HOT......STEAMY.....Black Swamp Appleseed
Yep no doubt those who attended this weekend's appleseed in G'burg were hardy .... sturdy folks ! :~
Saturday began with a T-Storm that at one point became so bad that we ran for the shelter of the club house. No worries however as we took the opportunity to make sure everyone knew the safety rules and the steady hold factors as the storm raged on. Soon the clouds parted and we eagerly left the confines of the club house out to the firing to put that knowledge to use. Well the rain left put the humidity and heat cranked up....whew it was HOT. The students PERSISTED through some mighty tough conditions. They were eagerly drinking from the fire hose and wishing there was a real hose nearby to get doused with I know I sure was thinking back about those fond childhood days of running through sprinklers ! The amazing thing was that despite the late start we accomplished 99% of what we needed to do despite the heat ..the frequent breaks and the early end due to another bad T storm that chased us off the line giving us plenty of warning before it opened up on us at the end of the day. HUGE progress was made by all the shooters. Impressive groups were being put by everyone ! ^:)^
Sunday although just as hot was at least dry :--- Raygun joined us for some AQT fun as well as Marrissa a first time shooter who was soon giving Half Cock a run for his money after he brought her being a good boyfriend and all ..lol >:D. Bryan, Paul Scott and Dale ( another new shoooter ) were buzzing along on AQT's as well as the eager and TOUGH Jr shooters Ethan, Noah and Isryal. After an awesome air conditioned lunch by the best applecore in the state ( thanks lisa ! :cool2:) we ventured back out into the thick hot air to the big 500 yrd line HUZZAH!!!!! I took it upon myself to lay the first hit on at 1/4 mile since it really is no fun whatsoever to shoot distance soo I thought I'd set a good example and "suffer" for the sake of group morale lol :~ Bryan remarked looking downrange "man that's a long ways away" and layed down and put three hits right in the center basically.... 1moa with his M1a....sheesh beginners luck ::) not really ...those fundamentals work HUZZAH ! Soon everyone was abusing the steel at the 1/4 mile mark ^:)^
Enthused by the confidence of shooting actual distance we went back to aqt grind. Alas Bryan and Raygun re confirmed thier rifleman status but no one else joined them although some were Knockin OOOOOO sooooo close (Paul, Scott and Dale) but weekend was over.
Thanks to all the students the SCSC and the excellent group of instructors hope to see you all again on the trail
pb
The Big 5
(http://i736.photobucket.com/albums/xx6/nemthmic/july3.jpg)
Ohmslaw gets ready to shoot 500 for the first time( boonie) !
(http://i736.photobucket.com/albums/xx6/nemthmic/july4.jpg)
Spotting and waiting to smack the steel !
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Targets (white ) at the right
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Dale gets ready...after only shooting for the first time last week ! He hit !
(http://i736.photobucket.com/albums/xx6/nemthmic/july9.jpg)
Ethan Huzzah !
(http://i736.photobucket.com/albums/xx6/nemthmic/july10.jpg)
Cadence protects BrassMagnet with a makeshift device
(http://i736.photobucket.com/albums/xx6/nemthmic/july12.jpg)
Dale sweats...we ALL DID that LOL
(http://i736.photobucket.com/albums/xx6/nemthmic/july16.jpg)
POSTERITY ! Isryal, Noah and Ethan ....Huzzah way to persist O0
Luther Blanchard and Jonathan Harrington Jr sure were smiling down this weekend!! Great job Isryal, Ethan, and Noah O0 O0 Why we do what we do....
Congratulations to shooters, instructors, and AC, you all did the founding generation proud this weekend!
In His grip,
Ratchett
Man that was some HEAT......usually the type of day I'd rather sit inside nursing a cold one, but not when I can send some lead down range!
OK, so back in '09 I got my first patch up in MI (the weekend intheburbs took his orange hat) and finally made it back to AS (why did I wait so long?) I had 2 goals, re-confrim rifleman, and hit at 500. Happy to say I did both.
And yes posterboy, 500 IS a LONG way off. Especially for a guy who never shot farther than 100! No one was more surprised than me at that 3 shot group. I can still hardly believe it. Some of that was the M1A. Shooting distance is just too much fun, and to see everyone else plugging steel was just awesome.
