Very good shotgun News/Knox article on -line now.

[Joe]

http://www.shotgunnews.com/knox/

   
Appleseed: Purpose Driven Riflery
By Chris Knox



(October 22, 2007) The Appleseed Project came to Phoenix this October. It was my privilege to strap into a hard-kicking .30-'06 bolt gun, lay down on a concrete floor, and, fire well over 200 rounds into the teeth of an Arizona sandstorm. It was among the most intense educational experiences of my life. By the end of the day, despite the tough conditions, I knew that my shooting had improved, but more important, I had a new perspective on what it means to shoot a rifle.

The Appleseed Project, a grassroots idea that seemingly came out of nowhere, has quietly grown nationwide and yet has stayed beneath the radar of the established shooting world. Behind it is a club with the unlikely title Revolutionary War Veterans Association. An Appleseed shoot is part history class, part rifle theory, and a whole lot of shooting. Last year a thousand people participated in Appleseed shoots around the country. This year's goal is 2,000. For 2008, it's 4,000. The longer term goal is to double the number of attendees every year.

Nonetheless, Appleseed is not about shooting.

That may seem a strange thing to say about a weekend rifle clinic where you can easily burn a couple hundred dollars worth of ammunition and where you'll be force-fed the distilled essence of 200 years of rifle-shooting knowledge. By itself, shooting is a sport - a game. At an Appleseed you'll learn to look past the game and to see the craft of riflery in a historical and philosophical context. The context is everything.

The historical context is that America owes its independence, its very existence, to riflemen. America was once a nation of riflemen. The ambitious goal of Appleseed is to make us riflemen once more. At an Appleseed a fair portion of the between-shooting time is spent on discussion of events around Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts on April 19, 1775. The history lectures put basic marksmanship in a new light. Appleseed is not about shooting. It's about liberty. Freedom. Individual rights. And most certainly, it's about the right to keep and bear arms.

That isn't to say an Appleseed shoot isn't fun. It is! But it's serious fun.

Fred of Fred's M14 Stocks is the self-effacing prime mover behind Appleseed. The Ramseur, North Carolina resident sells stocks and other shooting accessories from a web site (http://fredsm14stocks.com) and through Shotgun News. But the business is a sideline. What Fred does is Appleseed. The Revolutionary War Veterans Association and the Appleseed project grew out of Fred's experiences running a local gun club. He was disappointed at how few members knew - or were even interested in learning - how to shoot. "If you're going to be in a fishing club, you should know how to fish - and if you belong to a gun club, you should know how to shoot. Anybody can buy hardware. Appleseed exists to tune up the software." That software exists between the shooter's ears.

Much of the shooting at an Appleseed happens at 25 meters (or yards, depending on the facility). That seems awfully close until you notice that the targets are scaled down. The shooting standard is four minutes of angle - equivalent to an inch at 25 yards or four inches at 100 yards. It doesn't sound like much if you've heard gun shop talk of one-minute or half-minute rifles. Four minutes sounds easy. Until you try it.

If you attend an Appleseed you may shoot longer distances as a confidence builder, but long range shooting isn't entirely necessary and the trips downrange cut into the jam-packed shooting schedule. The shorter range also opens the field up to .22 rimfire rifles. That's another of the many virtues of Appleseed. Any sighted-in rifle is suitable for Appleseed. Some will naturally do better than others, but instructors won't disparage anyone's rifle. Instead they may suggest what sort of rifle might make it easier to shoot a better score.

There is no equipment race in Appleseed. If anything, there's a certain amount of snob status for the most Spartan rig. A rifle - any rifle - with any sights, a sling, a pad or piece of carpet, and maybe a jacket with elbow and shoulder pads is all the equipment you need to get started.

My own experience with Appleseed showed the project at its best. A hard gusting north wind punctuated by swirling dust devils lifted target frames out of their holes and sent them sailing over the line. The Ben Avery public range and a Civilian Marksmanship Program Creedmoor Cup match closed up shop and went home to watch football, but the Appleseed crowd staked down the target frames and called the firing line ready. To quote Fred, "A rifleman is persistent." We proved it that weekend.

Appleseed events are scheduled all over the country. To find one near you, visit their web site at http://appleseedinfo.org/. I can't think of a better way to learn back-to-basics marksmanship than to put it in the context of history and the principles of freedom.

Permission to reprint or post this article in its entirety is hereby granted provided this credit is included. To Receive the Firearms Coalition's bi-monthly newsletter, The Hard Corps Report, send a contribution to The Firearms Coalition, PO Box 3313, Manassas, Va. 20108 or visit FirearmsCoalition.org and ShotgunNews.com. ©Copyright 2007 Neal Knox Associates



         
 

[1911Ron]

I like it, very nice. I think Chris understated the wind tho  maybe he wrote it that so as to not scare off folks 

[colonial shooter]

Great article Chris, I hope to see you at more appleseeds. Thanks for helping to awaken America.

