Concord, California AAR July 18-19, 2026

[3Huzzahs]

Hear Ye, Hear Ye, Hear Ye!

A famous line in a movie script once stated rhetorically that "Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you might get". This was the case of the 25 meter rifle event held at Concord, California's United Sportsman's Inc range off of Evora Road on July 18-19, 2026.

None of the participants admitted to having a sound and deep understanding of what events had to take place after the July 4, 1776 celebration of the Declaration of Independence. Indeed, they came not expecting to take away a deep-rooted appreciation of the efforts and sacrifices made by militia and minuteman companies conducting operations on April 19, 1775 on the roads, bridges, and hills stretching from Boston to Concord, MA and back. Indeed, the participants at USI range woke up and did not realize what they were in store for regarding learning more about their link to this historical heritage.

Instruction on safety is a fundamental part of the curriculum. Indeed the section on Ammunition Difficulties came in handy when one participant's rifle went "poof" instead of "bang" producing a cloud of smoke. Immediately raising their hand, an Instructor identified a squib round issue. The rifle was made safe and the squib cleared from the barrel. Clearly having Total Participant Involvement (TPI) pays off during the early course of instruction teaching. You never know when these issues may occur at an event!

On Sunday, all of the blocks of instruction in the curriculum paid off. Indeed of the 7 participants who remained, 4 earned the distinction of becoming first time Rifleman. While it takes on average 3 Appleseeds for a participant to shoot 210 or better for their Rifleman patch, these 4 patriots worked hard with great results. John earned the distinction of being doused with the waters of the Concord River with a solid 210/250. Well done sir! You never know for certain what hard work will do at an event!

A special thanks to the instructor and support staff crew. Dan, Jason, Bill, Eric, Pinky, and Tim all worked diligently and were outstanding contributors to a fantastic weekend.

A very heartfelt shout out and big THANK YOU to Eric who is volunteering his social media skills and services to spread the word (7th Stepping!) with his efforts increasing Team Northern California's presence in running Project Appleseed Events. His efforts are already bearing results with more shooters stating that they heard of us through Reddit and Facebook, just two of the on-line media he has worked on. Stay tuned for his upcoming YouTube videos for NorCal!!! THANKS ERIC!!!!

Huzzah, Huzzah, HUZZAH!!!!