This weekend saw another fine example of a Toccoa, GA Appleseed; a sold out event filled by enthusiastic shooters led by some of the best instructors that Georgia has to offer!
After the Saturday morning safety briefing the shooters were challenged with the first Hits Count target of the day. Sadly, it seems that many of these fine Americans would be bayonetted by the charging Redcoats. By the end of the day however, over half of the line demonstrated their newly found abilities to keep the Lobsterbacks at bay! Two of these fine Patriots were even effective now out to 400 yards and four would have qualified for Daniel Morgan's Company with their hits on the 250 yard shingle! Huzzah!!
Lunchtime gave everyone the opportunity to hear the First and Second Strikes of the Match. The respite of the shelter was welcome as the sun had us all wiping our brows continually in the warmer-than-comfortable conditions. After lunch it was back to the squares and more teaching modules. At the mid-afternoon break we heard the Third Strike of the Match and the day ended with an outstanding benediction from our State Coordinator, Friedenmeister. Despite some heroic efforts no riflemen were found on Saturday.
Sunday began as it always must at Toccoa; no shooting at this range until noon. We start off with a thorough review of the previous day's teaching and then adding the Known Distance component and Dangerous Old Men (and Gallant Women and Children). The KD component by DrJohn was one of the best ever. The 18 returning shooters were absolutely intent as they listened to the information by DrJohn. There were many questions and much discussion about Known Distance, so much so that it caused the shooters to be a little late in getting to the line and squeezing triggers right at noon as I had promised them.
Once at the line we shot some sighter targets and went right into the AQT Grind. At 2:30, DrJohn took some of the shooters to the rifle range to shoot 100 yard squares and I heard they were even shooting out to the 300 yard gong! At the main line there were some quality AQT scores being turned in and then I had the privilege of scoring one target that tallied 210!! Way to go Neal!! After a few more AQTs one of the IITs brought me two targets with Melissa's name on them. One scored 217 and the other 219!! Outstanding Melissa!
The end of the day ceremony found DrJohn presenting Neal with his Rifleman Patch (while I provided the obligatory baptism of the North Bridge Water for his 210 score) and then I had the honor of presenting Melissa with her well-deserved and well-earned patch of her own. Many others were knocking at the door and I'm sure we will see many of them at another AS soon. Shooters, remember to persist and Dryfire!! Dryfire!!
One of the most rewarding mental pictures this Instructor takes from a weekend like this is seeing some of the youth of America attending with their parent(s). Ethan, Connor, Will and Jesse, thank you for spending this time with us. I hope to see each of you again soon at another AS.
This Instructor is truly blessed to be amongst such fine, Liberty loving Americans. In both the Instructor cadre and the shooters who attended this weekend I am hard pressed to find better individuals. Thank you for making me want to come back again and again.
Morpheus
I want to send out a big "Thank You" to all of the people who helped me to finally put all the 6 steps together this weekend. :bow: Some of ya'll had to pound it into my head to not drag wood and to follow through (Brooks & Carl II). &) One thing that helped was Morpheus telling us that even if you didn't get all of your shots off in stage 2 & 3, you could still score high enough if those shots were well placed. O0 Another thing that helped was having Carl II tell me that I had the skills and I just needed to take my time in stage 4. :~ I know the advise about stage 4 is repeated right before that stage is shot, but I guess it took a while for it to sink in.:slap:
On a serious note, America needs more people like those in the Appleseed family...people who love liberty and who want to turn this country around. Thank you all for giving your time and effort toward that goal. Huzzah!
Melissa
This instructor is always encouraged and amazed what outstanding Americans attend our Appleseed events, and at their persistence and steadfastness. Learning how to handle a rifle with skill is not a quick or easy process, and shooting in the heat of a Georgia summer is challenging, to say the least. Yet our gallant students set about their task with steadiness and resolve, and were undeterred. I think it is appropriate to point out something here. We compressed into two days, what recruits in 1942 had to learn in TWO WEEKS. A score of 125-169 on the AQT qualifies the student as a Marksman. A score of 170-209 qualifies as Sharpshooter. A score of 210 or higher qualifies as Expert (Rifleman). It is a great achievement that so many students made so much progress in such a limited amount of time, and I hope all of you are aware just how much you accomplished in such little time, under such hard conditions. It was an honor and privilege to work with each one of you. Remember to dry fire, to spread the message of Liberty, and to teach the lessons you learned to others. Huzza to you all!
THANK YOU to all of the instructors (and their families) who made this a truly stellar event! Having "learned" to shoot as a teenager, and possessing a terrible addiction to deer hunting, I felt sure that while there is always room for improvement, obtaining a rifleman's score would be a relatively easy challenge. Man was I off! I learned more in 2 days about proper technique than in over 2 decades of shooting. While burning gunpowder is always fun, I was most affected by the history and facts surrounding our war for independence and revolution that took place in the minds of those young Americans. Touched by the stories of sacrifice (Morpheus your daughter gave a speech worthy of college level). Finally, my wife and I were heartened to find that yes, there ARE other like-minded freedom loving folks out there. We look forward to attending future events and volunteering our time for this worthy cause.
Huzaah! O0
This was my very first Appleseed; it will not be my last. Thanks again to the instructors, participants and the GMSA for their facility!
As I shared with many folks; I was raised around avid shooters and hunters. As an adolescent I shot competitive small bore (50' indoor) and felt confident around a rifle. I arrived at the Toccoa range with two thoughts: First, I would set aside my old methods and be receptive to the instructors; since old habits do indeed die hard, this proved more challenging than anticipated. Second, I secretly felt that the "rifleman's score" would be fairly simple to attain (cue the wise smile from the instructors). At the close of Sunday's time together, I realized that making rifleman was not as important as I arrived believing; nor was it as easy. As a persistent individual, I am confident that it will come in time; however, it is not my primary focus. A spark has been lit; the hopelessness I feel when I think about our country, has been replaced with a desire to effect change. Appleseed has accomplished part of its mission in me; now its my turn. I have the pleasure of seeing two friends sign up this morning for the Dublin "AS" 10-6/7; I will be there as well; this time with a centerfire rifle, as my 10-22 will be on loan that day!
Best regards,
Fabricator