brianheeter's phone buzzed. "Yeah. OK." He hung up the phone and tapped the tabletop pensively.
"Is everything alright?" Johnson asked, concern apparent in his voice.
"Bedford needs me."
"I thought those folks were pretty well sorted out." Johnson was incredulous.
"They are...they are." He paused a moment and then said, "I think the truth is that I need Bedford. We all need Bedford."
He pressed a button on the console and picked up a handset. "Bob, we're headed back to Indiana...the Sultan will have to wait."
His staff hurried back to their seats as the sleek jet changed course and streaked across the sky.
A few hours later brianheeter stepped out of his car and his feet sunk ominously into the loose soil of the bean field. He breathed in the clean air through his nose and let it fill his lungs. He looked around as he exhaled and said to himself, "Let's see what we can do about saving this country."
The first Bedford shoot of the year is in the books. Shooters from 3 states converged on the bomb range and enjoyed 2 days of history, heritage and rifle marksmanship. The Bedford Contingent Blue Hats were in typical form dishing up good food, hospitality and good-natured abuse to shooters and volunteers alike. The weather was unseasonably warm getting into the low to mid 50s on Saturday and Sunday with things wrapping up Sunday afternoon just as the skies started to threaten rain.
Congratulations to Chad who cleared his Red Coat on Saturday and then scored Rifleman on Sunday. HUZZAAAAHHHHH!!!! I checked over on INGO and his avatar has already been changed to a photo of his cleared Red Coat target, his RM AQT and his RM patch. I like it!
I will also call out Luke, a young man who showed great improvement and scored a 206 on his best AQT of the weekend. This was his first Appleseed shoot and if he sticks at it he will be over the top before too long.
Remember, it's not really about your AQT score. It's about the skills that allow you to make that score time and time again. And even more it's about knowing our history and shared heritage and the knowledge that we all owe a debt to those that risked and lost their lives and livelihoods for the freedoms that we enjoy today. Make good use of it and preserve it for your posterity.
C ya,
brian
What a great weekend!
It was enough to make a SBIT smile.
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More pictures here! (link) (https://www.flickr.com/photos/13203642@N06/sets/72157650715736732/)
AARs such as these need a "Like" button.
"Like" ;D
:cool2:
Wish I could have been there both days. Not bad weather for February in Bedford. Nice working with you Brian and Rayne. By the way, where are the slings on those center fires? ~~:)
We also used tracers to help teach both ballistic curve and wind during the KD session.
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8671/16301844460_aa455f45d6_b.jpg)
http://youtu.be/N3vRjHuM-u4
Quote from: techres on February 10, 2015, 01:52:52 AM
We also used tracers to help teach both ballistic curve and wind during the KD session.
OH MAN.
Alas, for we live in fire country. :'( That's awesome.
Quote from: techres on February 10, 2015, 01:52:52 AM
We also used tracers to help teach both ballistic curve and wind during the KD session.
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8671/16301844460_aa455f45d6_b.jpg)
http://youtu.be/N3vRjHuM-u4
SPQR raised that ole boy up right.
It was an awesome shoot! Everyone did a great job learning which was why you came. But remember to keep learning and practicing. Congratulations to Chad! Hope to see you all again soon!
Slim, I 2nd the comment about the need for a "LIKE" button!! I wish the drive from Battle Creek wasn't so far. I'm afraid the ole Chevy 2500 HD would bleed me dry. Summer's coming. I'm sure a trip just south of Indy is in my future.
Quote from: Rocket Man on February 10, 2015, 02:14:35 AM
Quote from: techres on February 10, 2015, 01:52:52 AM
We also used tracers to help teach both ballistic curve and wind during the KD session.
OH MAN.
Alas, for we live in fire country. :'( That's awesome.
Come and visit some day, we'd love to have you. And the tracers are a great visual aid.
Here are a few more pictures from Sunday's KD lesson:
Kerry Zoller lit up the 200 yard steel with the .22lr (VIDEO!) (http://youtu.be/U33DdUGekTQ)
Gif version:
(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7435/16309083028_e89dc4f8d2_o.gif)
And Slow2Speak had to light the hill up at 300 yards. Literally... (VIDEO!) (http://youtu.be/Dbd_8aNsIpU)
Gif version (no, he does not shoot that fast):
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8628/15876934013_474eed5f51_o.gif)
Oh, and the ground was very soggy/wet and we were not concerned about tracer started fire. The joke about range control is from the Atterbury KD shoot where the 50 cal gunners on another range managed to set a hill on fire.
