We had an outstanding weekend of Liberty at Memphis Sport Shooting Association! The line was full at our sold out event with 15 shooters including 8 first time Appleseeders and 8 young Patriots 16yo or younger! A local Troop of American Heritage Girls made up a large part of the shooters, and those girls were AWESOME to work with! It was my first time getting to work with this organization, and I was very impressed with their teachable attitudes, their positivity, and their eagerness to learn about both Marksmanship and Liberty. Shoot Boss Guns&Hoses took the honor of leading off with the First Strike, after which SwiftonGal made sure everyone was familiar with the Appleseed Safety Rules and how to make a safe rifle. She even did the dance for us! Rifles were brought to the line, and with the exception of one centerfire .223, everyone had some variation of the venerable Ruger 10/22, which made equipment check easy, and streamlined the learning curve for those who had never handled a rifle before. After learning the line commands and different ammunition malfunctions, the first Hits Count target was posted and WOW! Even with so many new shooters on the line, we started the day with eight 100yd shooters, three 200 yd shooters, two 300 yd shooters, and one 400yd shooter plus two hits on Morgan's Shingle! Kinley managed to clear the target right out of the gate, which was no surprise as this young lady has already earned a Distinguished patch! This led into our POIs, which the instructors were absolute rock stars at delivering, even considering the noise from the action pistol match happening in the next bay over and the trains coming through right behind us. Lunchtime brought smiles and a great Second Strike by 901Gun. I always enjoy hearing her tell the history, as she makes sure to mention as many names of the Patriots in the stories as she can. It's important to remember the names, we all agree. The afternoon got even warmer, into the high 90s, but the resiliency and focus of the shooters was evident, and would make our Founding Fathers proud. Southeast RC Upacreek delivered the Third Strike, and really brought home the message of the sacrifices made for us by the men and women who became Americans that day at Merriam's Corner and all along Battle Road when the first shots fired in defense of strangers rang out. We worked through our first AQT of the weekend interspersing the stages with the Periods of Instruction in the Course of Fire, and put up some really good first time scores! We had one requal, young Kinley, and no new Rifleman scores, but the last Hits Count target of the day REALLY showed the improvement, with SIX 200yd shooters and five hits on Morgan's Shingle! One of my favorite parts of the day though, was getting to present so many William Diamond patches and share the bravery of the young man who stood his ground with Capt Parker, armed only with a drum.
Sunday started with smiling faces and determination. We ran through refreshers of all the things we learned the day before, then posted the Hits Count target again, producing two 400yd shooters and three shingle hits. After some squares targets to get loosened up, Upacreek ran a Ball and Dummy drill that really helped some of the shooters recognize which of the 6 Steps they needed to work on. After teaching the KD Presentation during lunch, I could definitely see some interest when we talked about coming to a real KD event and applying the fundamentals they'd learned to a Rifleman's Quarter Mile. Several more AQTs were shot, and we finished the day with the Parker's Revenge target before shooting the last Hits Count target. Parker's Revenge was a lot of fun, and enjoyed by everyone! The final Hits Count target revealed FOUR 400yd shooters and 6 hits on Morgan's Shingle! The improvement shown in marksmanship was great, and really pleased both the shooters and the instructors!
The Midsouth Sports Shooting Association provided a great range for us, and ESPECIALLY appreciated were the group of men from the Midsouth Riflemen who showed up Friday and set the range up for us, as well as Sunday afternoon to tear it back down! Local instructors 901Gun, SavvySteve, and Mustang (after a trying first day of car trouble) along with Applecore volunteer TigerDriver were amazing hosts, and I really appreciated SwiftonGal and Papasi coming across the Mighty Mississippi from Arkansas to help, as well as Upacreek who drove all the way from Georgia! Thank you all so much, let's do it again!!
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Looks like a great event Jeremy!
That's a great AAR, Jeremy. It sounds like you had a great weekend with some great students.
Quote from: B-LINE1 on September 17, 2025, 11:56:43 PMThat's a great AAR, Jeremy. It sounds like you had a great weekend with some great students.
thanks Brian, we really did!
It was great to see Memphis again. What a nice range. Brian and Kristy were awesome hosts - pointing us in the right direction for a hotel and restaurants. I even got escorted to the range Saturday morning so I didn't get lost (GPS works, I was just on the way and Brian is super hospitable) Guns & Hoses ran a great shoot. I'm pretty sure the same family has been at every shoot I've been to in Memphis. Kinley was one or two shots away from a Rifleman score the last time I was here and now she's shooting distinguished and helping her brother and family friends! Three generations and the two sets of grandparents were friends since they were kids. They accounted for 9 of the shooters. Most of the others were the Heritage Girls and moms. Everyone worked so well together. I can't wait to come back. The guys that set up and broke down the range were an unexpected and welcome surprise - THANK YOU!!! It was hot!
Here are a few more pictures:
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Guns & Hoses gets down on the mats to coach Jessica
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Samantha shows us how to shoot in prone
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Everyone's favorite - the seated position
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Swiftongal teaches talking targets
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Patricia and Peyton teamed up for the ball and dummy drill
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Kinley works with Jaxson for the ball and dummy drill
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Samantha and Ron worked together
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Jessica and Dena paired up, helping each other out
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Ashley & Suzy helped each other with the ball and dummy drill
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Mustang made it! Car trouble is terrible, especially when your tires are out of stock. He wasted no time jumping in. Here he helped Clayton stay out of the heat a little bit.
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901Gun line bossed on Sunday
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It was HOT!!! The heat index was hovering around 100 this weekend. It's too late in the year for these temps!
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Guns & Hoses reviewed some extra info about rifles for the Heritage Girls after the shoot for their badge.
What a great weekend of shooting and history. It was encouraging to see so many women on the line; focused and eager to learn. Seeing shooters from different generations alongside each other was a good reminder that Appleseed welcomes and strenthens every generation. Even with the heat on Saturday; everyone powered through with determination and grit.
Jeremy kept things positive and running smoothly. He's a great shoot boss and leads well. The Arkansas crew is always a pleasure to work with. They are skilled instructors and alwasy helpful. Carol from Georgia shared so much knowledge and taught with excellence. Grateful for the Memphis crew and the Mid-South Riflemen!
I enjoyed working alongside these shooters and instructors and look forward to the next shoot!