Project Appleseed

Friday the night before our event it stormed thunder and rain, but as we got to the range Saturday morning the sky brightened up for what would be a beautiful weekend. As always, thank you to Sheriff Frank Reynolds and the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office for graciously allowing us to use their facilities. We gathered everyone in the classroom and got to work on the real purpose of the weekend. Sharing the true story of April 19th, 1775 with ordinary Americans and getting them in touch with their extraordinary heritage.

Yours truly kicked things off with the First Strike of the Match to frame the weekend.



After the Safety briefing we got to work on the Redcoat target. The scores showed we had a little work to do, but definitely some shooters too as both Matt and Kelly cleared the Redcoat! Huzzah! It was windy, but the fire of Liberty burned bright in all of us. I couldn't help but smile knowing we had a great weekend ahead of us.



After Eye Dominance, Leadslinger66 and Mechanic kicked off the marksmanship instruction with sling use. Hasty Hasty, Hasty, and the Loop Sling.



From then on, we moved along pretty quickly. First three of the 6 Steps of Firing the Shot, NPOA, Prone Position Class, and then spent a long time on a prone practical exercise fitting rifles to shooters, but we knew it would pay off. Then we centered up again for the last three of the 6 Steps of firing the Shot, Did a trigger exercise, dry fired in place in the prone position. Then Instructors moved the mags up for them and the first square of the day was engaged with judicious marksmanship.  And that they did! Pretty much everyone was 4-6 MOA with most being 4 or less. 

We shot a couple more squares reinforcing what we had learned and then a look at the clock found us somehow ahead of schedule. So, we went ahead and did Talking Targets. .416_Rigby had his job cut out for him finding things to talk about, but still did a great job. We then shot one more square adjusting for any errors our targets had told us about.

Next was Lunch in the classroom and the Second Strike of the Match by Leadslinger66. Since we were already huddled in the classroom, we rolled into Inches, Minutes, and Clicks or IMC.



We cleaned up and went straight to the target line to gather data on our groups. Then we returned to the firing line and used our new found knowledge on IMC, before shooting a verification sighter group. The next exercise was a combined drill of Carding the Sights and Rifleman's Cadence. It went off very well and really drove the importance of NPOA home. Feeling good about that, we moved into a Magazine Change Drill.

We moved inside for a break and a stirring telling of the Third Strike of the Match by 6Bones. At the end of the 3rd Strike, we had a somewhat impromptu visit from Congressman Barry Loudermilk!
He is a personal friend of Instructor 6Bones and this has been in the works for a long time. The Congressman asked to address the group and talk about the Second Amendment and the Revolutionary War.















Congressman Loudermilk was on a tight schedule. However, Gator0246 offered up his M1 Garand to the Congressman to use and some time suddenly opened up on his calendar and he was able to join us for the Liberty Volley.  The Congressman, as well as I'm not sure how many were in his entourage, all signed waivers, eyes and ears were found for all. The Congressman was the only new shooter and the rest observed, so we quickly ran him through the Safety briefing to the side and everyone else took a much needed 5 minute Break.

Next, we went through the Standing Position Demonstration as led by .416_Rigby and Axeman in preparation for the Liberty Volley and the AQT.





Instead of practicing it on a green coat as usual, we did the Liberty Volley while standing.

The Liberty Volley went off normally with the exception of the Congressman being present and the Shoot Boss had also somehow been transported back to 1775 and taken on the persona of Captain John Parker, leader of the Lexington training band. Gator0246 held a copy of the Butcher as Captain Parker read.

Video reading of the Bloody Butcher: https://youtu.be/g2ZCLaW_XFM

This was of course followed immediately by the Liberty Volley in remembrance of the fallen.

Full Liberty Volley Video Link: https://youtu.be/L0kMX5N2JQI

Congressman Loudermilk shoots the M1 Garand: https://imgur.com/K4YkmxA

















Congressman Loudermilk had to leave but left with a smile that only shooting an M1 Garand can bring and an appreciation for what we do. Captain Parker stayed on to finish out the day with the shooters. Having just done Standing, we moved right into Stage 1 of the AQT. Next, we had a sitting class and did an extended dry fire exercise trying out all the seated positions to find what worked best. Then we centered up again for Transition to Seated. We did a couple dry-runs and then shot it live on Stage 2 of the AQT. Next we did Transition to prone and shot it on Stage 3. We closed out of course with Stage 4.