Thats good clean American fun
Quote from: Chilidog on February 10, 2015, 08:27:03 AM
It was an awesome shoot! Everyone did a great job learning which was why you came. But remember to keep learning and practicing. Congratulations to Chad! Hope to see you all again soon!
Plan on seeing me again Chilidog. I have the 19th of April booked. I'm going to load up my son and head further south. It seems like a good place to expose him to his first Seed. Maybe I'll find a new hat while I'm there, ya never know. See ya all there.
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Forgot to get Rayne a gif:
(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7455/16497710155_57c7b0654d_o.gif)
Quote from: slim on February 09, 2015, 03:51:02 PM
AARs such as these need a "Like" button.
Roger that! This makes me want to head back to my home stompin' grounds and hit a Seed out there.
Rayne says slomo shows arc better so:
(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7418/15881744013_4f7f0e8b54_o.gif)
That's a lot of Kentucky windage your holding there Rayne. ;)
Quote from: Hop on February 11, 2015, 11:58:17 AM
That's a lot of Kentucky windage your holding there Rayne. ;)
We had full effect wind and she was slightly cross shooting. But she hit it.
(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7354/15880198534_9b311d0f89_o.gif)
Quote from: Hop on February 11, 2015, 11:58:17 AM
That's a lot of Kentucky windage your holding there Rayne. ;)
Parallax!
;D >:D **)
<Running for cover.>
Finally able to turn on the computer that makes all the pics / .gifs gorgeous!
Those faces look ready for an awesome future while some serious learning is taking place.
Quote from: Hop on February 11, 2015, 11:58:17 AM
That's a lot of Kentucky windage your holding there Rayne. ;)
And you thought I was aiming at that huge orange piece of steel **)
It was a great weekend for the girls and I. I have seen so much improvement in them (and myself) over the past 1.5 years! I didn't load a single magazine for them the whole weekend, heck I think they loaded some for me a time or 2. I was really hoping to shoot a rifleman this time, it didn't happen, but much improvement was made. Magazine changes happened and I got most of my rounds off on the AQT's so I am calling it a success O0 Thank you to all the instructors and hats for a great weekend at Bedford!!
:: Kerry:: ( Hickory Stick's wife ;D)
We had the girls write their own AAR's and I am just now getting them on here :slap:
Rayne, thank you for that suggestion, I should have had them do this every time. It made for a great Monday morning school assignment!
Parker- 14yo
Last weekends appleseed has been by far the most memorable one I have been to. I remember going to my first one and being super stressed about the magazine changes and afraid they were going to call me out to answer a question or something of the sort. But I have to say that this is the first one where I've known where I need to be, what to do, and when I need to shoot, which I think is an accomplishment in itself. With a ton of help and patience, from the instructors, I learned how to sight in tech sights and move them one way and be able to bring them back again without messing them all up. When we stopped for lunch (which was fantastic!) they told about our forefathers and it got me thinking about something I never really thought about before. They didn't have to go. The colonists could've stayed under the kings rule and obeyed. It would have definitely been easier. But instead they put themselves in harms way for us, the future generation. It may seem funny that I just got that because I've been to about 4 appleseeds and heard the story, but it hit me pretty hard that they could've just stayed by their cozy fire and let it happen. To me I feel an amazing sense of responsibility that I never had there on my shoulders before to preserve what our forefathers were willing to die for. The instructors did a great job in keeping the story alive, making it extremely uplifting, and also telling the story other ways then just telling it the same way every time. Sunday we used tracers on some of the rifles to see where the shots went and it was really neat because you could see how much you needed to adjust without driving back and forth. (I did not shoot a tracer but my amazing and wonderful mother did.) After that I shot my dad's AR at some steel and it was super awesome. I didn't shoot a rifleman this time, but I did figure out I need to do a lot (putting much emphasis on a lot.) more dry firing and practicing getting in and out of my positions quickly. Everyone there was awesome and one amazing gentleman even got a rifleman. As I wrap this up one more thing I learned is that the people at appleseed are using their time to be there for you, so take advantage of it.
Until the next seed.
