Getting started

[Justsomedude]

I am a Pistol Shooter that just got a Shotgun this summer and got a Mossberg 702 Plinkster for Christmas last week

I got Tech Sights, just ordered a Sling.
Watched "Rifle Marksmanship with the M1 Garand"
http://www.archive.org/details/Rifle_Marksmanship_with_the_M1_Rifle
Downloaded "How to Shoot the US Army Rifle" PDF
http://ia700508.us.archive.org/1/items/How_to_Shoot_the_US_Army_Rifle/How_to_Shoot_the_US_Army_Rifle.pdf
And bookmarked "The Rifleman Series"
http://the-rifleman.blogspot.com/2008/03/part-one-starting-out.html

Any other good fundamental reading or Video?
I'll be digging though the Forum as well but I didn't know what a "Hasty" Sling was until tonight

Thanks for putting this information out there!
Looking forward to an AS someday.
I'm in NashvilleTN and there have JUST been a few.

[ItsanSKS]

justsomedude-

between the video and the .pdf's, you've got a TON of stuff to work through.  Get used to the various positions taught in the M1 video, and you'll be leaps and bounds ahead.   

There is *much* more that we teach at our events, but very little of it lends itself to video presentation; it is taught hands-on... 

There may be other videos and documents that will help, but those you've listed are some of the best that I've seen.

-ItsanSKS

[dart67eb]

justsomedude

They have shoots about an hour south of you at Manchester

[Go_Vols!]

Justsomedude

There is a lot we teach at an Appleseed, that can not learned from books or video. They can help and I have used them myself. Keep an eye on the Appleseed Schedule and come on down to Manchester. The next shoot I think will be late March. It would be great to see you on the line improving your skills.

[Roland]

ItsanSKS is right. That's a lot of stuff! Get through it, it's all great information.

Once you are done with that, read the forum. This board, plus the rifle board should cover most stuff. If you have any specific questions, we'd be glad to help.

However, this board gets mighty cluttered up, so if you have specific questions, perhaps pming an instructor would be the way to go.

Roland

[Old Dog]

The problem with the videos is that they can't watch you practice what you think you saw in the video and tell you you're not doing it quite right.

Its a lot of stuff to learn (yeah, just the fundamentals, but think of it as a base - like the base of a pyramid it contains more stones than any layer above it and takes longer to lay down correctly - remember, failure to build that base properly means problems as you work your way farther up - the pyramid or the skills you are building to shoot your rifle better and then pass on those skills to others.)

When you're behind that rifle, trying to put all those new things you picked up from the videos into practice you not only can't see everything you're doing right (or wrong) you can't concentrate on doing every step at the same time.  As you work your way through the steps (6 steps - remember!) you may very well get #1 right, #2, right, and then while you're getting #3 or #4 right you lose what you had on #1.  If you have a buddy (or Appleseed instructor) looking at you and the position you are trying to build they will pick up on something that just slipped away from you before you do because you are concentrating from behind the rifle and trying to put a bunch of new tools to work at the same time.  The instructor has much more practice at it and "knows" when something isn't right before you do (because you're concentrating on the steps, one at a time).

I'm not saying you can't learn to be a good shot on your own, because you can.  The difference is in the conditions between shooting a piece of paper at a known distance when you've got all day to do it and the type of shooting you learn at appleseeds and RBCs.  I know, I was there once myself.  Once you realize what you've learned and what it means you will be stunned at that moment.  When you get past that moment, the moment when you see on your targets the difference what you've learned is making you may become quite cocky.  You may have an inflated opinion of your skills/abilities (and compared to 95% of the folks at the ranges you used to shoot at you're right).  However, you'll get over that once you start instructing because once again you'll see that you've still got a lot to learn.

Good luck, have fun, if you work at it you'll find its a life changing experience.

[Justsomedude]

I am a Martial Arts instructor.  I enjoy focused repetition of skills
I'm CERTAIN I won't be able to learn everything from Books and Videos but I'm pretty good at remembering the "buzz words" from training programs so I can least burn that into my brain.

Just from the first viewing of that Training Video and reading the first half of the Army Manual today I can now at least IMAGINE being able to hit distant targets.
Lots of good detail in those for sure.

And a shoot in Manchester in March sounds like a good goal for me.
Will plan on it.

THANKS

[DrJohn]

Here is another excellent free, downloadable pamphlet for your consideration: www.becomingriflemen.wordpress.com. It is heavily influenced by Appleseed and at least at one time, was available on our forum...may still be. Enjoy, and get yourself to an Appleseed shoot.