We ended the day in the classroom with a presentation of the William Diamond patches and the Philosophy of Liberty of the Founding Fathers.

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If possible, Sunday was even more beautiful, as the wind had died down. All the students from the day before returned, plus 1 walk-on and 1 extra Instructor, Overmountain,  who unfortunately couldn't make it the day before. We began with an in-depth view of Captain Parker, followed by a brief overview of 1776 and some powerful words from Thomas Paine's "The Crisis".

Then it was review time! 6 Steps, Talking Targets, IMC, Sling Use, Prone Position, Seated Positions, Standing Position, NPOA, Rifleman's Cadence, as well as, the Safety Rules and Safe Rifle. Before hitting the range, we introduced 2 new concepts, Rifleman's bubble and Rifleman's Dance. Then we went took the rifles to the line, reviewed Ammunition Difficulties, and shot a Redcoat. Immediately, we could see improvement from the day before. Even so, we shot a couple sighter groups to get the shooters dialed in. We then did some Ball and Dummy and the cadre saw sever future Instructors doing some great work and everyone seemed to benefit from the exercise. We hung AQTs and headed inside for Lunch.

At Lunch we heard some great stories of Dangerous Old Men, Brave Women and Gallant Children. .416_Rigby began things with Samuel Whitemore, Hezekiah Wyman, Mother Batherick and the Ammo Wagons. Leadslinger66 had us all tearing up with his rendition of James Hayward. Yours truly rounded things out with Nancy Hart. Then we got to work! There was an AQT waiting! 

Right off the bat, the Rifleman scores began to pour in like rain on a hot day day. Welcome and plentiful.

Kelly re-qualified with a 211!



Griffin shot a 213 at his first event!



Matt shot a 214, also at his first event!



Our return Trail Life student, Claxton, shot a 215!



Gator re-qualified with a 221 (I apologize for not getting a picture.)

The Shoot Boss noticed some excellent shooters were still struggling with magazine changes so, squares were posted and a magazine drill followed. Another AQT was posted and the fruits of our labor showed once again.

Kelly re-qualified with a 214. AGAIN!

Allison shot a 211 at her first Appleseed using the craziest seated position I'd ever seen.



Matt proved it wasn't a fluke for him as he shot a 238!!! 

We took a break to soak in some air conditioning and hear the Known Distance Presentation as Gator0246 and Leadslinger66 tag teamed it. Refreshed, we returned for another AQT. followed by a Seated exercise as Shoot Boss saw some still struggling. 2 more AQTs would follow and to be honest I can't even remember all the re-qualifying Rifleman scores. So, apologies for any skipped.

Joshua shot a 219 at his first Appleseed!



His sister Allison answered back with a re-qualifier of 221!



Their mother Kelly topped them with a 224 to prove she was the Momma Bear!



Leadslinger66 also re-qualified with a 224!



Axeman re-qualified with a 226 despite having no sling and using irons!



Matt re-qualified with a 230 and a 232!!!

Griffin re-qualified with a 238!!! 

Ryan squeaked by with a 210 (at his first Appleseed!) and earned himself a bath with waters from beneath the actual North Bridge!



Video of the bath: https://imgur.com/nDVrqv6

Claxton decided to step up and join us as an Instructor in Training and his dad joined us at the same time as a member of our Applecore (with an eye on an Orange Hat in the future).

Father and Son!!!



Exhausted, we went inside and heard the story of Timothy Murphy and how one man or woman can make a difference. Lastly, we shot a redcoat, cleaned up, and called it a long and successful day. Or weekend really.

What an amazing weekend with even better people! I can't wait to see each of you again on the line. Remember, a Rifleman persists. Keep up the perfect practice, 7th step and come back and see us with even more friends and family!



In Liberty,

Roswell

Hey Roswell, I had a great time this weekend, and am so glad to join the team! I look forward to learning the ways of instructing, and eventually getting my red hat!
-Poseidenforce

Absolutely young sir! I love your eagerness and look forward to putting you to work. You are the future and posterity. Things look bright. 

Elected officials at PD Appleseed. Awesome.
Families going together. Awesome.
Multiple shooters making Rifleman at their first event. Awesome.
Multiple requals. Awesome.
Shoot Boss in period clothing. Awesome.
Americans stepping up to help. Awesome.

Love it! Keep it up! HUZZAAAHHHH

This is so cool.  I'm trying to get my congressman to do this.