Alamogordo, NM - Nov 8-9, 2025

[kelly42a]

Patriots—circle up!

What a fantastic weekend at the Sidney Paul Gordon Shooting Range in Alamogordo, NM (what an amazing venue). The weather was perfect, the smiles were big, and with 5 shooters and 5 instructors we enjoyed tons of focused 1-on-1 coaching — the ideal recipe for fast growth. Special appreciation to Captwa, whose powerful telling of the Second Strike moved many to tears (myself included). I'd also like to recognize our 2 Sunday walk-ons - a proud mom and a visiting spouse — who jumped in, learned quickly, and kept the momentum strong.



Highlights

First-timers crushed it: Every shooter was new to Appleseed (a few brand-new to shooting, borrowing rifles), yet they took to the instruction fast and kept improving all weekend.



Morgan's Shingle hits: One Saturday afternoon and One Sunday afternoon.  It's also worth noting that one of our Sunday walk-ons was one round shy of clearing her afternoon Redcoat.

AQT progress: No Rifleman patches this time, but two shooters broke 200 and another scored over 190 — great trajectory for a first event.

100-yard balloon challenge: After Sunday's KD lesson we pushed to 100 yards — five rounds, two red balloons each. All five participants popped both of their balloons; our youngest participant finished first and aced it, two shots, two pops.



Parker's Revenge:. On Sunday, two couples squared off on a Parker's Revenge target, with the winner scoring 63/75.



Future volunteers: Two visiting students asked about joining the Appleseed team and are now connected with their local state coordinator — love to see it!

To the Sidney Paul Gordon Shooting Range: thank you for hosting us — we absolutely couldn't do this without your support. And to every shooter and family who joined us: thank you for trusting us with your weekend and bringing such coachable, upbeat energy to the line. Keep practicing those fundamentals, bring a friend next time, and we'll see you back on the line soon.

In Liberty,

New Mexico Appleseed Team
(and one visiting Arizona Instructor)

[JustKim]

WOW!!  Way to go all!!!

[Mrs. Smith]

Great instructors, great students, great history, great shooting, and great fun.

Sigh. I'm happy