Parker Zoller
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Kacy 12yo
Last weekend I went to my fourth appleseed. We had great weather compared to last year's winterseed. My favorite part of appleseed is the history. I love how all instructors tell the story of how our forefather's were willing to die for the next generation to have freedom. The instructors taught us about breathing and the different shooting positions. I had a little bit of trouble with my trigger squeeze but some of the awesome instructor's helped me with it. At lunch (which was amazing and we are super lucky Bedford cooks for us) the instructor's told us about the first strike. The instructor's taught us about KD (Known Distance) and we shot some AQT's. Sunday we shot some steel targets with our 22's and we shot some AR's, and other guns too. I am going to practice more and hopefully I get rifleman next time. All in all I had a great weekend. I would like to tell all the instructor's thank you for putting a lot of time and effort into appleseed and for helping all the shooters if any of us had any sort of problem. By the way the instructor's are awesome. Hopefully I make it to the next appleseed. ☺
☺ Kacy Zoller ☺
Thank you for your input Hickory Stick, et al.! This is exactly why we volunteer here; for the collective posterity! I hope to meet y'all on the line soon!
In liberty,
Lonestar6
Quote from: Hickory Stick on February 18, 2015, 10:39:34 PM
It was a great weekend for the girls and I. I have seen so much improvement in them (and myself) over the past 1.5 years! I didn't load a single magazine for them the whole weekend, heck I think they loaded some for me a time or 2. I was really hoping to shoot a rifleman this time, it didn't happen, but much improvement was made. Magazine changes happened and I got most of my rounds off on the AQT's so I am calling it a success O0 Thank you to all the instructors and hats for a great weekend at Bedford!!
:: Kerry:: ( Hickory Stick's wife ;D)
We had the girls write their own AAR's and I am just now getting them on here :slap:
Rayne, thank you for that suggestion, I should have had them do this every time. It made for a great Monday morning school assignment!
Parker- 14yo
Last weekends appleseed has been by far the most memorable one I have been to. I remember going to my first one and being super stressed about the magazine changes and afraid they were going to call me out to answer a question or something of the sort. But I have to say that this is the first one where I've known where I need to be, what to do, and when I need to shoot, which I think is an accomplishment in itself. With a ton of help and patience, from the instructors, I learned how to sight in tech sights and move them one way and be able to bring them back again without messing them all up. When we stopped for lunch (which was fantastic!) they told about our forefathers and it got me thinking about something I never really thought about before. They didn't have to go. The colonists could've stayed under the kings rule and obeyed. It would have definitely been easier. But instead they put themselves in harms way for us, the future generation. It may seem funny that I just got that because I've been to about 4 appleseeds and heard the story, but it hit me pretty hard that they could've just stayed by their cozy fire and let it happen. To me I feel an amazing sense of responsibility that I never had there on my shoulders before to preserve what our forefathers were willing to die for. The instructors did a great job in keeping the story alive, making it extremely uplifting, and also telling the story other ways then just telling it the same way every time. Sunday we used tracers on some of the rifles to see where the shots went and it was really neat because you could see how much you needed to adjust without driving back and forth. (I did not shoot a tracer but my amazing and wonderful mother did.) After that I shot my dad's AR at some steel and it was super awesome. I didn't shoot a rifleman this time, but I did figure out I need to do a lot (putting much emphasis on a lot.) more dry firing and practicing getting in and out of my positions quickly. Everyone there was awesome and one amazing gentleman even got a rifleman. As I wrap this up one more thing I learned is that the people at appleseed are using their time to be there for you, so take advantage of it.
Until the next seed.
Parker Zoller
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Kacy 12yo
Last weekend I went to my fourth appleseed. We had great weather compared to last year's winterseed. My favorite part of appleseed is the history. I love how all instructors tell the story of how our forefather's were willing to die for the next generation to have freedom. The instructors taught us about breathing and the different shooting positions. I had a little bit of trouble with my trigger squeeze but some of the awesome instructor's helped me with it. At lunch (which was amazing and we are super lucky Bedford cooks for us) the instructor's told us about the first strike. The instructor's taught us about KD (Known Distance) and we shot some AQT's. Sunday we shot some steel targets with our 22's and we shot some AR's, and other guns too. I am going to practice more and hopefully I get rifleman next time. All in all I had a great weekend. I would like to tell all the instructor's thank you for putting a lot of time and effort into appleseed and for helping all the shooters if any of us had any sort of problem. By the way the instructor's are awesome. Hopefully I make it to the next appleseed. ☺
☺ Kacy Zoller ☺