Myakka City, FL June 25-26, 2011

[9mm4545]

I want to thank all of our hardy shooters who braved the Florida heat and thunderstorms to come out and get schooled in the fine tradition of good old American marksmanship and to learn the incredible story of one of the most important days in our nation's history--April 19th, 1775. We may have lacked in numbers but the enthusiasm and determination of our students more than made up of it.

Saturday morning began under ominous skies threatening rain. The heavy overcast did keep the temperatures down but it wasn't long before the first of several downpours began. The overhead cover did help keep the shooters relatively dry and the thunder and lightning stayed a respectable distance away so onward we pushed on the road to marksmanship. With our group of mature and motivated shooters we were able to quickly cover the fundamentals of good accurate shooting: solid position with proper sling use, finding and shifting NPOA, and the all important six steps to firing the shot. In a remarkably short time the groups were showing that these lessons were being absorbed and put to use. A rifleman's cadence drill showed that "rapid fire" was more than just pulling the trigger as fast as you can and the groups showed further improvement. During a fortunate lull in the rain we were able to learn the concept of inches, minutes, and clicks as taught by Sly223 and soon thereafter the groups were centered on the aiming point. At lunchtime Rick (Sly223) told the compelling story of the First Strike of the Match and really did take us back 236 years to that fateful day in April. During the afternoon the heat and humidity really cranked up yet our fine group took it in stride and we continued a rapid pace, learning positions other than prone, transitions, reloads, and more refinement of the basics. These folks were quick learners and we saw much quicker progress than I am used to. To give a little break from the relentless pace, Bruce (9mm4545) took us further down Battle Road in the telling of the Second Strike and a bit later, Rick finished with the final episode in the story of April 19th. By the end of the day, we had one new Rifleman, one literally knocking on the door and two others showing lots of promise. Rick P., our new Rifleman, overcame rifle issues, persisted, and managed a 211 to earn his Rifleman patch. David, his son, working a bolt action .22 like a master, came so close with a heart breaking 208. Beautiful form and doing everything right; it is just a matter of putting it all together on the same target. There is no doubt whatsoever that David will get all the pieces together and his Dad is in danger of getting left in the dust when he does.
Luis, you kept it up with a hard kicking Garand all day long and hearing the boom of that venerable rifle was music to my ears. With your great attitude and some additional work on your trigger finger, your consistency will improve and there is no doubt that you will be joining the ranks of Rifleman. Scott, I love your attitude and great spirit. Keep up the dry firing by the numbers and you are going to be scary good with your rifle. The progress you made in only one weekend was astounding and it was a pleasure working with you. Jose, you will get that AK to do your bidding if you keep after it. It is a beast that takes a bit more taming than your .22! Glad you could join us.

On Sunday, we actually got an early start as everyone showed up early and eager to get going--so get going we did. A very quick review was all that was needed and the shootin' began. By lunchtime we had at least two AQT's under our belts and the afternoon's activities did not let up one bit. Rick and David faced a 9 hour (!) drive to get back home and had to leave a bit early so the coveted Patch remained just out of David's reach at this particular Appleseed. Just after they left, I found an AQT of David's that had gotten misplaced and was ungraded. Looked like a good target and could it be that he did actually shoot the score after all? Alas, the best we could come up with was a oh-so-close 202 so we didn't have to call the highway patrol to find them and send them back to the range. Oh well... For the first time in a while, we were able to actually do some known distance shooting as the range does have 100 yards available at Area 51. Our two remaining students (three, counting Rambo Granny who brought out her .22 rifle to join in) actually did better at KD than they had been doing at 25 meters. Scott with a .22 and Luis with an AR-15. Sure enough, the concepts and teaching translate to longer distances and we even got to see what wind drift looks like as the afternoon breeze picked up and moved everyone's group to the left. It was a learning experience and well worth the time.

I would like to express my appreciation for the fine folks at Manatee Gun Club for their hospitality and support of Project Appleseed. And kudos to our instructors, Rambo Granny and Sly223. You guys make me look good and I do thank you. Great event everybody!

[airplanejoe]

Another great learning experience!! The downpours only added realism to the event, as rain is part of life. The only thing I want to say is that "It's the Indian, not the arrow". I'll address the issues I ran into, work out  fixes and go back :-).

