AAR: Lapeer, MI - Oct. 30-31, 2010

[Gopher Boy]

WOW, Again a GREAT shoot.  Where to Start....

Weather
Mother nature cooperated with us, At times it was a bit chilly, but the Fine folks at Lapeer County Sportsman had that problem solved.  They have an outdoor heated line.  Talk about spoiled. 

SuperHeat, our club liaison, took the opportunity to see how well I primed the pump with the members of the board.  The Good News...  It is highly likely that this maybe a site for a Winterseed. With that information SuperHeat went right into promo mode. "Who here would come back to an Appleseed here in Feb. with the heated firing line.  The Bad News...  If we are able to cross the i's and dot our T's  It looks like that shoot will be SOLD OUT.  Stay tuned for more. Great Job SuperHeat. 

Next... Last week I received a PM that we had a new Instructor, but a wavier would be need.  In true "Blazing Saddles" style I responded...  "Wavier,  Michigan don't need no stinkin' wavier." We'll just get the job done!  Every instructor committed to me that it would be done, then our prospective instructor Accepted the challenge.  "In Michigan we go Big or We go home."  I am pleased to report that our first AQT on Sunday finished the work.  Sprocket58 shot a 211 and took the hat!  Shooter and Instructors alike welcomed Michigan newest instructor in true appleseed way.  Then Miki got us back on track saying, "Sprocket, Great Job and Congrats... Now get to work."   

Turns out that Sprocket wasn't the only one that had the same thought.  Congrats to Eric (Grindstone), Jack, and Karl (Forgot nickname I'll edit later) who also shot better than 210, earn their Rifleman's patch and avoid the water from the north bridge.  Then Eric was asked the question... and He took the Hat two.... 

Not only was this shoot Fun, it was also productive.  4 Rifleman and 2 new instructors.  Seems Michigan is on the move!

Everyone worked their butt off to make this shoot a roaring success.  Thank You one and All! 

(There were a couple of camera floating around so I'm sure there will be pictures)

Respectfully,

G.B.

[ITB]

Great shoot, everyone!  Wow, a dry Michigan Appleseed.  What a concept!

Thanks to the Lapeer County Sportsmen's Club for hosting us, and to Superheat and Howard (tenthumbs) for being our facilitators.

We had a great bunch of shooters, willing to learn, and saw some huge improvements in shooting.  Congrats to our freshly-minted Riflemen, and Huzzah to our two new Orange Hats.  I have to call out Jack - he persevered through new equipment, a malfunctioning loaner (mine, sorry), a bit of an awkward position at the end of the line, and still earned his Rifleman patch.  Great job!

Thanks to all the instructors for helping to make this a successful shoot.  It's great to have Orange Hats like Koolman and Superheat that we can throw under the bus only to see them excel at their tasks.  Add in our new Orange Hats, and the Michigan Instructor Corps is coming along very nicely.

Special thanks to George, one of the club members, for coming out in his RW-era uniform and showing us his wares, including a brown bess (and thanks for letting me crack off a shot!).

Here are some pics:

Panorama of the first shooting line:


Teaching sight alignment:


Teaching IMC:


Colors flying behind the second shooting line, first shooting line in the background:


Second shooting line:


Teaching IMC:


George, in full dress:




Brown Bess chucking a big lead ball downrange:






Instructors celebrating Sprocket's 211:


Sprocket, our new Orange Hat and Rifleman, with her purple patch:


Carl, a club member and new Rifleman:


Smacking steel at 185 yards:


And lastly, please pardon a little self-indulgence for my first confirmed couch/tv kill with a Brown Bess:

[Superheat]

Nice pictures ITB.  If anyone has pictures please send them to me.  12 hours before the shoot started my truck bagged a four point deer and was sent to the bump shop.  It is no wonder my camera was missing.  I would like to have a copy of the pics.  My email is peterjangel@gmail.com.

[Miki]

Another great shoot in the books. Does it get any better than an outdoor HEATED firing line? I think not. Thanks to Lapeer County Sportsman's Club for the hospitality.

Kristin, I dub thee 'NPOA Gal'. For those that missed it, Kristin's front sight FELL OFF after her first shot. She kept shooting and still managed to get all five shots in a square inch. If that's not NPOA I don't know what is.

Sprocket, I KNEW you could do it. Thanks for getting it done. Otherwise GB was gonna start beating on me with the clown bat. 

Eric, congrats and welcome aboard. Now, get to work!

Karl and Jack, way to go guys. And the rest of you who were oh so close (which was everyone). Practice, dryfire, practice and come back to get the patch. TossedCookies...you're so close...no point in not finishing the job. Persistence!

