Miamisburg, OH: Aug 7-8

[MeanStreaker]

We were very lucky to have perfect weather and a great group of shooters join us to practice a traditional American skill and get re-acquainted with their Heritage.  Thank you to everyone for attending and making it a great weekend!  We all persevered through some heat and everyone is oh-so-close to getting a patch of their own! 

More important than that, having our Jr. Patriots on the line and the interactive discussions held about our history really made the weekend. 

Congratulations to Jim (screenname Andre) on accepting the responsibility of the Orange Hat!  Both the IN and OH teams are lucky to have this man who knows well what he is about right on the border.   Welcome to the Appleseed Instructor Corps!

I only had time to snap a few quick pics.  Hopefully others can share theirs.

Thanks for being there.

See you at the next one.

[SavageShootr]

Andre Thanks for stepping up!

[KAH]

Andre:

It was great meeting you and your wife this weekend.  Thanks for stepping up.  It appears that both you and your wife (I get the distinct feeling that she is as committed as you are to the cause) will be "on the Trail" with Appleseed, and I look forward to working with you - perhaps I'll make it to Southern Indiana for a shoot!

kah

[Gordon]

We all know that one of the key attributes of a Rifleman is persistence. And that's the keyword for the weekend, I think. Because as I think of the various individual shooters, that's the word that keeps coming up.

Yes, we were short on new Riflemen, but I'll say that all these shooters know what they're about. Every one of them understands the fundamentals we teach, every one of them maintained a great attitude, and every one of them is on the path to getting that patch. So on Sunday, besides the Redcoats, Ball&Dummy, and the team-shoot with Star targets, we did AQT's all day long. And every one of these shooters exhibited persistence.

Great staff too. The IIT's ran the line like a well-oiled machine.

Everyone knew what they were working on. It was like a mini RBC -- "Rifleman Boot Camp".

Thanks, everyone.
-FM

[Johnnyappleseed]

Welcome aboard Andre
Good event Ohio 
JA

[Andre]

Thanks, y'all, for the warm welcome and good words.  It's my honor to join the team.

Special thanks to Bill, my "peer" instructor, for "nitpicking" my steady hold factors.  That's what I need if I'm going to continue to improve.

KAH: Now that my wife is back in her classroom, don't expect to see her.  However, you are right about her commitment to the cause, and I believe that she will give me the support I need.  I imagine we will see her out there when time permits.  It will be good to work with you in southeast Indiana - now to get some shoots on the schedule!!!

[KAH]

Andre:
Here are a couple of photos for you.

Everyone else, more to come.

kah

[blackrifle]

Hey guys,
Daniel here, just wanted to say how much fun I had and that I am planning on coming back and bringing friends!

Daniel, now Blackrifle 

[MeanStreaker]

That's great Daniel! Which event are you looking at?  Hope to see you soon.

[Atlasman]

Greetings, All!

Greg here.  I just wanted to say what an excellent program you ran last week!

I was very impressed with the quality of the instruction in both the marksmanship and the heritage.  I was also VERY impressed by the commitment of the volunteers who certainly seemed to know what they were about!!  We really couldn't have asked for better instructors to assure a safe, successful and fun experience.

I'm looking forward to attending again as soon as my schedule permits.  Slings, swivels and fresh ammo have already been ordered.  It seems I still have a patch to collect.   Do you think I should bring an auto-loader next time, or continue with the bolt action (Savage Mark II)?

[slim]

Do you think I should bring an auto-loader next time, or continue with the bolt action (Savage Mark II)?

An autoloader would be easier but we've had many Riflemen do just fine with a Savage boltgun.

Since you've already been to an AS event and have a good grasp on what to do and what to practice, that Rifleman Patch is more up to you than it is up to which rifle you use. Practice what you've learned, dry fire, dry fire, dry fire, and next time, you'll get that patch, regardless of which rifle you use!

Remember, (and to quote my buddy laylopro out there in Cali) "Amateurs talk hardware. Pros talk software!"

[blackrifle]

Likely November, but October if I can swing it.

[Gordon]

Hey Blackrifle, are you going to bring that AR .22 again? What was the outcome of all that discussion about the too-big red dot you were using for optics? As I recall (and I'm not 100% sure of this), you were looking at either moving to a 6-oclock hold, or else maybe switching to iron sights? Either way, the key is persistence, my man! As you know.

Glad to hear you're planning on coming back. I look forward to intersecting with you on "the 'Trail" again, whenever that may be.
-FM

[Gordon]

Hi Atlasman, I concur with what my wise friend Slim said, and I'm glad to be reminded of it. It's mostly about the "software".

Of course you may very reasonably choose to bring a semiauto next time. But eventually, you'll qualify with all rifles, right? 

I think you and all the other shooters from that weekend will appreciate this: At first glance, Project Appleseed is a marksmanship progam of course. At second glance, "marksmanship and heritage", and we're serious about both. Most people, after attending an event or two, realize that our deeper goal is to awaken Americans to their heritage, and civic responsibilities and opportunities, to make them more effective, action-oriented citizens. All true. But here's something else: as a side benefit to all this, Project Appleseed is an extremely effective character improvement program.

Whatever rifle you bring to the next event, sooner or later I'm sure you'll qualify with the bolt gun. And I envy you the character improvement along the way.

Which reminds me: Sooner or later I need to qualify with my Marlin 336 (.30-30 lever-action). I've never attempted an AQT with it. Sooner or later I should. 

Looking forward to seeing you out on the 'Trail again sometime,
-FM

[blackrifle]

Fuzzymath,
Yes, those are my two options at this point. I'd like to switch to irons, but it's cost prohibitive for me right now ($80 USD) so I will likely try the 6 o'clock hold with the red dot for now.

I think more important than my sight is getting my NPOA down.

Blackrifle

[HPT]

Sorry for the late check-in.  Immediately after the AS event I took my family camping for 6 days and the state park had no WiFi 

It was a great weekend.  Excellent shooter and instructors.  It was great to see Jim (Andre) take the orange hat (I was also there last month when he made Rifleman)  Jim will make an awesome Instructor.

It was as close to a perfect event as I have seen.

I love seeing the juniors on the line.  They are our future and from the Appleseed firing line our future looks bright!