Lady Liberty must have been smiling to see all the fine patriots who came out to celebrate Patriot's Day and to learn the fine American martial art of rifle marksmanship. The overcast skies, which promised rain, only served to keep the temperatures cooler and the conditions were great. The Saturday morning Redcoat showed that there would be vast room for improvement but the students must have listened and applied the marksmanship teaching because by the end of the weekend we had revealed three new Riflemen along with several others who re-qualified. Congratulations to Bill, Bob, and Chris for some fine shooting and welcome to the exalted ranks who call themselves "Rifleman". I believe that the spirits of those brave men who gave their lives in the cause of Liberty would have been proud to see how this small group of modern Americans are still trying to preserve--and honor--their traditions and heritage.
Todd, you are so very close to making the score. Don't overthink it. Just relax, let your NPOA work for you, and employ all of the six steps and your shooting will improve so much it will surprise you. Samantha, keep your focus on the front sight and adjust your NPOA so finely that your will alone is enough to keep the sights on the target. Dix, you make me proud. Your sheer determination has paid off in spades. Your AQT proves that you have not lost it as a score of 224 is respectable indeed. And that is before you consider that you did it with a .30 caliber battle rifle, at the end of a long day, while cooking in the sun. Well done, sir! To all those who made the effort to come out, thank you. Lastly I should mention how grateful I am to our instructional staff: Rambo Granny, TomM1Thumb, ShaneD22, Red Feather, Neilevan, and Prof. C.J. You guys rock!
Some mostly random order photos are contained in the link:http://s1125.photobucket.com/user/bruce_smith1/slideshow/NSB%20PATRIOT%20DAY (http://s1125.photobucket.com/user/bruce_smith1/slideshow/NSB%20PATRIOT%20DAY) Add yours if you have any.
Bruce , thank you for your words of encouragement. I will keep dryfiring at home and work on everything. My goal is to shoot score next round and volunteer to help out the cause. Appleseed brings out the best in people and I cant wiat to grab an orange hat and help spread the word.
I have a few pics I snapped I will see If I can get them to upload. Such a great weekend , and for those that stayed for the watermelon is was the better.
Pics
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Thanks again ,
Todd
Wow! What a wonderful weekend indeed. Believe it or not, I actually thought I was a pretty good shot before coming out to my first Appleseed. Very early on during the first day I learned that was not the case, not even close! Sound familiar? Anyway; it was tough at first to disregard all the countless bad habits I had developed over the years firing various rifles - employing the methods the instructors taught with the sling really does work. I was definitely humbled to say the least. The most helpful information for me was trigger control, finger position, following though with the shot, and sling use. Who would have thought a 15 dollar sling could work so many wonders? I'm a true believer now!! Riffle skills aside, the number one lesson I learned was really about myself. During some post shoot inner reflection on Saturday evening while cleaning my rifle I realized that I could be a much better man simply by being consistently persistent and developing the will to follow through to the end and never give up. Believe me, there were a few moments on Saturday where I wanted to pack it up and roll out. I had a refreshed and new positive outlook when I arrived Sunday morning, I wanted the rifleman patch and was determined more that ever to reach the goal. Long story short - Employing the methods taught to me on Saturday and 400 rounds later: on the last course of fire Sunday I shot a 212 on the AQT and was able to stand proud with that little symbolic patch of persistence. I was truly overwhelmed by an awesome sense of accomplishment, determination and sheer will really does pay off. All said, Appleseed taught me so much more than how to shoot holes in a very tiny spot on paper - it taught me about myself, that is indeed priceless. I was so impressed by the experience and the message given by Appleseed that I want to volunteer as a blue hat at future shoots in Florida. I live in St Augustine and would absolutely love to help out at the shoot coming up on June 13th and 14th at the Ancient City shooting range right here in my home town. My new desire now is to serve RWVA anyway I can and top my rifleman score - I'll be gunning for the 230 mark at the next shoot I attend. Thank you all!
I am ready for the Next event at this venue, But Sadly I can not Find it listed. Rumor has it will be in October. Please Help Me!
Yep. Looks like I will have to go to clearwater next month to try again.
I do see a 1 day in orlando , but that just sounds like not enough fun. :---