Raton NM, Aug.29-29, 2010 NRA Whittington Center

[TaosGlock]

Once again the NRAWC hosted The Appleseed Projects American Heritage and Marksmanship course in Raton, New Mexico.
17 shooters showed up from Colorado and New Mexico.
Sunrise 6:30AM. Day one.






Do you know about the tragedy that had just happened on Lexington Green about this time back on April 19th, 1775? Come to an Appleseed and find out.
These flags remind us of our Nations birth and the blood that was fought to win our present day liberties.



At sunrise, the instructors are up and off to the range.
No eternal reward will forgive us for wasting the dawn. Time is short and Lady Liberty awaits the new shooters.

The short drive to the Coors Range seen on the right.
The cabins on the left are for shooters who visit the NRAWC and are cheaper and more scenic than the local motels.


A small group of turkeys "quickly" leave the 300M target area.


Shooters sign in and get acquainted before the 8:30 safety briefing.


Sarducci leads the safety briefing. Shooters are then asked to recite back verbatim the 4 safety rules.
Safety is everything at an Appleseed event.


Redneck does the 6 Steps to firing the shot while BF and NMMI9100 hold the flip charts.

BF holds the demo board as Natural Point Of Aim and later the Rifleman's Cadence is explained to shooters.


NMMI9100 and BF assist while redneck explains the standing position.


BF does the First Strike with the flags of our forefathers fly proudly in the background.



By the end of the day we were shooting AQTs.
Our first Rifleman! Congrats Donna!


Day 2 we start reviews.
Total shooter participation starts with the safety rules and the 6 steps to firing the shot.
An expression heard at Appleseed is "learn today teach tomorrow".
We are fellow American's teaching fellow Americans to shoot.
Slings and various shooting positions were reviewed by the shoters themselves:
Donna and Ethan (NMI9100's son who shot every course of fire) and Joe and Regina.
Great job guys!





Prone on the firing line. Note the brass caught in mid air and it's attendant shadow.


Standing position, Stage 1 of the AQT.




One of the penultimate New Mexico high country ranges: The NRAWC


Just before noon history and lunch break we start the first part of the KD (known distance) shooting.
Rimfire shooters shoot at the 100 Yd. 4MOA steel.
A quick trajectory lesson is discussed and shooters are asked "so where do you hold to hit that plate?"

The centerfire shooters move to the end of the line.
Here we polish skills on the M1 and M1A at the Rifleman's Quarter Mile...500 Yards.

There, on the 4 MOA steel plate, they confirm 25/200 Yd. settings on their M1's and M1A's.
Then do the required come ups in MOA to the 300 yd. 4 MOA steel plate.
Then on to the 500 yd. 4 MOA steel. Do you know how many MOA are required from 300 to 500 yd. on your rifle?
Do know how to convert your MOA into clicks?
Students confirm their comeups and make notes of their settings.

What if you are sighted in at 500 yd. and a target pops up at 300M and you have no time to adjust you sights?
Do know where to hold on that 300 yard target to make a hit?
If you don't, then you need to come to an Appleseed.
A few KD pics:



Bill our newest IIT works with Hanley on his M1.








Why is sarducci smiling?

Because young Sarah made a hit on the 500 yd. target!
Actually all the KD shooters did!


By the end of Day 2 we had 4 more rifleman!
BlueFeather with Donna (previously shown) on the left, Harry (Donna's husband), Tim and Bill.


By afternoon, Joe made Rifleman! Congrats Joe!


These 5 Rifleman are American's who persisted and showed the discipline needed to score 210 or better on the AQT, the standard of excellence in the marksmanship world.
Marksmanship has always been a pillar of American culture. It defines who we are. Marksmanship gave us our liberties.
On April 19th, 1775,  America was born by men, as the defeated Lord Percy said, "men who know very much what they are all about".
Let's not forget them nor the sacrifices that they made.
The "who we are" means we are not only marksmen, but men of clear vision who have a high degree of self control. Men we call "Riflemen".


The Appleseed Patriot's Patch was awarded to Sarah who was brought by her grandfather Harold who shot on Saturday. Can you tell he is proud of his granddaughter?
He has a few grandsons who we hope will be at our next event!


Posterity. Our youth will one day run this great Nation. The Appleseed Project will assure they are ready.



Instructors (L-R):
David(NMMI9100), Dan(TaosGlock), Gillian(BlueFeather), Bob(redneck), Dutch(sarducci)


At the end of the 2 days the instructors will shoot.
Soo...day 3 is Instructor KD at the 1100 yard White Buffalo. Well beyond where the antelope roam.
The white buff is 6 MOA tall by 8 MOA long.

We get our  500 yard zeros on the 4 minute rams and then its time to dial up.  
With the M1 and M1A using ball ammo, it is about 32-36 MOA from 500-1100 yards.
These corrections are dependent on many factors, but a Rifleman at least needs a starting point, then a good spotter and a note pad.
Yup that's a lot of clicking going on, especially for the scopes.
The wind correction varied but required on average a 12 minute correction for the 30 cals.
My 6.5 Swede was about half that. Tee hee.
Where is that pesky buffalo?
Note the Swede's sight setting:


BlueFeather up next with the M1


NMMI9100 with his scarey accurate LRB M1A:


My Swede M96 is right at home at the longest of ranges:

[Devnull]

Wow! As always you all did a fantastic job!

Congratulations to all the new Riflemen! Also a warm welcome to the new riflemen in training!

The road to becoming a Rifleman is a long one. You learn a great many things along the way such as the six steps to firing the shot, NPOA and firing each and every shot rapid fire, but the most important thing is what you learn about yourself and the nature of our fragile country's origins. A rifleman perseveres through the tough times as does the principals our nation was founded on. Through your perseverance you will find an inner strength and passion to save the nation that you never knew was there before!

Keep practicing and we will see you all at the next Appleseed!

[tdhop1]

What a Great Weekend! A Big Thanks to all the instructors for their help and patience. I look forward to my next Appleseed.

Tim

[BobABQ]

As always great photos!

Good job.

[Precisely Advantageous]

You guys run an awesome shoot I'm sure all the students had a great time and learned alot, Great job guys!

Welcome to "The Appleseed Project" fellow Americans.

PA