This Appleseed was a fun-filled, family-oriented weekend, with an outstanding group of 18 patriotic shooters, and 8 staff, total. With 26 patriots working diligently as a team to boost marksmanship skills, the desired improvements flowed quickly.
On Saturday morning, our Red Coat targets showed we had 6 shooters effective at 100 yards, 2 shooters effective at 200 yards, 1 shooter effective at 300 yards, and 1 shooter effective at 400 yards. Three even managed to pass muster with Morgan's Shingle shot test, nailing the shingle, on Saturday morning.
By the end of the weekend, on Sunday afternoon, we had 3 shooters effective at 100 yards, 3 shooters effective at 200 yards, 3 shooters effective at 300 yards, and 3 shooters effective at 400 yards. And, we had 6 shooters even passing muster with Morgan's Shingle shot test. Two shooters even cleared their Red Coat targets, making 3 hits each at 100, 200, 300, and 400 yards, as well as passing Morgan's Shingle test! Huzzaah! Appleseed Marksmanship Methods work exceptionally well for growing a Nation of Riflemen!
This Appleseed was also an opportunity for "Flier" to continue his path down the Appleseed Trail, and he successfully passed his Instructor in Training (IIT) 3 exam, too. Congrats, Philip!
After our Safety Briefing and Red Coats on Saturday,the fire-hose of marksmanship instruction immediately commenced. We jumped immediately into sling usage in the standing and prone positions. This was followed by introducing the 6 Six Steps of Firing a Shot. A block of NPOA instruction ending with a snazzy green laser rifle came next. Sighter squares came next, and our shooters had tiny groups in just a few sets of sighters. Bear Arms presented Inches, Minutes, and Clicks (IMC) on the target line. After making the necessary simple mechanical adjustments to move their now tiny groups into the middle of their target squares, the majority of our shooters now had tiny groups centered in, or very near, their 1-inch target squares. No fuss, no muss! IMC works exceptionally fast when groups appear on targets!
Our next course of fire was LUNCH. Guntuckian began the history presentation with a 5 minute prologue, where we learned that for 6 generations, we colonists had learned to govern ourselves, and, as published by Benjamin Franklin in a scientific paper, America was well on its way to soon having more Englishmen than England! The French & Indian Wars came to an end in 1763, and by 1765 a worldwide global depression/recession had commenced. The Governments of England and France were both broke. America was primed for change! SWOFO then brought to life the story of the First Strike of the Match, just 244 years ago. This was followed by Bear Arms, who brought to life the Second Strike of the Match. Together, we followed the events of the Minute Men at Lexington Green and at Concord, for the Shot Heard Round the World!
Lunch finished, we then did a couple more rounds of sighters, while adding Rifleman's Cadence, and the Rifleman's Bubble, to get everyone's rifle completely dialed in, with the groups squarely centered on the sighter squares. Then, the Green Coat targets went up, and the sitting and kneeling positions, along with transitions from building a nest, to standing, to dropping into position quickly were all introduced. Adding two magazines, with 2 and 8 rounds, the stage 2 silhouettes of the Green Coat targets soon had served their purpose!
Next came the Standing to Prone Transition instruction, on the Stage 3 section of the Green Coat target.
And, the final piece of the marksmanship puzzle, the traditional position of Americans at Lexington Green and at the North Bridge, STANDING, was added, finishing off the Stage 1 section of the Green Coat target. A gray AQT target went up. And, Yankee Davey then brought us back from Concord to Boston with the telling of the Third Strike. Rested, and refreshed with hearing the Third Strike, and ready to tackle the famed AQT, our shooters then settled into shooting their first AQT of the weekend. And, we had numerous shooters just shy of the necessary 210 needed to score Rifleman, with scores above 195, and literally just 1 or 2 shots shy of Expert (210.)
On day two, Sunday, the fire hose of instruction commenced anew.
The Red Coats on Sunday morning followed, and we quickly reviewed our sling usages, the six steps to firing a shot, and NPOA. Shooters also worked on learning their trigger resets for THEIR rifle, by dry fire practice with their rifles across their laps, and with the muzzle pointed down range, before recommencing live fire. We reviewed IMC, with Flier instructing, as part of his Progress Check for IIT3, and final sight adjustments were made.
Lunch followed, where Guntuckian gave a Flag Tour, and we then heard stories of the Gray-Haired Messenger of Mortality, Hezekiah Wyman; Joshia Hayes, Jason Russell, Deborah Sampson, Sybil Luddington; and Samuel Whittemore. We also learned about Brigadier Lord Hugh Earl Percy's half-brother, with a connection still in existence to an Institution of Higher Learning in America even today!
We then commenced a sequence of AQTs. A tropical force wind and rainstorm hit during our second AQT, blowing 3 targets away. So, we Improvised, Adapted, and Overcame with a "water break," and a Known Distance presentation was given by Sieggie. The rains ended soon, and we resumed our AQTs. With our targets gone, this ½ AQT destroyed by rain and wind was simply abandoned, and we started anew!
Altogether, 4 ½ AQTs were done on Sunday, for a total of 5 over Saturday and Sunday, by all shooters. And, for 3 shooters, who did a 4 Minute AQT in place of their final Red Coat targets, yet another AQT was done, too, for a total of 5 AQTs on Sunday.
The Rifleman result was outstanding! We found 3 new Riflemen-qualified Experts! Jen scored a 212! Hallie scored a 210! And, Asa scored 211, 216, 236, 220, and 240, respectively, scoring all 5 times on Sunday, on each and every AQT!