Marc you ROCK standing. Amazing groups! I want you on my team next time we play 'Parker's Revenge'. You'll just have to come to another shoot to see how it's played. With you on my team we're bound to win!

[Grindstone]

Great shoot guys. I am already looking forward to seeing you all at the next one.

I added the weekends pictures to my "Appleseed" set on Flickr (The other ones are from Dundee in July)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericsphotos537/sets/72157624306966521/with/5134452516/

The top 5 are included below:


_MG_2282s by EMH537, on Flickr


_MG_2284s by EMH537, on Flickr

Go Leftys!

_MG_2295s by EMH537, on Flickr

I think Burbs likes it.

_MG_2292c by EMH537, on Flickr

Brass and clip in the air! John from the club is actually an excellent photographer. I wish I could claim this as one of mine, but my timing isn't that good.

_MG_2304c by EMH537, on Flickr

If you need, larger versions can be downloaded from Flickr.

Keep your eye on the front sight,
Eric

[Superheat]

Just curious... does anyone know what happened to John, the one with the bolt action?  He was in the middle right of the line by "tubber mike".  He was shooting some good groups.  I didn't see him leave.  Just wondering?

[Gopher Boy]

I hope tubber Mike and John get online.  They had an early start for work and left just a little early.  Both said they had a great time and would be back.  The left with target and said they would dry fire until the next Appleseed.

G.B.

[koolman68]

I spoke with John, he had a hard stop to get home to the wife at 4pm he said. Both said they would be back to another event with new 10/22's. It was a pleasure working with all the new shooters and those wiith more time under their belt and we made 4 new rifleman so that is my definition of a good day.

[sprocket58]

A heartfelt thanks to all of the instructors at Lapeer...you all made it work.  All of you made this so special for me and I can't put it all in to words yet.  You are all very, very special individuals and the only way I know to repay you is to work hard and become even better.  This program has made me a better person.
thanks again
Kim

[trackman]

(Repost of What I said on our Local MGO (Michigan gun Owners) Forum)
WoooHooo I Qualified as Rifleman at the Michigan Lapeer Appleseed match.
Where to go from here. I think, to Continue the Appleseed Matches and Improve My Timing and Getting into Positions that My Old, Out of Shape Body doesn't want to get into any more. Lets Not Leave out My Stuborness and Bull Headedness at Myself trying to Convince Myself I could not do this.
I will attest to the Patience and Skill of the Appleseed Crew. The First Day I was very Frustrated, See above Old Man Comments, and Thought I would Never be able to do this. I Tried a CMP Rifle Clinic and did Not Qualify.
The Back of GopherBoy's Jacket said, "The Floggings will Continue until the Marksmanship Improves." (Thanks for the Correction Miki). Not really Floggings but in a Nice and Instructional Manor Every Instructor, GopherBoy, Miki, Koolman68, Superheat, IntheBurbs, & BeeFree, Coached me and kept telling me I could do it. Well they were Correct. The Proof, As they Like to Say in the Class "Targets don't Lie". My Sincere Thanks to all of you at Appleseed and Continued Success in what you are doing.
I see More Appleseeds at LCSC in the Future. I for One will be there.

[tenthumbs]

  Wow,A Week has gone by and I'm just now finding time to Post. My Apologies but I've been Working to finish some Construction Projects at the Club.

  My Job as V.P. at LCSC includes Oversight of all Range Safety. I take that Responsibility VERY Seriously.

  Superheat Assured Me that the Safety Protocols of the Appleseed Instructors were top notch... He was Right.

Redundant safety checks at all Stages were employed. I am a Stickler for "No Gun Handling when People are Down Range". The "Safety Nazi" [You know who You are] Guarded the Line without Fail!

I didn't shoot until the last hour on Sunday. My Rifle was sighted to point of Aim off of a rest at 25 Yards. This Proved to be an exercise in Futility.....Very Humbling to say the least. I Destroyed My Target lest Someone See It LOL.

Shooting from a Solid Rest and shooting from the Sling, Standing,Sitting and Prone are Totally Different. Next Time I'll Shoot the full Match and listen to the Excellent Coach's from Appleseed.

  I Believe this Event was a Mutually beneficial Endeavor for Appleseed, Lapeer County Sportsmens Club and Most Importantly for the Participants of the Match.

  We WILL be Discussing a Winter Shoot at Our next Board Meeting.

 

[Superheat]

Tenthumbs,
I'm going to hold you to your words. Next time your shooting the Appleseed.  What a great spirit last weekend in Lapeer.