Kudos to posterby and all the instructors, the instruction was top shelf and the history is always good to hear.
Talking to Paul aka BrassMagnet this morning at work, I saw the effects of my gift of hot brass to him during the AQT's. I guess burn marks get even more red after 24Hrs :) Being the engineering nerds that we are, we have already devised (on paper) a divider to prevent any such calamity from occurring again. Cadence can drop the towel now. ;)
Lastly I have to give my son Ethan some props. With the heat the way it was I figured he would have been sitting under the canopy a good deal of the day, but he never complained once, toughed it out and shot every string except one. While he has a way to go to make rifleman, he made some good hits over the weekend. Good job buddy.......your dad is proud.
Huzzah to Ethan and ALL of the Junior Shooters....It was HOT !
So 10 minutes up and you were dead center as promised ! Funny how this stuff works ! It's always hard to imagine until you actually do it but fundamentals plus knowledge always work. Shooting at 500 just confirmed you knew what you were doing :~
you're welcome in the black swamp anytime Jonesy....oh and BrassMagnet too when the flesh on his back fills in...lol
pb
Looks like you guys had a ton of fun. I'm still hoping to find a way to get up there and shoot with my Appleseed brethren before the end of the year.
RNE
Quote from: posterboy on July 25, 2011, 06:42:35 PM
Huzzah to Ethan and ALL of the Junior Shooters....It was HOT !
So 10 minutes up and you were dead center as promised ! Funny how this stuff works ! It's always hard to imagine until you actually do it but fundamentals plus knowledge always work. Shooting at 500 just confirmed you knew what you were doing :~
you're welcome in the black swamp anytime Jonesy....oh and BrassMagnet too when the flesh on his back fills in...lol
pb
Yeah, we'll both be back....I know BrassMagnet wants to come back soon to get his patch, and we will both likely try out that Black Swamp Carbine stuff...sounds fun. And maybe I'll take that orange hat, too. I'll decide soon.
Ha HAA! I've been trying to get a post in all day!
BrassMagnet... :D That was so funny, it HAD to stick--those cases were HOT, as my elbow blister indicates. Still, I'll shoot with Jonesy (or any of you) anytime--just not prone off his ejection port!!!!!
Seriously: despite the weather, what an awesome, awesome weekend ^:)^ My HAT IS OFF to Posterboy and his instructor team for a safe, ridiculously educational, skill-building FUN time. I can only echo everything Jonesy said about 500--the reason we made the drive, and 110% worth it--but I think my big take-away is realizing how much better I still have room to be.
I will return, and I WILL earn that patch. I even think I'd like to do it again on a Sunday in G'burg--it was just too much fun.
All my best. Huzzah!
Hey Jonesy, that was my first shoot too. Sorry I don't remember you. Chalk it up to brain being overwhelmed by drinking from the fire hose and it being only the second time I'd ever fired a rifle. I know my stubborn streak kicked in, this was something I needed to be a part of. I persisted till I got that rifleman badge then started on the instructor path and never looked back. We'd love to have you as a member of the Michigan instructor corps. (If you play your cards right, Ohio will make you an adopted Buckeye too. ;)) If you have any questions or concerns PM me, I'd be happy to discuss it with you.
holy cow, its been almost two weeks since the shoot!!!. Now, i have been on vacation for a week, but still...
Just want to thank Posterboy, Cadence, Persistence, Badeleve, Romad (Sat only) fpr the hospitality and the wonderful Applecore Lisa and anyone else who I can't remember their names off the top of my head... #). Thanks again for a great weekend and it was an honor to work with you.
Posterboy, go ahead and border-raid, you can always stay at my house.
Great group of instructors and a great weekend of instruction. Hope to see you soon on the appleseed trail!
Israyl and I(Scott) had a great time with all the Appleseed shooters that weekend. Both of us saw marked improvement in our shooting. I was so proud of Israyl for pushing through the tough weather, and really doing a great job listening and applying what was being taught.
On the way home we had one of my nephews in the truck. Israyl was going through the stories that we heard about our Revolutionary Brothers. It made my day.
Thanks for all the great work to help make that weekend memorable.
WhiteKnight....