It was a beautiful weekend for the annual Appleseed event at Vienna Fish & Game Club, the tenth year that they have hosted us. Thanks to this fine club for their hospitality, and to the club member volunteers who came out to assist with the event. The line was a little crowded, but that's what we like to see; our fellow Americans coming out to share a weekend of marksmanship and heritage.
The Saturday morning Redcoat gave a hint of how the marksmanship would progress, with four students showing an effective range of 400 yards, and Brian M. clearing his redcoat. As the day progressed Brian M (236), Brian B (229), David (224), Corvette (220) and Eric (219) set the standard for the weekend on the one AQT fired. In the afternoon Redcoat, both Brian M and David cleared their targets.
Sunday saw a lot more lead flying downrange, with a total of eight AQTs fired, and Rifleman scores seemed to be flowing like water under the North Bridge at Concord. Maybe we should make the AQT a little harder? ::) Birdman (247), David (245) and Brian M (243) qualified for the Distinguished Rifleman patch. Eric (237) and Brian B (233) came close with impressive scores. Ben was baptized with water that has flowed under the North Bridge after shooting his first Rifleman score (210), and yours truly re-qualified with a 216.
All three ladies from the local Girl With a Gun chapter shot impressive scores from bench rest: Marge (223), Rita (217) and Angel (215). While they could not be awarded a Rifleman patch for their marksmanship, they each received an Isaac Davis patch to commemorate the occasion. Eight students (over half the line) hit Morgan's Shingle in the AM Redcoat, with Brian M clearing the target (does this seem like a recurring theme?) and in the final Redcoat of the weekend both Brian M and David cleared the target.
In the aftermath, all of the instructors agreed that this was the most prolific display of marksmanship we had ever seen at a Project Appleseed event. It was an honor to be a part of it.
Very impressive shooting! I've got to assume that Brian M went 210+ on all the AQTs so that's a perfect weekend. Congrats!
But Roger, 3 points? What's up with that? ;D
I was only able to attend on Sat. But the Sunday results were impressive and expected based on what I saw. Great job to the team which was a mix of some of the best Ohio and PA instructors in the program. Huzzah.
And one final note, once I found a gas station with a working air station, the shimmy in my car went away. Guess they work better with proper air pressure. :partytime:
Corvette
I actually had a 243....so 7 points down. David has the high score of the day with a 245, and he worked all weekend for it, as did Brian, both in the Distinguished scoring level. EZ3 lost track the total rifleman scores sometime Sunday afternoon. He would have needed a calculator. I think Brian, David, and 15 yr old Eric had all Rifleman scores on all AQTs shot this weekend. Maybe someone can verify.
Hats off to the Vienna fish and Game Club for their hospitality. Everything was perfect.
Thanks to all the great instructor core...what a pleasure. And Ron, thanks for the meatballs, I'm still alive! (they were very good!)
Birdman
No disrespect to Birdman, David, Eric or Brian B, but I still maintain that the most impressive target of the day was Brian M's 215 when a malfunction only allowed him to get half his shots off on stage 2. Made for a great "teachable moment", too.
Here come the photos...
Starting the day out right, Saturday morning and a cleared Redcoat
Getting down to some serious instruction. Hope everyone is paying attention...
Doesn't look like there was any doubt, with this group of Riflemen on Saturday afternoon.
More Redcoats cleared on Saturday afternoon. Check out those groups...
Sunday revealed that everyone remembered the instruction from Saturday.
Water "From the North Bridge", administered by a very proud grandpa!
Another qualifying score, before the day was over...
Not only did we see a record number of qualifying scores, we also nearly ran out of "Distinguished" patches...
No, she didn't bring her shotgun...
What better way to close an event, than to award a new Orange Hat to one of our youth...
Thanks for stepping up, Eric.
And thanks, to all of the Vienna team for hosting our events for the past 10 years. Huzzah!!!