Project Appleseed

Special thanks to the range. United Sportsmens Inc. They have been absolutely great to us and we can't thank them enough for hosting Project Appleseed.

What a glorious weekend for America!

The weather was hot hot hot. Lots of student improvements! Lot's of instructors having fun. A couple even shot a few times.


The numbers...
Small group, allowed us to get personal. 12 students showed up for liberty.
We had 4 first time ever Appleseeders.
3 first time Riflemen!
Congrats
Daniel, a first time Appleseed and first time Rifleman score, 217 & 215
Victor repeated with a 217.
Then on Sunday
Victor with two 232 Distinguished shooting irons (and he cleared the hits count)
Doug, a first time Appleseed and first time Rifleman score 214
Tim with his first Rifleman score, 215!

After lunch on Sunday we did a fun, cold bore 1 try at the Shingle... and 6 got a hit!
Congrats Vic, Doug, Eric, Tim, Pinky, Jason, Vince!

The Riflemen photos will have to be posted by the respective cameramen.

Thank you to 3Huzzahs, 303brit, DeltaBill, CalLefty, Danfinger, and Okayishrifleguy couldn't do it without ya'll.

Liberty Yo!

It was a phenomenal weekend.
Many thanks to the Cadre, I almost, but didn't quite end up having to do the safe rifle dance. Again.

This was Pinky and my 4.5th Appleseed. Right in the middle of it all, she decided to go from her .22, to her AR-15 on Sunday. I thought that was a bad idea, boy did she prove me wrong.
Her group sizes didn't change.
This inspired me enough to change from my P.C. M&P 15-22 to my Mini 14.
After lunch. On Sunday.
My one shot on the single was not only cold bore, my sling had not been fully adjusted, but my scope hadn't been either.
While most of the shooters were running AQT's, I was adjusting my sling and DOPE. Using the AQT targets.
I brought one to 3Huzzahs and we eyeballed my final adjustment at 16 clicks up.
Down to the last AQT, I watched 3 solid misses through my scope, no matter what, -15 points.
I saw lots of 4's and a couple of 3's.
It was down to the bottom row.
IIRC, I used at least 4 minutes, but I did not pull that trigger until I knew NPoA was verified; it paid off.

Back to Pinky, 200/250, her highest score to date.
To be honest, I thought that she was going to make Rifleman before me the way she was shooting on Saturday.

We also both thank everyone vote making her birthday on Sunday unforgettable.

This past weekend was a glorious weekend. Congratulations to the new Riflemen, and those who re-qualified as such.

Daniel was the first new Rifleman who qualified on Saturday after just one morning of instruction.


Victor is a returning Rifleman who scored Distinguished using a basic 10/22 carbine with Tech Sights.


Happy Birthday to Pinky who also got her highest score to date.


Congratulations to Doug, a first time Appleseeder, and first time Rifleman.


And of course Tim, who made Rifleman shooting an almost perfect 49 points on stage 4.

I attended this event and had a great time!

First, I want to thank the instructors Chris, Darryl, Gareth, Dan, both Jasons, and Bill. Hopefully I got the names right and didn't forget anybody! Everyone was very helpful, knowledgeable, and fun to be around. We had about a dozen students, so it was a great instructor-to-student ratio, with plenty of individualized attention and feedback. All the students were great people to spend the weekend with.

This was my second Appleseed, and I definitely improved over my first time. I don't remember exactly, but I think my first Appleseed last April, I was averaging an AQT score of at most 100, often below that, and I know I never got a score above 124 to get out of the unqualified range. That's not very good, but I was there to learn, starting from knowing nothing about marksmanship, and I knew my takedown rifle was not ideal. I also have eyesight issues that make it difficult. This time for the first morning shot at the Hits Count target, I hit the shingle and had an effective range of 200 yards, plus hits at 300 and 400, so I knew this would be a better day. My best AQT was 160. It might not be an amazing AQT, but it was a huge improvement for me over April.

Part of the improvement was that I bought a new rifle that is more suited to Appleseed. In April, I used a takedown rifle, which I think is not rigid enough and can flex and lose zero, especially when the sling is under tension. And that rifle had no good way to adjust the fit, especially length of pull. The new rifle has a stock that can be adjusted for length of pull and comb height, so I could fit the rifle to my body better. It's a non-takedown, so it's more stable. And it has a better trigger and an easier mag release. I love the new blaster! I didn't want to blame the old rifle too much last time, but it seems pretty clear to me now, it was definitely holding me back.

I also think I got better too. I did not have a chance to practice shooting over the summer, but I did a few sessions of dry firing at home while I was setting up my new rifle for this event. I practiced the positions and loop sling to get my LOP, cheek height, and scope distance dialed in. And I spent additional time practicing NPOA and the 6 steps to taking a shot. I took the rifle to an indoor range to zero it before the event, and while I was there, I shot several AQT targets using a timer for the stages and doing the mag changes. You can't use the Appleseed positions at that indoor range, but this still helped me get a better feel for the pace of each stage. I think this practice paid off.

