Whew, what a ride. Got home late last night, hit the treadmill running this morning and FINALLY getting around to my AAR.
Saturday morning brought a total of 14 shooters. Not bad for only 8 pre-regs. Our group fit perfectly on one of the larger bays on the Hogue Pistol Range. As a matter of fact, I could not have custom-ordered a nicer setup for our particular Appleseed. Perfect. Off-the-chart thanks to SLOSA, Richard, and Nelson for being the most gracious hosts a shoot boss could ask for.
Now, I've had people decide to go to Appleseed at the last moment, but I think this is the first time I've had someone learn about Appleseed and decide to participate AFTER they got there! Mark showed up expecting to attend a revolver match. Needless to say, his weekend turned out very differently than he'd planned! Kudos for switching gears on a moments notice and rocking our Appleseed!
Jesse, seeing us collect up our 7 LTRs was thoughtful enough to offer his help cleaning them all Saturday night. This is the spirit and attitude I can't get enough of. Thank you, Jesse!
Sara took the prize for "most improved". Best Saturday AQT-79, Best Sunday 186! that's real progress! Hey, Chad showed me pix you put on your facebook. How about posting a few of them over here? Everyone will want to see your "brass tatoo".
Sol and Jim, in addition to making great progress and shooting very well shared some personal insights regarding "bailing" and connecting with politicians and representatives. It was a real pleasure to meet you both.
And then there was Ben. Ben, I don't know what your top AQT scores were, but as I recall they were up in the 180s. This, folks, done with a Marlin tube fed bolt action while SHOOTING LEFT-HANDED and having to cross-over to cycle the bolt! VERY well done! Keep at it. You're going to get over the top.
Ben's dad Joe really toughed it out all weekend and made much improvement. He ALSO lucked out on the drawing for Paul Revere's ride. Not to leave well enough alone, Jesse donated his copy of Jefferson's War to be drawn!
Roger, good to see you again. You're shooting is SO much better than it was the last time I saw you. At 204 points, I expect you to have a patch the next time I see you. Great job staying on the path. Roger's daughter Lisa showed real persistance and posted some of the tightest groups I have ever seen.
Jesse's shooting was the big pressure-cooker of the weekend. This man scored 207 yesterday and is absolutely to earning his Rifleman patch. I know you'll knock it out of the park next time around. Let me know when and where your next shoot is.
CJ and Leland both learned a lot, shot very well, and were a pleasure to have on hand.
I want to write a paragraph for each and every person, as every one deserves writing about...but I actually have to FINISH this AAR...TODAY.
My heartfelt appreciation and deepest respect to ALL of you for your participation, persistance, and for being the Americans you are. You truly made my April 19th 2010 Appleseed the best I could hope for. Thank you all for the privilage of meeting you and working with you.
See you again soon.
Steve
Indeed rock-chucker!
A huge thanks to the San Luis Obispo Sportsman's Association! This is my local range, so it was nice to put on a great show for them. Now it's my turn to put my nose to the grindstone to make Appleseed happen here on a regular basis. I don't think it's going to take much to turn Jesse into an IIT, so we've already got the start of a "regular" crew.
I also need to thank rock-chucker and Mr Bill for coming up here to see me! The privilege was all mine to work with and learn from you two.
As for the shooters! What can you say about an outstanding bunch of Americans like the ones we had here. I'd like to thank each and every one of them for showing up, and yes they did all improve drastically. I hope they had as much fun learning as I did teaching.
One detail rock-chucker neglected to mention....
Quote of the weekend; "I'd like to see more of that butt"
(rock-chucker referring to the butt stock of the MA legal while Ben demo'd the standing position!)
A great weekend, Thank you all!
Andy
A big Thanks to Steve, Mr. Bill & Andy!
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs442.ash1/24404_388962047979_824362979_3805609_4730470_n.jpg)
closest to farthest,
Me (sara), CJ, Steve (instructing), Leland & Jesse way out back (top of photo)
(http://hphotos-sjc1.fbcdn.net/hs422.snc3/24404_388961997979_824362979_3805605_8241904_n.jpg)
Thean & Sara
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs442.ash1/24404_388962032979_824362979_3805608_6397850_n.jpg)
Sara, Sol, Jim, Mark, Joe & Ben!
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs402.snc3/24404_388997917979_824362979_3806194_3514204_n.jpg)
Who knew a 22 casing could leave a mark!?
You can check out more photos here: http://dirtdrivendesign.com/Site2/Pics/Pages/RWVA_Appleseed_Shoot.html
All in all it was a fun weekend!
We definitely recommend this to all our friends. Even the ones who think shooting @ 25 yards isn't a challenge!
We found out how hard it is thanks to the Red Coats & AQTs!
Nice y'all. Way to go there. Arkat, we missed you here buddy!! But it looks like you had a great crowd of people. Awesome. Just awesome.
