possible new Appleseed location in the southernmost tip of Texas.

[BDG]

To Scout and all my fellow Texas cadre... I've been looking to get an AS set up here in the Rio Grande Valley for quite some time now. I have been met with quite a bit of lackluster desire and prejudice from various elements within the gun community here. I've finally found a gentleman at one of the local gun clubs in the region who would love to get one going. If everything goes well, I will be there tomorrow to scout the setup and see what it looks like. I have never been to this club before, so I am unfamiliar with the facilities. I hope to speak with a few members and gauge their desires and thoughts on the AS program. And if everything works out, then we can add another location to the list.

Here is the club's About Us page: http://valleygunclub.com/?page_id=2
Note that they shoot NRA High Power at 200, 300, & 600 yards...

Here is a Google Map of the location so you can see it's geographical location. Zoom out several times to see it's relation to the populated areas (and Mexico)
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=26.107643,-98.028302&spn=0.003685,0.004823&t=h&z=18

I'll be taking the Host Form to get filled out and go from there.

Wish me well.

[Scout]

I do wish you well BDG and I am ready to help out in backing your endeavor there in any way I can. Let me know if you need any additional info or help. I can do any calls you need after your intro and we have some power point range intros already set up if you need them.

Make sure you inform them of our ability to be really helpful partners in their range.

We draw attendees to their ranges and they get the range fees.

We do not run any ranges, so we are not looking to shift any of their folks to our facilities.

We sell no shooting sports gear other than AS t shirts so we will not infringe on any of their commercial money making sales/possibilities.

We actually draw new members into the shooting sports and we do it at their range with the logical follow up of increasing their range use and membership since we will be drawing on the local population at these events and telling them they have to shoot on a regular basis to keep their skills current.

We help members and other who attend by giving them a solid block of range safety instruction, and then enfore it with 16 hours of practical application. How to handle rifles safely and how to clear and safety rifles on a firiinfg line for two solid days.

We show folks how to use their range time productively with instruction on the "fundementals" of rifle marksmanship including how to continually improve their shooting skills by building a stable shooting possition, determining their natural point of aim and shifting it onto the target and instructing them on how to execute the shot by the six steps.

We also provide them with diagnostic tools such as talking targets, an explaination of IMC and set a goal for them of 4 minutes of arc accuracy with rack rifles and surplus ammunition.

Increased improvement of the shooting skills of their members leads to increased involvement in shooting at local and regional events. Their increased marksmanship skills contribute to their taking prizes at these events and leads to the promotion of the hosting ranges.

The extended safety class alone is worth our partnering with them.

Let me know how I can help
Scout

[BDG]

well, I just got home from my excursion there. The match which had been scheduled today ended up being cancelled. Apparently only some people were notified. About 4 shooters showed up at the local Whataburger this morning and went out to shoot anyway, just not match-style. The match has been rescheduled for next Sunday. I'll have to see if I can make it then. I don't have official word yet, but it seems likely that the match was cancelled due to inclement weather. Yes, we had a freeze here last night, which probably kept everyone away - except the real shooters I informed the shooters there that Appleseed shoots rain or shine.

I talked to the shooters who did go, since I couldn't have gotten into the property without one of them being a member, and they were firmly in the hunting/long range competition category. There was a Savage .223 and .308 as well as a couple of Weatherbys... I think .257 and a 30-cal class gun brought to the line that I saw. Everything was a bolt gun.

The range does indeed have capacity to shoot at 600, but there isn't much there to it. Apparently it was an old National Guard shooting station pre-50s or so.. Right in front of the backstop was a concrete dugout for raising/lowering targets from backers. It looked in pretty sorry shape from neglect and did not look like it could do raising/lowering. Targets were placed on target holders right in front of the berm as one would typically expect. The shooters there weren't planning on shooting there own stuff, but match materials so were ill-prepared for a cancelled match. They ended up using a Sarpie to draw some circles on open cardboard space and shoot them for groupings. I gave them some RWVA one-inch square sheets and also passed out some of my AQTs for anyone interested.

The range was wide enough to house probably 20 shooters or so on the line. For KD capabilities, there is a triple bench covered station at 200, elevated dirt mound at 300, and covered shooting benches again at 600.

One of the shooters there lives in a ranching area to the northeast (60 miles or so) of me and claimed to shoot regularly in his backyard to 600 or 700. I'll have to make friends with him. He brought his young son (perhaps 8 years old) so would be a very good double candidacy for AS! His boy was shooting the 223 @100.

