Eight hardy people showed up on Saturday to weather that brought down snow all day, with the exception of one hour. Many gloves, coats, rain gear and even a pair of boots were borrowed from oneshot_onehole. Despite the experience of Appleseed during a blizzard, seven returned on Sunday in addition to a couple walk-on people who had been to a prior Appleseed weekend.
The instructors were oneshot_onehole, BrassBucket, TheDud, Offy and Colorado Pete (for Sunday).
The weather was cool but much better on Sunday and the students quickly got up to speed and made great gains in their marksmanship skills. They enjoyed the history and the volley and went away happy campers.
Several stayed afterwards to get a chance to shoot our Garand.
Thanks to those that attended this weather-challenged weekend.
I was impressed with the level of turnout at this weekends shoot at BLGC considering the weather. I honestly expected to be one of the only ones and was glad to see other with termination. While this was my first Applesseed, I've been reading and practicing for years with many other levels of training. I still believe strongly in the original goal of Applessed to build a nation of Rifleman and will continue to urge other new shooters to attend the Applessed Project. It is an excellent course for beginning shooters and provides the framework to excel as far as each individual chooses.
Sincerely,
Dustin
Another thing to mention is continue to try and don't get frustrated on your first try. I noticed a lot of new shooters to include others that were just rusty. Shooting is only a few basic principles but they must be mastered to advance and they apply at 25m out to 1000m and past. If you don't master the basics you can't go past; craw, walk run.
Do not be discouraged from your first time shooting. It is the same as learning to drive a car. The first time you got behind the wheel it was awkward and uncomfortable. However, with time, it became second nature and very comfortable. Keep shooting and practicing correctly. A good thing to do is keep a list of steps to the fundamentals next to you while you shoot so you can ensure you are not missing out. Fred's M14 stocks offers the "Guide to becoming a Rifleman" along with packs of targets to keep up and improve.
For new shooters, it is best to make 1" squares on a piece of paper and shoot until you consistently group your shots in the 1" square before advancing the the targets.
Both the Applessed store and Fredsm14stocks sell the targets, AQT Qual, but Fred's is the only I'm aware of that sells the guide that I highly recommend. I read it at home and take it to the range. Never to late to refresh over the basic fundamentals.
Fred's M14 Stocks- Guide to Becoming a Rifleman
http://fredsm14stocks.com/25M-Army-Qualification-Test-AQT-Targets-Ten-Sets-w-Guide-AQT1.
Sincerely,
Dustin
Shooter45, good meeting ya. Maybe see you down the line sometime.
"Good shooting is good execution of the fundamentals. Great shooting is great execution of the fundamentals."
Dustin, that is a beautiful target! I heard you've been shooting AQTs since you were a young lad and it shows.
Thanks for the kind words about Appleseed and the encouraging words to new shooters.
I know you have some challenges but please get to another Appleseed and then join our group of instructors. They are the best people we know. Stay in touch.
Kim
(wife of Jim)
Lest anyone forget the epic mud on the target line! What an (eventually) great weekend after the weather stopped tormenting us. So glad to spend the time with great shooters with great attitudes. Maybe next time around we'll have seasonable temperatures and I won't be dressed like the Michelin Man.