The format of the event was different from other Appleseeds I've attended and more to my liking. Instead of having a long lecture at the start, the safety rules were covered and then we shot the Red Coat target followed by the sighting in process and applicable instruction. The "first strike of the match" presentation was accomplished later during a break. My 1943 vintage bones and joints appreciated that.

airplanejoe

[9mm4545]

This is what a four MOA square and 100 yard KD target looks like when all the elements of marksmanship are applied, including firing at rifleman cadence. The 4" (or 4 MOA) square was placed at 100 yards and was for sighters. Note the 1 MOA group circled! This was with a scoped 10/22. The silhouette showed what a 4-5 mph crosswind will do to a .22 at 100 yards. Both targets shot from prone position. http://i1125.photobucket.com/albums/l592/bruce_smith1/ea173c47.jpg
http://i1125.photobucket.com/albums/l592/bruce_smith1/988683dd.jpg

[9mm4545]

Let's try this a different way...

[Sly223]

I got a nice fresh breath of liberty this weekend for sure,grit through harsh elements.Great spirited patriots and a father son Duo that is a force to be reckoned with,Rick,our Rifleman, and his son David,( funny just realized I'm Rick and my dad is David.LOL.)Both know very well what they are about.David was a master at listening,processing, and most important, employed the techniques, with a bolt action with all the bad I could foretell, coming to the line, I scrutinized him very closely, first trying to get him to switch out rifles, then hoping he wouldn't, Because there was alot of familiarity, and down right entertaining to watch a young man, Work the bolt action like a true champion
He had a fist full of AQT's the lowest was a 190, the highest was the score of 211,Unfortunately someone else shot his target.
Scott was a quick study and a neat guy I'm sure I will see on the trail again, He was knocking on the door.
Luis, is a tough guy who handled his Garand well most of the weekend. It was definitely an appleseed event because it brought out the worst in almost everyones rifles including a loaner of mine. Not even the downpour could dampen these quality individuals spirit we had on the line quality
not quantity. X L ANT!
Can't wait 'til the BBQ!
Bruce & Janet as always, I had a great time working with you,and enjoyed allour great conversations and will see ya, next weekend!

[soggy 211]

A big THANKS to 9mm4545, Granny Rambo, and Sly223 for an outstanding Appleseed event!  My son and I truly enjoyed getting to know you and everything about the weekend was perfect.  Even the storms served only to make the experience more memorable and earning Rifleman more special.  In fact, getting that rain-soaked target back to the line in one piece may have been a bigger challenge than shooting the score.  So it only seemed right to adopt "soggy211" as my forum name.

Despite all of the painfully close misses, David remains excited about the challenge and is already talking about inviting one of his friends and making another run at the patch at the Rising Fawn, GA event in July.  Oh...and nice comment about him eventually "leaving me in the dust."  As a legally blind, left-handed, tube-fed shooting old geezer...I highly resemble that remark!     

I'm happy to report that we had a safe drive back to ATL (even if rain and construction did turn the 9 hour trip into 10).  Also good news on the "rifle issues" front.  The trigger pin had worked its way out and was no longer engaged in one side of the trigger assembly housing.  That allowed the trigger to be slightly misaligned and created enough resistance that the trigger return spring couldn't reset the trigger after the first shot.  Once I pushed the trigger pin back in all was good.  That issue shows up a lot on various 10/22 forums so it might be worth filing away for future reference in case that problem comes up in future Appleseeds.  It's a 5 minute fix once you know what to look for.

We make it down to visit the in-laws a couple of times a year so maybe the timing will work out for us to shoot with you again some time. 

Thanks again for all you do!

[9mm4545]

I should have thought of the old trigger-pin-working-its-way-out problem as I helped fix this very problem at the last shoot in St. Augustine. Is there a rash of these going around? Seems we used an application of duct tape for the fix. A more elegant solution is to use drill stock and make an oversized pin that fits more tightly. Tony Kidd makes some trigger group pins that have a countersunk screw head on each end of them which are really trick but I think that they are just for holding the trigger group into the receiver, not the actual trigger pin itself. Rimfirecentral.com is full of great ideas on this and anything else concerning the 10/22.  Glad you made it home safe and you are welcome at any of my shoots anytime.

[Sly223]

 Soggy211,
That is perfect,Rick you are an accomplished individual, who has acheived a remarkable feat. You are now among the top five percent!
No, one can take away this special accomplishment,it is all yours. It was your day in the sun,LOL,
Enjoy, your pup's timez a commin'

[9mm4545]

Congratulations to Rick and David!

[soggy 211]

9vvvv

[soggy 211]

Opphs.  The above was supposed to be a preview instead of a post. 

At any rate, the backlighting in the original photo made it look like I earned a black rectangle .  Check out the "doctored" image.  Of course the perfectly dry Rifleman patch is a dead photoshop giveaway when everything else in the pic is soggy!     

[Sly223]

Fine work Sir,
On both performance and creativity!