Project Appleseed

What a great weekend to accept things as they were and see where you're going to have to go t keep up. The people who showed up to shoot were fantastic 

Although our sign in showed 22 people 15 were there for Saturday and 9 for Sunday...here's where I tease them about being 'fair weather shooters' and missing the Sunday fun 

Right from the start I could see the group was happy to be there and involved. Pat came back to support husband Tim and us, couldn't shoot due to inflamed elbow but did admin duties both days for us...truthfully, we'd/I'd of never got through it without her     

Th first to show up was Brian, who did the initial meet/greet/hand out paperwork and then Steve who got right to helping with putting up the target stands and backers.    You just gotta like people who show up to learn and immediately pitch in to get everything ready. Everybody was like that both days....'what can I do to help' was the motto, VERY much like 19April1775.

Another dreadful winter in California


Jeff  & Keith headed back to the line "quickly, quickly"


Ahhhh the 'left' side


A lonely Nero as line boss during the strikes( no fiddling around here  )


Freeman and the first and second strikes of the match:


Everybody and the AQT instruction:


The 'right' of the line, notice the AR(Doug), Remington 700 in 223(Jason), Garand(Sean)( ), and the mini-14 in 223(Jasmine), and Nero 


Dad John who requalified(211-240), with sons Leo (187) and Caspian our 'sniper' and their Luther Blanchard awards. Quite the family, shot both days and never a word about cold or wet 


Steven with his 230 score and rifleman' patch...another 'former Marine' 


Fred, shooting his "not" a 10/22 anymore, with his 247 score


By the end of Saturday everyone was tired and cold but still excited at what they had learned in marksmanship and history. Several were not planning to return due to the forcast of winds and rain. Many were planning on returning so I announced that we'd move the shooting line under the enclosure and bring up the targets....hopefully many would come back.

Sunday started with the rain coming in at a 45 degree angle accompanied with cold gusty air:


Home sweet home...and wondering if I'll be the only one who shows up     


Caspian(further) and brother Leo...both have been to AS before and their shooting knowledge and skills show it. They are 'bookends' in more than just the prone position   


The end of the second day found our die hards still on the line, Kirill with his SKS, Jason & 700 bolt gun, Doug & AR. While all three are impressive the nod must go to Jason, his Rem 700 in 223 caliber is a 5 shot bolt action, his first AQT's had no shots on #2 of second stage and the third stage was missing 5 too. By the end of Sunday he had "persisted" well enough to bring in a couple of 206 scores  His advancement was textbook to watch, we adjusted his SHF's, got him to concentrate on NPOA and 6 steps, and the mechanics were up to him. All three say they'll be back, and I have no doubts.


There are some others who have more photo's to show us. One of which is of Jeff getting his Rifleman's patch with a 212 score.(OK Tim, this is where you come in) 

We did have a ''learning moment'' for all of us:
Brian, who was paying close attention to the 'missfires, hangfires, and squibs' portion of the safety lectures noticed that although he had had a few failures to eject THIS particular failure was accompanied by a 'hissing sound like a balloon's air going out' and 'not the same feel to it' as he shot. The instructor said it was the hardest shell casing he's ever had to remove, he then ran his 'weed eater' cord up the chamber....and felt puzzled when it stopped so soon, so he did it from the muzzle end....and then came and got me. When the line was cleared we got everyone to come over, with Brian's ok, showed them that the barrel wouldn't allow the line to pass. We then tapped the squib out and showed it to them. Great lesson for us all....pay attention!

Once again California has shown it's attention to 'our' history and heritage. It's dedication to standing up and being a responsible person. It's mentoring of it's children.

Thank you for letting me be a part of your weekend.

Hope to see you all next time around.

CSHR

Day 1 pix:

CSHR starts off with hasty sling:



The floggings will continue until marksmanship improves!   



Steady hold factors



Attentive shooters



Put the pumpkin on the post



The line, minus 1/2 (sorry Jasmine!)



The 'big boomers' in action - there she is!



Just after this shot, the pavilion blew over.  Strangely, this happens wherever CSHR goes!  



Caz volunteers as human bullhorn stand...



CSHR already posted the Saturday riflemen, but here's a pic of the TWO qualifiers shot by Fred, whose 10/22 has even more mods than mine.  



The whole album is at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/timoren/ChabotAppleseed12911#

Day 2 pix:

Sunday dawns wet, and we move the line undercover:



It's a bit crowded in here, but it's a swamp out there...



With safeties on, stand!



Hot drinks and hot brass



Freeman and CSHR in costume as giant red bats    Hey, it's not Halloween yet!   



Jeff defeats Stage 4, and makes his rifleman score, our fourth of the weekend.   



The sun has set, but CSHR is still teaching     



Complete album at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/timoren/ChabotAppleseed12911#

It was a good time and very helpful.  I was shooting over on the side with Steve and Fred, next to the squib round. Between the demonstrations and Freeman giving very concrete suggestions now and again things just kept tightening up.  I'm very new with rifles and went from 100 yards on the redcoats to 300 and that actually understates the improvement a bit since the 400 had two well in and one a hair outside.  Really, it exceeded any expectations I could reasonably have had for one day and the quality of instruction was excellent.