And Sarajane. Nice pics/link.
I miss SLO.
Nice pics Sara
Thanks for telling your friends. I'll start working on the next shoot soon, and my offer still stands to meet any of you at the range with a stopwatch and instruction!
A
Hey RC great looking hat ! Nice shoot Buddy
JA
Wow, what a weekend. I showed up at the range expecting to shoot an ICORE revolver match. I was surprised when a guy in a green hat (Rock Chucker) told me there was an Apppleseed shoot about to begin. But I've been intrigued by Appleseed since I first heard about it, so when Rock Chucker offered to loan me a rifle, I jumped at the chance to participate.
The emphasis on natural point of aim (NPOA), using the sling, and the different shooting positions was very similar to basic marksmanship training in the Marine Corps. Most of the material presented was the same as I was taught in USMC bootcamp many years ago. Fortunately the Appleseed instructors are far more patient and articulate than the military instructors I remember. ;) My thanks to Rock Chucker, artkat2, and Mr. Bill.
There was wide range of folks, ranging in age from their 20's through to their 50's. Several women were there too. But everyone had one thing in common - they were great folks.
Over the next two days we learned a lot. We learned shooting technique, and the importance of civilian marksmanship, particularly as it applied to the American Revolution. The discussions about our shared history were both educational and entertaining. It was obvious that our instructors knew far more about history than most Americans, including me.
All in all, it was an excellent couple of days. At the end of it, I was tired and sore. But I learned a lot about shooting, and revived my interest in rifle marksmanship. I also met a lot of great people, all of whom have a love for the shooting sports. I also came away with a profound respect for the dedication and commitment of our instructors. All of the instructors devoted a LOT of time and energy into sharing their knowledge and skills. Many thanks, guys. O0
I didn't get my Rifleman badge, but I'll be back.
Hey there, Teufelhunden....
Glad to see you made it out there.... :)
Just a side note....with the exception of the sling, and the grip, about everything else they teach @ AS for "rifle", will translate directly to the "shorter sight radius brethren"....NPOA works well, no matter what you are doing...."trigger control" & "follow thru"? Same thing :cool2: ^:)^
It's -all- a good thing!! O0 ;)
Enjoy!!
LLP
Allright. NOW it's starting to look like an AAR! Welcome to the forum all! Yeah, SaraJane, NICE PIX. I like how you and Thean put them up on the dirtbydesign web site. Very cool.
Teuffelhunden...now THAT is a screen name! I was thinking about going with Farfignugen, myself, but.... ;D
What does that mean, Mark? Some kind of dog, auf Deutch, right?
Thanks for checking in with your good cheer, wisdom, and expert emoticon use lesson Laylo!
I'm looking forward to ALL of you getting your rifleman patches. You all can do it. keep practicing, and watch the appleseed schedule. Andy is working on getting more appleseeds scheduled in SLO, too. I have a sneaking feeling that SLO is going to become a real hotbed for appleseed activity. It just FEELS right. I know I'm looking forward to going back up there and seeing you all again.
Hey, did you guys get a load of the number of AARs just for last weekend? Over 100 of them! I just can't get over how friggin cool that is. If you ever get to wondering how people are on the other end of the country, just read their AARs. It's nice to see that there are folks just like us enjoying and celebrating our heritage ALL OVER THIS GREAT NATION! ^:)^
When we're getting ready for a shoot, we get this giddy feeling when we think about how great it is that WE ACTUALLY GET TO DO THIS! ^:)^
Thanks for poking in there, Johnny Appleseed! Sounds as though YOU had quite a time last weekend. I heard all about in on Rifleman Radio! For the rest of you, JA was the person who told Bill and I about Appleseed one day at Angeles Range, and got us to come to our first Appleseed in Piru. I hope all of you have the pleasure of meeting him. Anyone who can live up to the handle of Johnny Appleseed (and he does) is someone worth knowing!
Again, I'm grateful for the opportunity to meet a bunch more people worth knowing...YOU.
R-C
Hello RC,
I was in the mid 180's the whole time. I thought for sure the last AQT of the day was going to be better than that but even with every shot landed and in scoring range it was not enough. I will be around for the next Appleseed, I will get a rifleman badge. I will persist!!
Tell you what, Bigjacobus, you did REALLY WELL. I'll admit that you surprised me, espectially with that whole lefty crossover business. I do believe you will nail it on your next time around. Can't wait to see it! I know you don't like to dry fire your rifle. That being the case, I suggest you buy some .22LR "Snap Caps", which are dummy rounds made specifically for dry firing. Dry fire practice at home from all 3 positions most definitely will pay off in better scores.
Nice to hear from you on the forum. Poke around, and you'll find more useful information.
Persist!
R-C
TY RC ,I would sure enjoy working a shoot when your SB .
JA