What an INCREDIBLE event at a best-in-class range, The Ben Avery Shooting Facility just north of Phoenix, AZ.
We were a sold event of 20 shooters and who better to learn from than two of our most experienced instructors. Traveling from Alabama and New Mexico respectively Maximum Ordinate, our National Coordinator and Mrs Smith our Deputy Regional Southwest Coordinator both graciously volunteered their time and with RedHat in hand provided some amazing instruction as well as very touching history. Not to be outdone was our local talent, HNHArmory, his first event since returning as an instructor to the program and Suman our promising Orange Hat, his second as an instructor. Both did an excellent job and had our shooters progressing from the very start.
However, the true stars of the show were the shooters themselves. After our focus on Dry-Firing it was clear the results were undeniable. With 16 shooters actually making the event, the majority of them First Time Appleseeders, the first round of shot groupings from these students were the best I have ever seen at any Appleseed Event I've attended. DRY-FIRING WORKS and by the end of Day 1 we had those Red Coat targets concerned; even with the afternoon gusts of 8-15 mph winds. Our youngest shooter, Riley, was really impressing us with her groups having no prior experience in rifle marksmanship.
Day 2 began, with 12 Shooters who made the return trip to finish what they started. The Red Coat targets had called in reinforcement in the way of 15 mph sustained winds much of the morning. The shooters enthusiastically took in the instruction while centered around the Shooting Mat of Knowledge and despite a very long two days of teaching and drinking from the fire hose, the shooters were still laughing, smiling and fully engaged. Everyone seemed to not want it to end. Unfortunately, we did have to wrap it up.
We shot a final red coat and there was a clear improvement from Day 1 with 2 clearing the targets and 6 Shingle Hits. Two shooters achieved that elusive Rifleman Score. Lucas, already a Distinguished Rifleman with Iron Sights took another Rifleman Patch. Then there was Kelly who not only shot a Rifleman Score, he also felt compelled to answer the call and took an ORANGE HAT!!! HUZZAH!!! Sorry Kelly but I will forever hold you to a higher standard since, having earned my Shoot Boss title that afternoon, you are my very first Rifleman and Orange Hat.
There were several other shooters very close to earning their Rifleman. I am certain that the next event for them will see them earning that patch. I also heard some of those had some interest in also taking an orange hat. One of them being our Jersey Girl transplant (Jayde). A special shout out to Robert who scored a 195, (SO CLOSE!!) and Myrna, an amazing woman who went out of her way to board her cat kids just to be able to make the event. She's already set for the next event and showed us the true meaning of PERSIST! Both of them first time Appleseeders.
A big congratulations to all of you. It was an absolute pleasure to work with you all and watch as you progressed. I hope to see you all again soon.
In Liberty,
Dan "Mr6Actual"
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Thanks Mr6Actual,
This weekend was a fantastic event. Definitely the best event I've been to.
I'm could not be more excited to join the team to share the lessons history, liberty and marksmanship.
It was a great way to spend a weekend!
I really like it when we have a big group of shooters who bring a mixed level of experience. Everyone feeds off of the learning that happens.
Big shout out to Maximum Ordinant and Mrs. Smith for their contributions.
I'm already looking forward to the next shoot! :F
Something very important is missing from this report. I need to know more about the image of someone playing bagpipes. That is too awesome a thing to have left out.
Geek
This is a GREAT story,
Mr Lucas here is certainly a class act. First a bit of background. At our last PATRIOT'S DAY shoot in April of this year, he shot a DISTINGUISHED 235 with Iron Sights. When it came time to do the Memorial Shoot, he just so happened to have his bagpipes in the car. He retrieved them and as I read the names of the fallen and the remaining students fired their memorial volley, the sound of Amazing Grace played in the background. IT WAS AWESOME!!!! I am not sure how to get the video posted to play but if I figure it out, I will.
He returned for this shoot, again with bagpipes and demonstrated his talent for us again. Truly an inspiring thing to hear.
Mr Lucas is a great example of our best Appleseed volunteers. The ones that don't wear a hat but come back and make our events awesome. Kudos to him for being both an awesome Rifleman and sharing his musical skills with the participants. I find your response better than I could have imagined. mr6actual, thank you for the update. Mr Lucas, thank you for your willingness to share your talent with others at our events. As an Appleseed volunteer, I look for outstanding folks like this at every event.
Geek
Let's see if this works:
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So it doesn't have the sound ðŸ¤"
But if you follow this link you should be able to listen to it: https://i.imgur.com/t8i2Ofg.mp4 (https://i.imgur.com/t8i2Ofg.mp4)
Greetings!
I just want to express my gratitude for the OCT 28/29th class at Ben Avery. Below is a portion of an email response I sent to Mr6actual reflecting on the two day course. I look forward to continuing this journey that Appleseed has now put me on - I'm getting that patch!!
"I want to just quickly comment on my shoot experience at Ben Avery on Oct 28th and 29th. I cannot express the gratitude and good times I feel/felt leaving the two day event. I know exactly what I need to work on and more importantly HOW to work at getting better. Just PRICELESS!
Starting with you (Dan) and how you handled and ran the class coupled with your ability to message, teach... I appreciated it and got a lot out of it. Additionally, Samanth (I hope I spelled his name right, apologies if not) taking some extra time to help me make sense and understand what I was doing correctly to where I need to focus my work on. Nik (how he marked his mags) offering and lending some 5/10 round mags just to be helpful. I appreciated both of them immensely. Two other major highlights for me were listening to Maximum Ordinate talk long range shooting and its fundamentals (I eavesdropped at every opportunity!). Very experienced shooter who is more than willing to help/teach others. His expression of how shooting is like chicken soup for the soul... Well, lets just say I felt like I found "my tribe" with his words, which spoke directly to me. Finally, Mrs Smith - LOVED HER! Great teacher, great spirit and man, she made it fun and interesting. She really knows her stuff as did everyone associated, but I just wanted to take time to call her out as being great.
Again, I cant thank you all enough for such a great experience and the perfect intro into training on the proper fundamentals of rifle marksmanship. Each and every person (Instructor or student) I came into contact with for this two day shoot event were top notch folks and it was a honor to be a part of it.
Now.... Its time to learn more about Appleseed, how I may be able to be helpful to the project, and also get my Rifleman Patch!!
Sincerely with gratitude and a volley of pew-pews,
Bill"
Quote from: mesobuku on November 19, 2023, 01:02:07 PM
Now.... Its time to learn more about Appleseed, how I may be able to be helpful to the project, and also get my Rifleman Patch!!
Sincerely with gratitude and a volley of pew-pews,
Bill"
Bill thanks for your kind words and thank you for being a Modern American with an interest in our heritage of liberty and marksmanship. Educating shooters like yourself is what Appleseed is all about.
This forum is a good way to ask for help. You can look for existing topics or create a new post. I'm also going to reach out with a direct message and talk about what the next steps are for you.