Appleseed has a Distinguished Patch, for scoring 230 or higher with iron sights and 240 or higher with a scope. Asa earned his first Rifleman Patch as well as a Distinguished Patch, all in the same day, shooting with a scope! This was some mighty fine shooting, sir!
Everyone improved their marksmanship skills greatly this weekend, and honed their skills. We also had another 7 shooters who all scored above 195 on their AQTs, just missing by one or two or three shots earning their Rifleman Patches, too, this weekend! Dry fire practice is the key to earning your Rifleman Patch.
(Note: One shooter actually improved his score by a factor of 10, in going from his Saturday's AQT score to his Sunday's AQT scores! This is an incredible amount of marksmanship improvement!)
Payton, you nailed your Red Coat at 200 yards at your first Appleseed at age 7 this weekend! I see many great rifle marksmanship results in your future!
Jen, the satisfaction amongst all the Instructors in seeing you score a Rifleman patch was awesome! Come back and do it again! We all now know you can!
Stephen, you missed scoring Rifleman by just 2 points in the 4 Minute AQT, scoring 208, for your best AQT of the weekend. Practice your dry fire, and build muscle memory, and you will undoubtedly earn your patch very soon! (A 4 Minute AQT doesn't give any time to fuss a shot. With dry fire practice, you can learn not to fuss any shots, and you WILL earn your Rifleman Patch very soon!
Larry and Cindy, practice dry firing, and work on slow is smooth, and smooth is fast, and you will soon be on the path to Expert!
Jeremy and Michael, continue to work on your basic skills that you now have in your "Shooting Toolbox", and each of you, too, can earn your Rifleman Patch!
Leah, your enthusiasm is infectious, and your skills are improving rapidly! Work on dry firing, and practice magazine changes with empty magazines in your dry fire practice, too. We hear you knocking on the Rifleman Patch door! It won't be long!
Ken, Cole, and Payton. We so much enjoyed seeing the 3 of you on the line. Appleseed is more fun with family!
Ed and Ruth, your shooting improved immensely over the weekend! We hope to see you again soon!
Shirley, your groups are absolutely amazing. We hear you knocking on the Rifleman Patch door, too! It won't be long!
Asa and Hallie, your shooting skills are amazing! Welcome to our Instructor Cadre, and thanks for stepping up and taking Orange Hats, commencing your path down the Appleseed Trail as Instructors in Training!
Jesse, your groups shrank immensely using your 1907 Leather Sling over the weekend. Practice dry firing, with empty magazine changes, too, and you will undoubtedly earn your Rifleman patch soon! (Maybe I will see you at Knob Creek, too!)
Monique, your groups seem to bounce around, getting smaller, then larger, then smaller. Work on dry fire practice and you will undoubtedly very soon see just smaller and smaller groups. Dry fire practice will help greatly in avoiding canting your rifle, improving your group sizes.
In grand Appleseed fashion, we cleared the line, and we all pitched in and left the host range cleaner than when we arrived for our Appleseed.
Kudos to the Port Malabar Rifle and Pistol Club for so graciously providing us a range for the weekend without any range fees! The fully-covered line, with a separate area for the history portions, is a great venue. Also, kudos to PMRPC for permitting camping on site. Several of our shooters spent the night camping on the range in style!
All in all, this was a glorious weekend in the company of fellow patriots, with 26 altogether of us gathering together this weekend to help save the Ship of State from sinking. Our spirits were definitely lifted. We'll see you again, soon!
Pictures to follow.
(P.S. And, I should add, Bear Arms was one proud papa this weekend! Flier is his son, Hallie is his daughter, and Asa is his son-in-law! Appleseed is always more fun with family! But, you probably already knew that, didn't you!)
-- Gary
Youth Attendees, New Riflemen, New Orange Hat (Hallie), New Orange Hat (Asa), An Appleseed Family!
More photos!
https://actionforliberty.smugmug.com/Project-Appleseed/Project-Appleseed-Port-Malabar-May-2019/
This photo was simply too good not to share! Sieggie!
It was an incredible honor to spend the weekend with such amazing fellow patriots! I am looking forward to seeing you on the Appleseed line soon! Huzzah!!!
Special thanks to Blind Dog for blessing the cadre with pictures! Awesome job!
O0
Great Job getting the Family involved. You will soon be able to staff an entire shoot from just your household.
:F
Nice work guys and gals. :F
Huzzah!
Welcome to the cadre Asa and Halie!
Congrats all!
Dennis
O0 Well done and welcome new IIT's!
O0
Blind Dog put together a great video of our event, too! Check it out!
https://www.facebook.com/392696711179755/posts/721231141659642/
Outstanding!
Action For Liberty media page has been updated.
https://actionforliberty.smugmug.com/Project-Appleseed/Project-Appleseed-Port-Malabar-May-2019/ (https://actionforliberty.smugmug.com/Project-Appleseed/Project-Appleseed-Port-Malabar-May-2019/)
All videos and photos are downloadable. Quality of the media is much better then what is posted on social media which dumbs the resolution down.
Would be glad to add other photos or videos from other shoots to the "Action For Liberty" page https://actionforliberty.smugmug.com (https://actionforliberty.smugmug.com).
If interested pleaser contact me.
In Liberty. #actionforliberty
BlindDog. :F
Great job guys!