It was definitely scorching hot weather! The first day was almost 100 degrees, there was a nice breeze though, and that made it more comfortable than it could have been. And we had EZ-up-style shade canopies when we weren't shooting. I did get a lot of sun and was a bit sunburnt and overheated by the end. I drank a ton of water and Gatorade, and I still needed a lot more liquid to rehydrate when I got home. The second day was hotter than the first, and there was less relief from the breeze. I was really feeling it. I had some leftover fatigue and soreness from the first day, and the extra few degrees of heat made an impact too.

I think the heat affected the mental aspects of shooting the AQT, like keeping track of rounds in each target, remembering the mag is empty after 2 rounds for the transition stages, etc. And I think it affected my dexterity for doing things like mag changes quickly and getting quickly back in position. My AQT scores dropped during the course of day 2 as the temperature got hotter and hotter, and it was mostly due to mistakes on the transition stages 2 and 3 and not getting all the rounds off due to running out of time. When I had plenty of time, like stages 1 and 4, or shooting the Hits Count I did better, but the stages with more to keep track of, more manipulation, and more time pressure dropped off on day 2. I was completely cooked by the end.

In general, even without the heat, my greatest difficulty in the AQT is with timed stages 2 and 3. If I want a better AQT, then I need to be able to get into position and find my NPOA much faster. And I need to be able to do mag changes a lot quicker and keep track of round counts in the mags and holes in paper on each target. I make a lot of mistakes on those things that cost time and I end up not getting all 10 rounds off before the stage ends. I'm sure I can improve that with practice.

Really though, for me, the AQT is not why I signed up for Appleseed. I wanted to learn how to shoot accurately, and I have definitely learned a lot about that. I like how I'm improving on the Hits Count target. The game aspect of the AQT is fun, but if I can clear the Hits Count target, that's going to mean a lot to me. And despite my challenges with the AQT, I feel like clearing the Hits Count target is within reach eventually.

Both days we shot a Hits Count target first thing in the morning and last thing in the afternoon, and we did one extra one of just the shingle after lunch one day. I hit 3 of 5 shingles (they told me the first one counted, even though I just grazed it!). My effective range was 200yd 3 of 4 times, and 300yd once. That 300yd one was a bit weird because I mistakenly shot 4 rounds into the 100yd target, so I only had 2 left by the time I got to the 400, but the shooter next to me mistakenly put 2 of his on my 400yd, so there were 4 in that section, with 3 hits. I know I only had 2 rounds there, so I couldn't honestly take credit for a 400yd effective range, but at least 1 and maybe 2 of those hits are mine. (He's a very good shot, so I'm pretty sure I know which are which.)

So I think I covered everything I can remember. Despite the heat, it was a fun and productive event! Let's do it again sometime!

I'm looking at one of my AQT's, and I think that I was shorted 22 points on stage 2.
I was given 22, but I'm getting 44, even with the dropped shots.
If I'm right, I qualified twice.
211 & 215.
Running out of time this morning, but I'll send a pic of it later.

3Huzzahs recounted the target, I was off too.
The AQT ended up at 206. 
Ah, well. Still a Rifleman, just not a multi.

Next time!

Thanks everyone for helping me through my first event! Looking forward to doing a lot more of these, and hopefully becoming at least half as good as some of you guys are at teaching. Any maybe by then we'll have found an orange hat that fits my deceptively large noggin.

Thank you for joining the cadre.
Eventually, I want to join the ranks of the instructors, for now, I'm concentrating on learning more about the little, simple tweaks that improve precision.

Quote from: La Victoire Ailee (Timothy_D) on October 13, 2024, 01:12:17 AMThank you for joining the cadre.
Eventually, I want to join the ranks of the instructors, for now, I'm concentrating on learning more about the little, simple tweaks that improve precision.

No time like the present, sir.

You've proven yourself an expert shot.  We'll teach you how to become an expert instructor... and your shooting will get lots better along the way.

Quote from: Maximum Ordinate on October 13, 2024, 09:25:25 AM

Quote from: La Victoire Ailee (Timothy_D) on October 13, 2024, 01:12:17 AMThank you for joining the cadre.
Eventually, I want to join the ranks of the instructors, for now, I'm concentrating on learning more about the little, simple tweaks that improve precision.

No time like the present, sir.

You've proven yourself an expert shot.  We'll teach you how to become an expert instructor... and your shooting will get lots better along the way.

I appreciate that very much.
The challenge right now is that I work every Saturday, making weekend commitments difficult.
My wife and I are also in the process of becoming members of the Sebastopol Rifle and Pistol Club, she's working on becoming an RSO and NRA pistol instructor, my goal is to become an NRA RSO and Rifle rifle instructor.
The club is 7.5 miles from our house making it a much simpler prospect at the moment.

I definitely want to give back to Appleseed, just may be a year or two before it's feasible.

(We're also planning on taking the Appleseed Pistol course next year. Lots to learn.)