[kool aid]

Thank you for your kind words, sir!

[chrisknox]

Howdy, folks --

I've been on the road with my day job for four of the past six weeks with a deer hunt in the middle.  (Brandon got his, I'd rather not talk about mine right now.)  I was relieved to find that the SGN column was still coherent when I re-read it.  It seems to have been well-received and I hope it brings a few more shooters to the line.  I'm looking forward to the next Appleseed in my neck of the woods.  Hope to see some of you there.

Chris Knox

[Fred]

    Chris: Thanks, from everyone here at Appleseed - and look for another sometime in Feb. I think it will be in Phoenix - at any rate, some of our AZ people are working on it...

     Hope to see you there - maybe we can figure someway to boost the growth of the program even faster than now?

[voortrekker]

Chris,

Thanks for the Appleseed article!!!!!

I get SGN three times a month. 

Always looking forward to The Knox Report and Fred's column in every issue.





A shout from Texas.   

[PHenry]

Joe,
I just sent this out to a bunch that I am working on for attendance at the April 19th. Appleseeds in Myakka. Thanks for the heads up - I need all the help I can git!
PHenry

[Fred]

     You know, it is worthwhile to periodically re-read Chris's description of his Appleseed experience.

     There are some words that don't wear out with re-reading, and his report is solid with those words.

     Somehow, for being at his first Appleseed, he's caught a lot of the core meaning of the program that many do not gloam onto until their second or maybe third Appleseed...

[wcmartin1]

Yes, indeed.

It was good to re-read it.

Someone needs to get it linked to our home page and posted here:  http://www.appleseedinfo.org/news.htm

Also need to add Stewart Rhodes article, the SGN article, and I think there's a few others out there that need to be added as well.

[LabRat]

Somehow, for being at his first Appleseed, he's caught a lot of the core meaning of the program that many do not gloam onto until their second or maybe third Appleseed...

I was extremely fortunate in this regard to have had The Story told at my first AS by none other than The Guy. If there's anyone who can point to and make sure you "get" the core meaning of anything it's him.

Belated thanks to Mr. Knox for the excellent report. I hope we can look forward to hearing about his second Appleseed experience in a future column.

[davecampperry]

Can we 'isolate' this article? I would like to print it out and distribute it, it would be a great help, but I don't need three pages of comments. Maybe make it a 'stickie' ?

[Fred]

    Best-looking printed-out version would be copying the article off here, and pasting into the word-processing program of your choice, cleaning up anything you don't like (font, type size, spacing, etc - not the text itself, of course), and then printing out the finished product for photocopying.

    At least, that's my guess.

[funfaler]

You can get it directly from the Firearms Coalition web site here http://www.firearmscoalition.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=147&Itemid=63

And this link is on our web site, under the "News" tab, "press coverage" page.  Here http://www.appleseedinfo.org/news.htm

Yep, some good reading.

If you like that reading, you may like the following as well:

Stewart Rhoades, SWAT Magazine [attachment=1]

Micheal Bane of Down Range TV, radio interview with our very own "Scout" http://www.downrange.tv/radio/50.htm

David Codrea, GUNS Magazine  http://www.gunsmagazine.com/DGR0808.html

All good stuff that are useful for getting the word out.

[PHenry]

Man that SWAT article makes for great promo material, doesn't it? I will see if I can print it and use it as a promo tool. Think it would be OK to remove the "swinging dick" advertisement?

[funfaler]

Man that SWAT article makes for great promo material, doesn't it? I will see if I can print it and use it as a promo tool. Think it would be OK to remove the "swinging dick" advertisement?

Condition of use of the SWAT Magazine article is that it includes the SWAT web site, used in its entirety when able, and full credit given to Stewart Rhoades and SWAT if excerpted.   Mentions of subscriptions are appreciated.

Removing the SD add is OK, and preferred for some audiences.

Yep, some good stuff getting out there for Appleseed.

[Fred]

    PH, an FYI: I hope to have thousands of the SWAT articles in a couple of weeks, and will be happy to ship some to you for handout...

[PHenry]

That would be great! Seems like we would be hard pressed to say it any better ourselves. The pics are the icing 2.

It is an inescapable fact of our modern society. People give more weight to "pretty" than they do to important. I recently sent out a host app. to a range and felt compelled to spruce it up a bit. As a former commercial artist, I am well aware of the importance of presentation. I mean, we aren't selling "lemon" used cars here, so I see no moral issue with using every tool at our disposal to get the word out and make it stick.

Our cause is righteous and our purpose pure. Let the truth flow from sea to shining sea!

[BSHRADER]

There is also a good article on Appleseed in the August edition of GUNS magazine. Page 70 by David Codrea.

[wtr100]

Over 300 views and a dozen replies

http://www.zombiehunters.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=30874