Project Appleseed

An unseasonably mild Spring morning greeted 21 motivated shooters for a very special sold-out 1-day Project Appleseed shoot: held exactly on the 250th anniversary - to the day - of the events in 1775 that catapulted colonial America into the War of Independence.  What a glorious, unique day in all our lives!
    We set up in one of the largest action bays at Pelham Fish and Game, a host club for over 15 years which has always been a tremendous supporter of Project Appleseed.
   After the administrative brief, shooters were posed four questions:
1. Who fired the first shots (plural) at Lexington green?
2. What caused the British army, one of the best trained, equipped, and disciplined fighting forces of that era, to break and run for their lives after a 2-minute encounter with a bunch of farmers and shopkeepers at the North bridge in Concord?
3. What specific place (which you can visit today) did the Revolutionary War begin?
4. Where and when was the American Revolution won?
Promising these answers would reveal themselves over the course of the day's history portion, we segwayed to the first of 3 installments, which we call "Three Strikes of the Match" meaning it took several successive incidents for the two sides, who woke up that morning belonging to the same England, to divorce  permanently.
    We did our mandatory safety brief, with everyone chorusing loudly, then brought our rifles to the line and shot our morning "Red Coat" / hits count target.  Our customary equipment check beforehand revealed a number of loose barrel screws - taking precautions pays off!
   With our group performance level now baselined, we proceeded into our blocks of instruction - the "firehose" of information commenced!
Eye dominance, sling use, the steady hold factors of te prone position, Natural Point Of Aim (NPOA), the 6 steps of firing the shot, talking targets, and Inches Minutes and Clicks (IMC).  We practiced these points dry on the line (dry fire is the #1 thing you can do to improve!!), then as noon approached, we started shooting for groups using the Squares targets. Along the way, the Shoot Boss occasionally interjected what was occurring 250 years ago to the hour, to maintain a sense of historical reference.  The day got warmer and warmer, with temps eventually peaking around 80. - A New England summer day in April!
   We heard the Second Strike of the Match at lunch, then got back to our course of fire, mastering magazine changes, safe transitions, the seated and standing positions, while easing into our first AQT target, when it was time to break for the Memorial Volley.  At precisely 4pm, the Shoot Boss started reading off the names of those who fell at Lexington Green, Concord, and Menotamy while the largest coordinated volley in the world commenced.  At the end, each shooter and instructor was presented with a commemorative patch and solid copper 2nd Amendment coin as a memento of this sobering event.  Earlier, a club director stopped by to observe, and shared that he and his family were on Lexington green that very morning for the reenactment - we are so fortunate to live where we can see and walk our history!
    We finished up the AQT, then shot the Parkers Revenge target - which was a lot of fun!  We wrapped up with the afternoon redcoat/hits count target, and a benediction, reviewing the answers to those 4 questions and thanking everyone who chose to spend their Saturday before Easter honoring our common heritage as Americans.   Group performance significantly improved, as it always does, and we had several rifleman.  Sebastian requalified with a 216 (way to go Sebastian!), while Clyde earned his very first Rifleman patch with a strong 226 - and the coveted in-color version only awarded during April shoots.  Congratulations Clyde, who also stepped up to join our instructor ranks!   Huzzah!!!  Also, a number of our instructors took the opportunity at the very end to requalify.
   Thank you again for attending and being so safe - and for most of all, honoring our common heritage as American on such a momentous anniversary.  We hope to see you again at another Project Appleseed event - check out our calendar!

   

Last Saturday certainly was a fantastic day at the range! Taking part in the Memorial Volley on the 250th anniversary was an absolute honor. Thank you to all of the instructors and volunteers who put on another stellar event, and congratulations to Sebastian and Clyde! 

 

Adding on to RangeDog, KevinNH, Nightpoison, ToddMA, ShaneO, Brent1775, and MattNH re-qualifying.  We got together April 27th at Pioneer to give one more try for the red, white and blue with gold border patch.  mmirate qualified and KevinNH added to his April AQTs with his all time high of a Distinguished 243. Nice job guys

Congratulations to all who requalified! And extra congrats to KevinNH for earning Distinguished!

Mmirate and KevinNH way to go. Nice work KevinNH. Working towards the 2nd 250 in NE.