The weather held in MI and we had a productive wekend of liberty and marksmanship!
Graywolf and I tag-teamed instructor crews because of personal conflicts but that didn't keep our shooters from soaking in history and marksmanship skills. :F :snipersmi
Everyone was repeat AS-ers and it showed. Dustin came out swinging and qualified 2X on Saturday, with a 2X repeat on Sunday, using a takedown 10/22 with Tech Sites (see? It can be done!). Andrey posted great scores as well. Joe requal-ed on Saturday, showing he still has it.
Sunday came bright and sunny, and Amy and Paul stepped up to qualify Rifleman! Congrats! And Amy -- thanks for taking an Orange Hat...now pick a name and get to work!! >:D ;D
Thanks for the great discussions at history breaks and for your great fellowship. Look forward to seeing you all again.
:pics:
ST2
Thanks, SteelThunder. This is Dustin. I had a great time this weekend. Thanks also to all the instructors!
This was my second Appleseed. Both were good. This one had a different feel though. For one, I knew what to expect. The procedures and drills were familiar. The group was also much smaller, allowing more time for interaction with the instructors and a more relaxed feel. I know larger groups of students make more efficient use of time and resources so I'm sorry your turnout wasn't better.
I look forward to coming out again in the future and hopefully bringing more friends and family along.
Can't wait until we get to see you, your family and friends on the line!! :F :F :F :F
Thank you all for coming out to Niles! It's a nearby range for me, and I'm happy to see new faces and returning shooters are certainly some of the best of all. I'm glad I got to working in with you.
More pictures
Sunday was a beautiful day at Bend of the River, and I was very happy to spend it with our students and instructor crew. Amy, Dustin and Paul, congratulations on your Rifleman scores! Amy--err, "Fidget"--welcome aboard, and thank you for taking an orange hat! Dustin, please do bring your son out, we'll take good care of him and Appleseed is a wonderful shared family experience. merlin33, it was great to have you rocking the Garand all day long! ST2 and Zazzles, a pleasure as always!
Oz
As many of you know no rifleman has been made without help from others, I wanted to recognize those great volunteers:
(Background for those who did not know: It took me almost a year to achieve rifleman, and my scope fell off at two of the four events. Below is a thank you in time line format.)
Rascal21 - Thank you for all your help at my first Appleseed and for loaning me your "baby rifle" so I could see how short of a length of pull I needed. (About a year later I scored rifleman with a 12.5" length of pull.)
Snipette - I owe you the most! Thank you so much for all your help the last 7 months! I would not have made this without your weekly help all this time. You are amazing and I truly appreciate all you did for us Lady Luck Rifle Team. Thank you so much!
Rascal21 - For showing me the best ammo for my rifle.
Oz & Rascal21 - For giving me my nickname. (SteelThunder might have helped in this...) This also was a reminder on what I needed to do to be a rifleman.
SteelThunder, Oz and Rascal21 - For making it fun, showing me my scope was in the wrong location, and I needed a longer rail to keep the scope in the correct position and from falling off. :)
SteelThunder & Oz - For making scoring 209 fun (I did not score rifleman that day/weekend).
Oz - for adding padding to where my trigger hand goes on the rifle (so I could pull the trigger with a "C").
Loctite for keeping my scope on the rifle.
SteelThunder & Oz - For running the day of the event that I finally scored rifleman at, even though there were only 4 people signed up.
I wanted to thank my friend (whom is not currently on this forum) for motivating me to go out and practice once a week.
And finely I need to thank my husband for spending a lot of time at the range with me, his love, and support throughout this process. :)
^:)^
Fidget, what a nice note! Thank you. You'll find that being an instructor is awfully rewarding. It's true that we aren't paid, but there are huge benefits. You learn a lot, and not necessarily what you think you'll learn. You work with the best people ever (both instructors and shooters). You help people with their marksmanship skills, to understand their heritage, and help them see how they can be better citizens. Which makes communities and the nation better, one person at a time. And sometimes you get a nice note. Spending your time making things better is important work and rewarding (and maybe even addictive).
See you at the IBC! Oz