What could be better than spending a weekend at Appleseed? Spending it at an Appleseed at the Elwood Conservation Club! We had a fantastic weekend here. We had 11 shooters, a great group of instructors, wonderful host club, perfect weather, and 3 new riflemen. How great is that?
Congratulations to Greg, Lee, and Matt on scoring rifleman! Well done, gentlemen. Congratulations also to Nigel for re-qualifying on nearly every AQT we shot this weekend. Looking forward to seeing you in an Orange Hat someday, sir!
All the shooters showed great improvement over the weekend and most were knocking on the door with scores in the 190s. Hang in there guys! A rifleman persists.
I want to thank the instructors who came out to the event. You are a great group of people to work with and you made this weekend the success it was. I am glad to have had the opportunity to work with you. I also want to thank Joe, the host club President and club rep that was with us all weekend. He kept us in coffee and doughnuts but most of all made us feel very welcome and at home. Thank you, Joe!
I know there a lots of pictures from this weekend so let's post 'em up!
I'd like to echo that, thank you to the instructors, and participants who came out to the event and made it a big success. O0 Also thanks to the Elwood Conservation Club for hosting us. We look forward to our next Appleseed at ECC.
Congratulations to Nigel, Greg, Lee, and Matt on scoring rifleman! Well done my friends, well done!
A big THANK YOU to Gray Wolf for coming down from Michigan to support this Indiana shoot. As always, I learned new things from Gray Wolf which improves my instructing. Congratulations to all our Riflemen and everyone who took the time to come out and learn more about their marksmanship and heritage.
Congratulations also to our orange hats who stepped up and came one step closer to instructor status!
LS6
To Echo LoneStar 6's comments: Thank you Graywolf - the history, and benedictions you gave were excellent! There are always new things to learn with the instruction. Thanks to Joe with Elwood Conservation Club! Excellent host! Indy Great Job stepping up from Blue to Orange. Bocefus Great Job and thanks for the rounds (and taking the video). And Thanks LoneStar for continuing to push me to be better and work my way up the IIT ladder ...
Congrats to our new riflemen - I did not get to take all the photos on this - so we'll have to wait for Indy and others to get the rest posted.
And Great Job by all who participated. Everyone was attentive - and had an open mind - to try what was being taught.
Even when It appeared that the fatigue and was setting in on both days! That is the key, along with some persistence.
Despite being pushed (which is a good thing!) to do more / better, I still managed a few photos and videos at times.
We had flags of the era:
(http://i1054.photobucket.com/albums/s494/bslikeiii/Appleseed/2015-09-12_13%20Elwood%20CC/20150912_090704_zpsonn1nafj.jpg)
The Regular are Out on the North Bridge!
(http://i1054.photobucket.com/albums/s494/bslikeiii/Appleseed/2015-09-12_13%20Elwood%20CC/20150912_093143_zpsopqtzdpc.jpg)
Working on Seat Position:
(http://i1054.photobucket.com/albums/s494/bslikeiii/Appleseed/2015-09-12_13%20Elwood%20CC/20150912_135843_zpsyozakcdz.jpg)
And Improving Prone Positions:
(http://i1054.photobucket.com/albums/s494/bslikeiii/Appleseed/2015-09-12_13%20Elwood%20CC/20150912_141744_zpsn8hewuab.jpg)
(resisting being ballerinas - this improved as the event went on!)
Lone Star 6 giving the Third Strike -
(http://i1054.photobucket.com/albums/s494/bslikeiii/Appleseed/2015-09-12_13%20Elwood%20CC/20150912_142909_zpsnr2nxmyj.jpg)
AND "AMERICA!!!"
Day 2 started crisply and It took a while to get photos and such. We had several riflemen, including a perfect 210:
(http://i1054.photobucket.com/albums/s494/bslikeiii/Appleseed/2015-09-12_13%20Elwood%20CC/20150913_152711_zpsxyve6xm4.jpg)
WAIT A MINUTE - 210 - AND A UNION JACK - ... what are we going to do about that:
http://youtu.be/8vdVEEstiCY
Our last Rifleman of the day:
(http://i1054.photobucket.com/albums/s494/bslikeiii/Appleseed/2015-09-12_13%20Elwood%20CC/20150913_160912_zpst9f9ugkt.jpg)
and with his friend - who apparently wagered a Grand ... er a Garande (as in US Rifle 30 cal M-1) on who would earn "Rifleman Status" first:
(http://i1054.photobucket.com/albums/s494/bslikeiii/Appleseed/2015-09-12_13%20Elwood%20CC/20150913_160929_zpsd3jdwq1x.jpg)
We had a dueling tree contest; championship round - the "Fluffy Bunnies" - defeated the "Prancing Ponies" :
http://youtu.be/dG2r_Leusm0
Bo, our blue hat, brought his AR - here he is working on Stage 2:
http://youtu.be/bU2hKFg4pGs
clear NPOA shift there and solid transition.
And Bo let me run his AR for the final red coat of the event - which he videoed for me:
(note - I am only building my first AR and this not set up for me):
http://youtu.be/yot3rkGxXHI
And the result - which I am considering only "fair" but satisfactory - with a blurry site picture and incorrect (for me) eye relief:
(http://i1054.photobucket.com/albums/s494/bslikeiii/INS%20Shared/Appleseed%20Prep/received_102051694108982421_zpsj0vxewys.jpeg)
Waiting for more pictures and stories - Well done to all!!!
As stated, it was great weekend to be at a seed! Gray wolf is top notch at telling the stories of our past! Seriously, great job.
The shooters all did great improving their scores and being persistent in the pursuit of their goals.
Congrats to the new riflemen, and the requals as well! Huzzah!
Bills red coat target would have been better, had I done a better job zeroing the rifle for 25m. It got dark on me when I tried on thursday, and working the line took precident to me shooting sighting squares during the weekend.
All in all, a super weekend with a super group!
Again, THANK YOU Graywolf for making the trip. Your history and benedictions are absolutely top notch. I learned a lot this weekend.
To the shooters - thank you for making this a great weekend. You were safe, you were attentive, everyone's shooting improved, and you were lots of fun to spend the weekend with!! There are several of you that will make fine instructors when you choose to come on board.
To the team/family (LS6, BB3, Bo, & Rich) - ALWAYS a pleasure, and I look forward to the next one.
I have a handful of pics on my phone, and will try to get them uploaded here tonight.
Thanks to all the great instructors for making my day! Elwood was my fourth Appleseed shoot over the past 2 years, including 2 April 19th shoots, which were special.
Everything finally came together for my qualifying Rifleman score of 211! Special thanks to LS6 for letting me use her magazines when mine continued to misfeed.
The experience wouldn't have been possible for me without the first invitation to my friend Scott Brown, who was shooting on the line next to me all day Sunday. We've done 3 of 4 shoots together, which is cool.
Congrats to Lee, who shot Rifleman on his very first AQT. He'll never know how hard it really is. I can appreciate the accomplishment having tried over 30 times to qualify. Nigel has the skills. Qualified 4 times I think.
Special moment of the day was certainly Scott's son-like friend Matt, who earned his Rifleman and scored a precious M1 Garand from Scott as his prize! Best to you guys for making the day special!
Greg (GlockG19)
I'd like to add some photos, too.
GlockG19
A few more pics...
Thanks Everyone,
We at the Elwood Conservation Club had a great time with Appleseed this year.
I can't wait to see everyone again next year.
Joe Kinsinger President ECC