It was a fine weekend for the 16 participants who showed up to improve their marksmanship and be inspired by the story of the beginning of the American Revolution. During the welcome and safety brief, I made special time to welcome Michigan's latest addition to the Project Appleseed IIT cadre by presenting Jeff, forum name Rampart, with his Orange Hat. Once rifles were brought to the line and instructions were presented, our shooters showed us where we needed to focus instruction by shooting the Hits Count target. One of our new attendees showed she had a good grasp of the fundamentals by clearing her target and winning a commemorative quarter that I present to those at my shoots who can accomplish this challenge. Our team of qualified instructors, wingwrench, NoLambo, icychicken, and Molarman, then set about presenting the points of instruction and drills to give our shooters the skills necessary, when properly practiced, to become riflemen.
At lunchtime, wingwrench, gave us his telling of First Strike and then we returned to more shooting instruction and drills. Blue Hats Rascal21, The Purple Plinker and Bill Winkle, kept our shooters supplied with targets and helped with individualized coaching. The weather that had started out pleasant in the morning turned hot,for mid-September, with rising humidity, and the day's only AQT showed that it might be having and effect on both shooters and equipment. Bill Winkle was the only one to post a Rifleman score (239) but AJ (207) and first time Appleseeder Ruiyi (202) were both very close. We closed out Saturday with a Hits Count target that showed some gains and provided us with two more shooters who cleared the target, in Ruiyi and his friend Changzhou.
Sunday brought some more September like tempetures and all of our shooters returned ready to put their skills to the test. After a review of Saturday's POI's and some practical drills on the Green Coat target the participants completed their first AQT of the day, which produced three new Riflemen and two re-qualified Rifleman. Changzhou (224), Ruiyi (218) and Jacob (214) are all first time Appleseeders, and Jacob shoot his score with a bolt gun !
Jason re-qualified with a 217 and Bill posted a 243 for Distinguished honors.
The day's second AQT was shot just before lunch with AJ posting a 211 to re-qualify along with Jason (210) and Bill (239).
Lunch time brought some DOM history and the KD lesson before returning to shoot AQT #3 for the day. This gave us our fourth new Rifleman in Timothy with a 218 ! Jacob backed up his earlier score with a 212.
We broke up the AQT's with a Parker's Revenge Fun shoot, and Team Wyman ( Andrew, Jacob, Will, Heidi, Isaac, Timothy ) took the honors over Team Whittimore and Team Parker, with all team members getting to chose from the Shoot Boss' treasure trove of fabulous Project Appleseed prizes.
Our final two (#4 & 5) AQTs of the day produced re-qualifing scores for Emily (221 & 220), Changzhou (220 & 217) and Ruiyi (224)
We closed to the day's shooting with the final Hits Count target with Emily cleaning it.
While Nathan, Blaise, Isaac, Jennifer, Will, Heidi, Logan, Dalton and Andrew didn't achieve Rifleman scores, several were very near the needed 210 minimum and everyone showed improvement over the weekend. I look forward to seeing each of you achieving that goal.
Thanks to the Sportsmans Club of Battle Creek for hosting another great event and providing us with a great range.
A huge thanks to my crew of volunteers, Rascal21, Bill Winkle, The Purple Plinker, wingwrench, NoLambo, Molarman, and Rampart ! Without them this event couldn't have happened !
In Liberty
MI-copperhead
A good day for me to watch people gain skills and confidence in just one day.
So encouraging to see Dalton patiently persist where others would not have been willing to even attempt. Excellent example of I.A.O.... Improvise, Adapt, Overcome. Lead on, young man!!
Pictures!
Point of clarification.
Jason qualified for the first time Right Handed with a score of 217. An achievement that he has been persisting towards for some time.
Jason then re-qualified Left Handed with a score of 210, just for the fun of it, having two previous left handed Rifleman in the past.
Take Away, The Secret Sauce is learning the process, trusting the process, and using the process. It Does Work. Sometimes it just takes practice, persistence, and more practice.
Quote from: icecoldkidd on September 23, 2026, 09:58:07 AMPoint of clarification.
Jason qualified for the first time Right Handed with a score of 217. An achievement that he has been persisting towards for some time.
Jason then re-qualified Left Handed with a score of 210, just for the fun of it, having two previous left handed Rifleman in the past.
Take Away, The Secret Sauce is learning the process, trusting the process, and using the process. It Does Work. Sometimes it just takes practice, persistence, and more practice.
O0 the Shoot Boss needs to take better notes and not trust he will remember important details :beer:
More photos courtesy of wingwrench.
I had a excellent time at the 25M event in Battle Creek. Thank you everyone that volunteered for the event. I plan on being at next years Battle Creek Appleseed.