This past Saturday, 10 shooters braved the poor weather forecast and met at On Target at Fox Mountain for a Project Appleseed Marksmanship and Heritage Clinic. The weather forecasts were accurate, but our shooters and instructors were motivated to learn the quintessential American skill of precision marksmanship and hear the story of Liberty!
After the welcome by the Shoot Boss and the Range Owner (Ramblin Wreck), an outstanding First Strike by TnJay, and safety brief, we moved rifles to the line. Ramblin Wreck served as line boss and Fabricator shared the the story of Captain Daniel Morgan. Our shooters then set out to see if they would be cooks or Riflemen! We had robust instructor crew for this event and they focused on lots of one-on-one coaching with shooters.
Of course, our shooters arrived to learn not just to shoot. We worked through quite a bit of instruction and then shot our first square before lunch. 76Patriot told the Second Strike story, detailing the march to Concord, the actions of the Redcoat troops, and the valiant action of Colonel Barrett's militia taking the North Bridge.
After lunch, we continued the instruction. 76Patriot taught how our targets talk to us and how to work out Inches-Minutes-Clicks. Shot groups were really looking good by the end of the day and we closed out shooting an AQT. Saturday wrapped up with Fabricator sharing the Third Strike and everyone heard about farmers and blacksmiths forcing the Redcoats to retreat to Boston. The rain continued most of the day, but didn't dampen spirits at all.
While a couple of our shooters had Sunday plans, everyone else arrived Sunday morning ready for a challenge. At 8:30, we began our review of yesterday's teaching. Next up was a Redcoat target and then more drills, refinement, and polishing. By late morning, we began the AQT grind. We interrupted the grind a couple of times to have extra practice on sitting and some mag change drills. Remember - slow is smooth and smooth is fast! As the qualification opportunities progressed, we had one Rifleman and a couple of shooters knocking on the door!
*** Huzzah to James - 213! And he qualified again on another AQT!
*** Jeff & Christina - I know both of your 209s had to sting a little bit, but a Rifleman persists! Keep it up and you'll be sporting a patch soon.
Because we had good instructor coverage on Sunday, the Shoot Boss prodded the instructors to get down and knock out an AQT - both for practice and to shoot alongside our students. Lunch came and we listened to Fabricator share the stories of Dangerous Old Men. Goose, Rusty & Ramblinwreck tag-teamed the Known Distance instruction. (Remember, we have several KD events in the Georgia/Tennessee area this year - keep an eye on the schedule and sign up early!)
To all of our shooters: It was a real pleasure to have each of you on the line. Y'all came with open minds and a great attitudes toward safety. We hope you had a good time and thank you for the honor of serving you this weekend. We hope that you learned more about our extraordinary heritage and share the message of Liberty to those in your lives.
in Liberty,
Rusty
P.S. Please feel free to add your comments and pictures!!! I'll add a few pictures below, courtesy of GTEngineer! If you want any of the full-sized versions of them, please send me a message.
James here,
I cannot express how much I enjoyed my first Appleseed. Even though it was cold and wet, we were all warmed by the flames of Liberty burning in each shooter and instructor. A big thank you to all the instructors, you guys did a true yeoman's job on the history lectures and the top notch riflery instruction. And to my fellow shooters, you all were a joy to train with, I could not have asked for a more stalwart group!
I was very pleased to shoot Rifleman but that was not the real reason I came. I came to learn and to listen:
LEARN the history of that fateful day and maybe learn something a/b shooting!
LISTEN to the sage advice and experience of the instructors and fellow students.
The best advice given was to leave the egos in the vehicles which helped me considerably. O0
I am already looking at my schedule for the next Appleseed and I am pestering some of my local compatriots to come with me.
Thanks again and many blessing to all!
HUZZAH!
Jeff here,
Jay and I had a great time and appreciate the efforts made to work around my injury. We already have the calender marked for the Appleseed scheduled for late October. We hope to finish the goal of Rifleman next time!!
Thanks again.
It was another great Project Appleseed weekend with a group of like-minded patriots. Some were very close to upgrading their status from cook to Rifleman but I believe all of them left with a better appreciation of the sacrifices freely made to guarantee our Liberty.
Hope to see all of you on the line again soon.
Wreck
The weather might affect how we conduct an Appleseed, but it does not effect any decrease in Spirit and Attitude--it seems to bring out the best in everyone. Perseverance!
-Goose!
Thanks to all the participants for doing something for liberty; I enjoyed spending the weekend with everyone and look forward to seeing you all at another event! It was a treat to share our passion with fellow Americans!
Fabricator