The second outdoor Amarillo Appleseed welcomed 14 shooters on Saturday in blustery but dry conditions. They persisted through the usual number of equipment challenges and all showed commendible progress over the two day event. It's a pleasure to work with people who show up with a teachable attitude and are willing to try new shooting techniques. Special thanks to shooters Jeff and Jim who stepped up as RSO's and to all the shooters who stayed after and helped take the line down.
I'm pleased to recognize three new Riflemen: Andy, Tom, and Kent. Andy made Rifleman as soon as we convinced Tom to quit adding extra holes on Andy's target (Green 4) &). Then Tom made Rifleman when all the shots he'd been putting on Andy's target showed up back on his target (Green 5) where they belonged ::) O0. Kent, who couldn't make it to the March 28-29 AS because he was snowed in, made Rifleman with a loaner Marlin 795 (yeah, they are good little rifles, aren't they? 8)).
Special mention to TJ, who reached the dreaded 205-209 barrier, and to his wife Marin who used a clip-fed bolt-action Winchester 22 (w/1907 sling) that had belonged to her Grandfather with commendable skill. Magazine feeding problems let her "save" more rounds than she wanted too, but when the mags fed right she shot well. I hope to work with both of them at future events. Young shooters Dylan and Evan worked diligently with conventional iron-sighted rifles: Dylan with one of them new-fangled self-loaders; Evan with a very nice vintage bolt gun. Evan drove up in a '65 Ford - gad, that brought back a lot of memories - let's see, I was just out of high school when they came out and (oh, ah, never mind, SOM, SOM ;D).
Also special mention to Jeff's son Hunter who, though not ready to tackle sitting or standing positions, shot steadily in prone, could recite the 6-steps better than a number of the adults, and impressed me with his knowledge of Revolutionary War history. It's nice to know that some places are still teaching the information we think know is so important for our future.
ASHRN03 put on a great shoot.
With up to 15 shooters on the line at once it was really more than a one man show...but he got it done and done well. Everything was run right and on time- participants got their money's worth in shooting for certain.
The History was as always stirring to hear, my son deeply appreciated it and I believe that he understands the importance of our shooting heritage.....it wasn't Cricket Bats that won our independence! We will work steadily on his skills and perhaps by fall he will be ready for a crack at the whole "shootin' match" as it were....
Thanks!
Tom did call the shot for Ashrn on Andy's target, he just wouldn't listen. Sorry it took Andy one more qualifying COF to get that rifleman patch. Great two days of learning and shooting
I've been telling everyone who will listen about what a great program this is.
Ashrn03 had things set up and ready and did an outstanding job of keeping us all on track.
The history and focus on our heritage provided a very motivational backdrop to the shooting skills I learned.
Thanks to ashrn03 for all his work and for loaning me a Marlin 795 the first day. A .22 is definitely the way to go for the 25 yd range.
All in all, just great people, great instruction and an incredibly rewarding weekend.
I received the following email from one of the young gentlemen at the 4/18-19 Appleseed (who also gave me permission to post it).
Mr. Seeley,
I decided to write and tell you how much I got out of this past Appleseed Shoot. While shooting at 4-H target practice this Tuesday, my prone scores went from 75 points out of a possible 100, too 91 points out of 100. My standing scores went from a mere 42 points to 65 points. I am absolutely amazed at how high my scores have leapt since the Appleseed. The only position I still need some work on is my kneeling position. I only managed to score 64 points, which was one point lower than my standing score. Do you have any recomendations for improving it? Once again, thank you for putting on such an outstanding program.
Respectfully,
Evan Salisbury
A polite note from a nice young man; gives one hope for the future. (And yes, I did answer him but the reply was seven paragraphs and is not germane to this AAR).
O0
That's what makes it all worthwhile.
Sam