happens it will stink because you'll end up having to get your other rifle 'set up' for how you are shooting. A lot of guys brought .22's and tried to switch half way through. This forced you to relearn stuff for your 'new' rifle and slowed people down some. My recommendation would be to bring the rifle you want to shoot all the way through and stick with it from start to finish unless you absolutely have to change. Don't bring a bolt gun or a tube fed gun if you can help it unless you want an extra challenge. The course is designed with a semi-automatic, magazine fed rifle in mind that holds at least 10 rounds in a magazine. If you deviate from this you'll still learn it all but qualifying with another type of rifle is harder. The more magazines you have the better. Peep sites are better than notch sites if you got 'em. Use the same kind of ammo through out. It affects your accuracy if you don't. Scopes are fine but you'll feel like you accomplished more if you get qualified Rifleman with just your iron sites. Cheap safety glasses break easily. Carry spares. Don't forget to put your hearing protection on down at the line. It gets really loud if you don't. Ask me how I know that... The people that had RV's or camper trailers seemed to have things much easier. Bring 'em if you got 'em. Keep all food in coolers inside water tight zip locks. Soggy lunch meat is nasty. Bringing your entire family is fun. I now have several more shooters to have fun with. It's also hard. If you think it's tough getting everyone ready to get out the door in the morning for church or school, you think the same thing when it comes to getting everyone down to the line by 8AM. Actually, you'll probably find it more difficult. It was still fun though. If anyone has a good field expedient way of doing dishes at camp, I'm all ears. That part sucked. We thought about bringing our dogs. I'm glad we didn't. Two lanterns are better than one. Good cell service is hard to get away from the city. Roaming charges can and will get you if you let them! If you are an absolute novice shooter, go to an Appleseed or two before you attempt a boot camp. You'll do much better much quicker. Practice at home before you come. Just two things will help immeasurably. Dry firing to get your technique down and getting into the sitting and prone positions to get your body limbered up. Going from none to doing it all day long will get you really sore. A good coffee pot is worth it's weight in gold out in the field.

There are plenty more tips and tons more I could write about this but I've carried on long enough. Here's a couple of pix as well as a link to all the really good shots I got shared out for you on Photobucket. Come to one. Meet good people. Make new friends. Invite new people!

Here's the link to the whole picture set:

http://s233.photobucket.com/albums/e...%20RBC/Shared/

And here's a pic or two.


(http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee312/Groundhog9/Davilla%20RBC/Shared/100_0591.jpg)
Original 'Ol Glory

(http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee312/Groundhog9/Davilla%20RBC/Shared/100_0570.jpg)
I'm the guy in the red suspenders.

Just wanted to drag this out of the dust bin. This was the second RBC in Davilla in 2007 and it was a huge success. A lot of this I had forgotten about. We had to set up a 100 yard firing line with a full dirt berm and target line in one day/night and had a filled firing line the next day with over 80 shooters.

Just wanted to let the rest of the Texas folks take a look at themselves from 2007. Thanks Steve for reminding me and thanks to everyone involved in this RBC.  ;)

Thanks, Scout.
Those archived AARs are fun and educational to peruse through.

Check out that pic of Alonso in his "younger" days.   ;D

POP

Quote from: POP on April 01, 2011, 01:15:51 AM
Check out that pic of Alonso in his "younger" days.   ;D

Yeah, what a baby face!  :))