Another shooter claimed to have trained several snipers over the course of his 40+ years as a shooter. I'd like to get him to an Appleseed and see if that's true.

It struck me as interesting that all the rifles brought to the line were fired from sitting at bench with front bipods and rear sandbags. This first time out, no one shot from standing or prone or off-bench. I think they were mainly trying customer loads and sighting in rifles. The rancher guy even showed me some Lapua moly-coated bullets he had just received from Midway. They looked very nice and shiny, but rather long for a 223 bullet. I believe this is the bullet: http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=729620


The range had a pistol section, but I looked in there, and it appeared to be insufficient for Appleseed usage. It was extremely short range, much less than 25m... perhaps only suitable for 10m pistol..

So, without a match in progress and some people using semi-autos, I don't have any more information at the moment. I'll have to report back when I get more info.

[BDG]

ok, I just got back from the annual meeting of Valley Gun Club. About 50 people showed up. The membership crew at the front told me that there are about 250 members in the club. Membership dues are $40 and +$15 for first timers. I signed up and handed over my $55. I sat down and had some free brisket and chatted with a few of the members. They did their business and a few guest speakers were there, myself included. The first was Walter Plitt, the South Texas Regional Director of the Texas State Rifle Association, whom I briefly met and gave me his contact info, asking for a followup later regarding Appleseed. I hope he was genuine. Will followup with him and see. He said he was on one of the big Committees in TSRA as well as Friends of NRA for the Lower Valley. I'll hand his contact info over to ya if you want it, just PM me.

The group did their business stuff. I discovered that they only meet annually, so basically all business was conducted that night. The only other times they do stuff is when they have matches at the range.

At the end of the meeting and just prior to it's adjournment, I got to speak. I tried to give it a brief one, as they had already gotten a bit shifty and several of them had the body language of wanting to get outta there and go home. So, I hopped up front of the 50-odd people and gave the Appleseed speech, extolling the virtues of AS. Many people had rapt attention. I received several questions after my brief presentation, which went longer than I had expected due to the questions, which got me going on other topics. On quoting my name, phone number, and personal email, I saw at least a dozen people make writing motions. On quoting the website info, same thing. One member to the rear of the building reported that he had a relative attend an AS in Austin this past month. He had a favorable opinion of it, which I think added to the opinion of it by the group since one of their own had something positive to say, rather than just me trying to sell them on the idea. I offered all of my existing targets, including spare AQTs and a Rifleman's pack of the various targets for free to them to "shoot in their backyards if they were able to" or at the range. The backyard shooting elicited several chuckles. I finished answering questions and then made way back to my seat so I could hand out targets. The meeting officially adjourned with me still standing. Probably 15 people made their way over to me to get some free targets. I started with giving out 2 or 3 per person of AQTs before I opened up the Rifleman's pack and started to just say "help yourself" to the other various targets in it. Most everything got picked up. I spoke briefly with about 10 of the people wanting targets about small points, with the ones towards the end sticking around for longer periods and wanting more detailed info. The last gentleman was particularly impressed with the Heritage part, as his son lives in Boston and drives the road at Battle Road on a daily basis. He had  traveled part of the trail himself and was aware of the Heritage, though not in the level of detail that I presented. He was suitably impressed.

Apparently the President of my own club was suitably impressed as well. He asked me afterwards what it would take to run an AS at our home range. The issue we have is that they currently have a match every single Saturday, so juggling an AS on my home range would likely require a 5th weekend event in the month to get approval, since the Steel, IPSC, Cowboy, and Black Powder shooters are long established. I'm still trying to get inroads with them, but basically, they would have to voluntarily cancel one of their own shoots in order for an AS to occur there. Being an 850 member club, that's a tough sell, but I'm still working on it!

So, Valley Gun Club seems very receptive to running an AS. I expressed that we could conceivably schedule one there as soon as February, but my concern was that with POP having set up an AS in Corpus for March, April, and May - I'll have to get a noncompeting weekend. Additionally, we would need the Instructor corps to work this potential event. POP has already generously volunteered. The other likely candidates of course would be Alonso1, SNAITF, & Josiah (and that's just due to being within 300 miles!) I would of course welcome any other Instructor.. 

I hope to get some emails or phone calls this week from any of the people I gave my contact info to. If so, I'll report back or send them to a higher authority.