I had family obligations on Sunday but hopefully I'll be able to go to the next Chabot Appleseed and see what improvement a second day can make!

Hey CSHR,  what is all that wet green stuff on the ground?
        They don't have anything like that here in New Mexico or west Texas.
Looks like you all had a great time despite the rain.  Congratulations to all the new Rifleman
     
       Milt

Welcome aboard Eljay---- persisitance will reward you with a Rifleman score ----glad you attended and posted .
Nice job California 
JA

Fred Z here. 

Just wanted to say thanks for the great time I had and CSHR you run a tight operation.  I guess I am a "fair weather" shooter as I just couldn't get motivated to come back on Sunday due to the wind and rain.  Next time out I am planning on bringing my AR, which isn't totally stock (no big surprise there) but does sport iron sights and will definitely be a bigger challenge. 

Looking forward to seeing everyone again soon. 

Thanks again.  Fred

Keep up the good work California!

duc-dog/Milt
The green stuff is a mixture of mold and paint placed there just prior to the pictures...I'd tell you it was 'grass' but you never know what 'word' will alert HS/NSA/BATFE/DEA     


Appreciate the comments from our shooters and hope they make it back soon. Fred, you really gonna use iron sights 

Tim, nice pics, thanks..'red bats'     you have to warn me when I start looking like a christmas present with all those different colors: I'm not usually allowed out in public without supervision   
Yeah, rain and wind gusts seem to be the norm for me, interestingly enough when John put that up I looked at the 'feet' to loan him some long nails to anchor it with but the holes were too small for them.

CSHR/michael

Our family had a great time as well; thanks for not canceling because of a little rain! 

As usual, Caz was so excited he couldn't stop talking the first day... or two.  I hope the crowd appreciated his comparison to squib loads... in nerf guns, or his ambition (e.g. "how old do you have to be to be an Appleseed instructor?")  Really glad both boys exhibited good gun safety the whole time.

We all continue to learn.  Caspian brought his "all prone" score above 200, up about 50 points from last time.  He also "showed skill" on the Redcoats up to 300yd.  And Leo's ~185 AQTs are now the rule.


Bluecoats... shooting at Redcoats.




The bookends.




Unprompted gun safety: finger off the trigger when getting your photo taken






Earning their "patches"




What, a little rain?  We can still shoot, right Dad?



Caz refusing to not volunteer.  Hmm... how apropos for an Appleseed.

John, Leo, Caz,

Great pictures and wonderful sons. Thanks for the posting.

No safety problems that I saw, always polite, a pleasure to instruct..and good shooters too   

I wish some of the other students had Caspian's enthusiasm for the instruction. We are attempting to get everyone involved with the history and heritage too. He's welcome anytime I'm there.

CSHR/michael

P.S. Did he sleep all the way home?

AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH

you gotta see these:

http://appleseedinfo.org/smf/index.php?topic=20077.msg160596;topicseen#msg160596


http://appleseedinfo.org/smf/index.php?topic=20135.0


I don't wanna hear about no stinking rain..      

CSHR: he fell asleep right before the last AQT and Redcoat...



... but woke up in time for a bacon double cheeseburger.

It wasn't snowing but I still think we need a special Rainseed patch.

John,

After seeing him on "go" for both days it's nice to see the 'battery run down', nice pic....but I guess sleep doesn't turn off the olfactory senses 

Interesting thing you did with the winter-rain seed.....the last two events I ran we had similar drizzle Sat and pour Sun, and the wind....we had a ziptied group of 4 EZ Ups go over. I looked at yours but saw the holes in the feet were too small for my 'nails', next time we'll criss-cross them to try and help.

I had my own, single shot bolt action, by the time I was 7yrs, so I'm partial to the youngsters who are safe, trying to learn, and have a good time...both your boys are great....and I'm jealous as I was lucky to get one or two boxes (50-100 rds) to shoot waaaaaay back then....and it was iron sights......ahhhhh the good old days..

CSHR

CSHR: even if nails don't fit we had easy access to sandbags, and I probably should have bagged up.  But the wind came on suddenly and unexpectedly.  I've never had an awning last longer than a season anyway.

Idea: in the eventbrite confirmation, clearly state "rain or shine".  At least one registrant figured it would be cancelled due to rain so didn't show.  Or perhaps add something to this effect, and mention the option for shooting under the overhang, in the "local range" information page.

Yes, Caz finally ran out of gas.  Thanks for tolerating his "hero worship".

Re: history.  Some of the ideas relayed are quite profound.  It can be difficult for an 8 or 12 year old, or even a 30+ year old, to conceptualize the historical context of the Revolutionary war.  For example, getting in a firefight before the invention of antibiotics.  Thanks for helping keep this meaningful.

Re: rain or shine - I was signing up for the Feb 18-19th one and when you sign up and check the little "I read this" box it says "I understand that RWVA requires 1 weeks notice for refunds.  Appleseeds go on rain or shine, refunds are not issued  because of weather conditions unless the event is canceled.".  It would probably make sense for some of that text to be carried over to the confirmation email and/or the ticket.

Er, Feb 19th-20th.  No edit button, huh?