Mansfield, MA 9/18-19

[mike93lx]

SB- Chris (Crak)
SBIT- Mike (Mike93lx)
Redhats- Mike (stratocaster1422), Matt (lupis42)
IIT- David (davidgw1)

Riflemen- 2

New IIT's- Tom and Abby  CONGRATS!!   

The weather was way too nice for an Appleseed    Where was the rain or searing heat??  I guess we do get lucky in New England every once and a while. 

Turnout was great, even though a lot of the group wasn't able to return on Sunday.

Congrats to our new Riflemen, Tom and Abby, who also both took Orange Hats.  We are lucky to have both of you on board!  Tom showed us that he definitely had the ability on those Red Coats and proved it with a 225.  Abby came to her first Appleseed two years ago at 12 years old and shot a 204 (if I remember correctly).  After putting up a bunch of scores just shy of 210, she really showed us what she could do and shot a 228!!  I've seen some really excited new Rifleman, but she definitely takes the cake 

Rick, our CRSO for the weekend, took some awesome pictures and posted them up in the MA board.  http://appleseedinfo.org/smf/index.php?topic=16926.0  Check them out

Thanks to everyone for showing up and putting everything into it.  The entire instructor crew had a great time and hope to see you all again (with friends and family, of course!).

[lupis42]

Just one piece of safety advice for all: if you're standing next to an eager teenage girl who is being handed a rifleman target, wear ear protection. Really. 


Huge congrats to everyone who worked tirelessly through a long Saturday, it was great to see so many of them back Sunday morning, ready learn even more. 

Congrats also to both Abby and Tom for getting past the frustration of the 200es, all the way into the upper 220s, and then stepping up and taking hats.  I look forward to seeing you both on the trail.

["Chip"]

Well, enough certainly cannot be said for our instructors!  Even after showing up late and being well behind the power curve all day, (well days, haha) they were extremely patient, courteous, and informative.  I had to shed my "I know how to do this, the Army done teach me to shoot " and learn how to shoot accurately.  It took a bit, but I did eventually surrender to the fact that I may know how to shoot, move and communicate on the Army side, these folks really knew what they were talking about when it comes to being the best shot.

The free history lessons were amazing, listening about the strikes and the different parts of April 19th, and some of the facts that lead to it, and after the fact were amazing.  Very well cited, very well put together.  The instructors were extremely knowledgeable and were able to tell the story at a pace everyone could keep up with and enjoy. 

I thought I was going to be prepared with the rifles that I brought (Springfield Armory SOCOM 16 and stock Ruger 10/22) but I was mistaken.  After learning about NPOA, and re-learning breathing, I realized that neither rifle was setup correctly.  After wasting a bunch of 308, I learned that the .22 was just as valuable if not Invaluable to teaching correct marksmanship.  Right now as we speak I have a new 10/22 stock on order and its at a gunsmith about a trigger job...  Time Management is a great thing to have learned BEFORE going to a shoot, it seemed like the Prep times were getting shorter, but I think I was just talking more and more.

Watching Abbey shoot her Rifleman score was one of my favorite memories of the entire weekend.  Although I didn't qualify with the score to watch her be SOOO excited was inspiring.  Honestly, I didn't think anyone was left up in the Northeast my age or younger that even believed in Firearms and Marksmanship.  So, Thank you Abbey for giving my Faith back and great shooting. 

I had a great time, and look forward to going home and dry firing (Yes, yes Dang it, ALLLLLLLLL  THE FREE PRACTICE WE HAVE, BE JEALOUS AT ALL THE FREE PRACTICE I WILL HAVE! )   Overall, Great weekend, Great information, Great Organization.  Can't wait to shoot Rifleman and take that Orange Hat.  Thank you for the opportunity.

Charles "Chip" Pinder