It was a fantastic weekend at the Jonesboro Shooting Sports Complex. This is a brand-new range in northeast Arkansas and they're already big boosters of the Appleseed mission. One of the Arkansas State Coordinators, SticksnStones, presented the range with a Project Appleseed flag as a thank you for this range's tremendous support.
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Keep checking the Arkansas schedule for more events at this range.
A cold front went through at the start of the weekend and temperatures dropped a few degrees with some welcome cloud cover but the threatened rain never materialized. It was about the best possible weather for a weekend outdoors.
All in all, this was a first-class celebration of our American heritage and marksmanship. I'll post some a few more pictures as soon as I get caught up . . .
I first earned my Rifleman patch in 2014, then became distracted by life and lost my focus. I didn't shoot again seriously until earlier this year, and got humbled at an AS in Bald Knob. (I also got COVID from someone....) I came to one day of another AS last month, and continued to struggle. After day one of this shoot, I honestly was wondering if my NPOA (metaphorically) was just gone? I explained to Captain and the Cadre at the beginning of day two that, all other excuses aside, I simply had not found the ability to relax behind the rifle like I used to. A good friend told me the night before that I was letting my head get in the way, and he was right. Captain demonstrated how to roll in to a good prone from the side, and I remembered it from decades ago... we worked it for a while, and I found my center. I found my RELAXED position I had been searching for, and shot a 219. Maybe it's silly, but I felt worthy of being there again after that...I have my first Rifleman patch on my range bag, but I've almost been ashamed that it's there since being humbled in Bald Knob...no more. Captain, Swiftongal, BuddyLove, Erik, Shawn, David from OK, and all the rest (and Jarrett) were patient enough to work through my stubbornness and bring me back to my center, and in gratitude I accepted the offer to take an orange hat and give something back. Swiftongal was kind enough to pass HER hat to me after earning her red hat, and that meant a lot!!
Nothing comes simply to me, that's just my life. My first AS back in '14, I struggled with a Marlin 795 all the first day, then finally grabbed a rack grade, iron sighted centerfire AR from my truck and managed to qualify with it. This weekend, I fired an M&P 15-22 all day Saturday, then Sunday morning as I was bagging it to leave my house, the extractor snapped when I closed the bolt on the chamber flag. I grabbed another rack grade .223 AR from my safe, hurriedly swapped my scope over, and got to the range. After re-zeroing, old faithful got me another patch. Then, after one shot of the last AQT of the day, a cartridge seized in the chamber and locked the whole thing up, necessitating disassembly on the firing line and a hammer...I used a borrowed AR and the "Rifleman's Dance" to CLEAR my last red coat target after not clearing any stage of one all weekend!
The Cadre was amazing at coaching, at supporting, and at relating the history that brings us all together. Thank you again, and I'm proud to join you.
Here's a few pics I took this weekend. Guns and Hoses has no idea how proud I was to pass my Orange Hat on to him!! I was honored that he was so happy with it! What a great guy. He's gonna fit right in with our little cadre who ribs each other and tries to "up" each other with some friendly competition, all the while, we are trying to inspire Americans to step up and be more active citizens.
I love the range at Jonesboro Shooting Sport Complex! Thanks for hosting our events.
Starting the Day off with "The Star Spangled Banner" was a touching patriotic moment. It personally gave me a moment to think about how wonderful it is to have the liberties we have as Americans.
Having one student on the line and several instructors, I took advantage of the chance to practice my skills with my AR. Although, I didn't manage to qualify with it, I recieved some excellent instructions and helped advice from my fellow Cadre. I will be practicing those techniques between now and the KD in Hot Springs.
Congratulations Guns&Hoses on finding your comfort zone for making that Rifleman score. Thank you for helping me find my shot with the AR (ball & dummy exercise). I know you will be valuable to the program. By the way, I'm a little jealous of your lucky orange hat 😀
My best shooting buddy is now a full instructor. You worked so hard for your promotion. I'm so proud for you Swiftongal!
It was nice to see Pballer2007 again.
I still think he cheated ðŸ˜...Captain shot a perfect 250! My hat is off to you, Sir!
As always is was a pleasure to spend time with the Cadre. I hope to see you all soon.
Of course, now I'm the guy who had to have his own private Appleseed event to get his Rifleman patch... ;D
Guns&Hoses, you were the perfect guy to fill our line on a low turnout shoot. Even sweeter was when you took SwiftonGal's Orange Hat! Any shoot where another great volunteer joins the Appleseed team is a success in my book!
That said Guns&Hoses had quite the weekend! He's been chasing his Rifleman's patch for a couple of events now. He definitely achieved his goals this weekend . . . he not only earned his patch with his centerfire (his 22LR broke Sunday morning) but he cleared a Red Coat target and then (as already mentioned) asked to take the Orange Hat being retired by SwiftonGal as she earned her Red Hat! Welcome to the Arkansas cadre!
Cleared Redcoat Target
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Some more pictures . . . like I said a low shooter turn out, but we were really able to make the most of it.
SwiftonGal teaching
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Coaching the line
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Another highlight of the weekend was being there to see SwiftonGal earn her Red Hat. We were all excited to get a picture with her on this big day. Big congratulations on Arkansas's newest Red Hat!
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Xyzzy made his first outing as a new Orange Hat and wasted no time stepping up to complete his first Progress Check and share his first history. Everyone enjoyed his telling of Samuel Whittemore's exploits on April 19, 1775. Well done.
We also had the opportunity to share the line with border raider PBaller2oo7. He joined us on the line while working through the SBIT process. It was good to hear his perspective and learn from his expert coaching on the line. He's certainly welcome back on our lines anytime!
Finally, let's talk about the shooting. The high instructor ratio provided everyone the opportunity to get in some trigger time. Seven instructors had the opportunity to get some significant time on the line, some worked on different rifles as an effort to prepare for the upcoming Known Distance event, while others also put some time into running some AQTs. In addition to numerous cleared Red Coats, we had six instructors requalify with four of those requaling distinguished! The Arkansas cadre really makes an effort to "walk the walk".
Many Red Coats were cleared
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Really an outstanding weekend! A new Rifleman/Orange Hat, and new Red Hat and lots of excellent marksmanship and shared heritage. That spark of Liberty is being fanned in Arkansas and it was a great weekend to share with fellow Appleseeders. Huzzah!
I hate that I didn't stay for the whole event. Y'all rocked it this weekend. Congrats to Guns&Hoses. You worked hard for that Rifleman score. Look forward to you being part of our cadre. I heard Xyzzy did a great DOM. Thanks for stepping up. Truly sorry that I wasn't there for SwiftonGal getting her red hat. And did y'all check Captains 250 good? Great job brother. He talks the talk and walks the walk.
Really missed getting to spend the whole weekend with y'all.
Congrats to ALL of you!