Great Falls MT April 21-22

[Mark Davis]

Place holder. Chris, Dave, Tyson, Jared, please post

[m1awolf]

 Thanks guys for showing up and putting on a great event. Thanks Tyson for the use of your rifle this afternoon, it gave me hope that I have what it takes to become a rifleman. Hopefully by July (already registered) I will have my rifle issues sorted out. I plan on trying different ammo to see if that is the problem. It was a frustrating but promising weekend. Sooooo close, are you guys sure you counted all the holes LoL.

[colycat]

Well M1 W , instructors will always look at the targets when someone is close to scoring Rifleman.  Rifleman score is a good thing to achieve, but I hope you know its not the end of the journey.

[Mark Davis]

M1A wolf was instrumental in getting our first appleseed in Great Falls. this is his second shoot I do believe he will be back.
You were close, but you really do want to bust through the barrier big time.
The North Bridge in Great Falls crosses the Missouri river, hereabouts a substantial river, cold, fast, and clear. 

[m1awolf]

Well M1 W , instructors will always look at the targets when someone is close to scoring Rifleman.  Rifleman score is a good thing to achieve, but I hope you know its not the end of the journey.

I wasn't questioning the score just joking because I was so close three times (within 6 pts on one).

[Stargazer]

Posted with input from Shoot Boss Mark...

We had nine shooters for both days at the Great Falls Shooting Sports Complex indoor range.  It is a 15 lane, 50 foot range so we had targets reduced proportionately and printed for this Appleseed event.  Those 400 yard redcoats looked especially small to these old eyes!

The weather outside was excellent - sunny and into the 70's both days - so we held our history presentations and lunch breaks outdoors.  The wind and weather can be "iffy" this time of year so it was decided to shoot indoors, since we had a choice, at the time of scheduling.  The next Great Falls Appleseed in July will be on the outdoor range.

Dave and Paul F. of the host facility did a great job lining up the range for us.  They even grilled lunch both days for everyone!  Thanks, guys!

Able Appleseed volunteers included Lumberjack55 who delivered excellent Third Strike and Dangerous Old Men presentations, as well as serving as line boss.  He is an up and coming Shoot Boss, Mark said.  Beemer and thburr saved the day for numerous shooters with their skills and tools for treating equipment problems, as well as their fine instruction and lecture contributions.

On Saturday we had one Rifleman, his second achievement in as many years - Dave, our host.  On Sunday we had another Rifleman, Paul F., our other host.  Some other participants made marksman and sharpshooter levels and everyone showed marked improvement over the course of two days.

We had a new middle-aged shooter, Paul P., with his brand new, never fired rifle.  He had difficulty with aging eyes on factory iron sights.  When he bought a scope on Sunday he improved significantly and shot some phenomenal groups.

Maxx, an active-duty serviceman, also added a scope to replace factory sights on Sunday and greatly improved his performance as well.

Dan is an experienced shooter new to Appleseed and the use of a sling.  His offhand shooting reflected his experience.  With a bit more practice he will score Rifleman.  Dan's teenage son, Marcus, experienced big challenges with his new rifle, especially with the factory trigger.  He will do much better with the equipment issues resolved and with further practice.

This was Rob's second Appleseed and he is within "spitten' distance" of Rifleman.  He may well have made it this weekend if he had not so many equipment issues and jambs.

Diane, Dave's wife, also had many equipment challenges which, once fixed, allowed her to greatly improve and overcome her frustrations.  Her final redcoat looked really good.

Michelle, Dave and Diane's teen daughter, shot some terrific groups with her bolt gun and will, no doubt, shoot Rifleman like her dad someday soon.

As Mark, Beemer and I drove home through the scenic Montana countryside we were grateful for the opportunity to once again share the blessings of Appleseed with more patriotic Americans.  Until next time ~ Chris-MT

[Countree]

Another big thank you to everyone that came out to shoot and the great AS team! I am very honored to be a part of AS and I plan to continue helping! The weather was great but I think that I held up a lot better by being out of the sun. Hopefully we will have good weather for July!

Again I am going to tell myself to attend other AS events and show my support. Let's see if I can follow through! Lol.

This weekend was another fine example of how AS is able to bring people together and help Americans bond with each other! Truely humbling and inspiring.

And it was great to meet and see everyone! Hope to see you all on the line in the future!

Paul Fischer

[Necee]

Paul- Congrats on the patch!!!  Sounds like it was a great weekend.  Tyson took the following pictures so I figured I'd get them posted

Hope someone else took pictures since I wasn't there 

[AmbulanceDriver]

I commented on the FB page about this, but I gotta say it here too...

NO FAIR! THEY HAD A CANNON!!!  Shoot Boss, where was our cannon???

[George Hacker]

Countree,

Congratulations on earning your patch.  Well done!

I also want to thank you for all your 7th stepping efforts.  From what I hear most of the shooters at the Great Falls event were there because you invited them.  The July 14-15 event at Great Falls is already half full.  Keep up the excellent work.

- ShadowMan

[Countree]

your welcome shadow man! we all have to do our part!

next time i will have to earn a patch with a rifle that isnt on steroids! lol (thanks tyson)

it is always great to see the instructors and meet the new ones! the rifle club promotes the heck outta AS. we cant stop talking about how great of a program it is. i have a feeling it is going to pick up and be in high demand at our range soon.

[Mark Davis]

I commented on the FB page about this, but I gotta say it here too...

NO FAIR! THEY HAD A CANNON!!!  Shoot Boss, where was our cannon???

This comming July shoot we have been promised a cannon demo.

[George Hacker]

it is always great to see the instructors and meet the new ones! the rifle club promotes the heck outta AS. we cant stop talking about how great of a program it is. i have a feeling it is going to pick up and be in high demand at our range soon.

Countree,

You are more right than you know.  The July 14-15 Great Falls shoot already has a half full firing line (and we haven't started promoting the shoot yet).  I hope you are at that event because I will be coming to work it and a couple of my Washington State instructor friends will be coming with me.  Perhaps we might see you take an orange hat?

AmbulanceDriver, care to come with us and see the cannon fired off?  It would be awesome to have some Oregon help at the shoot also.

- ShadowMan