Florida's First Infernoseed Patch!AAR:Clermont,Fl June 9-10

[Sly223]

Folks,
I'm here to tell you it was 100degrees,no Rain to cool us off!
The Man that knows very well what he was about, and the recipient of the first such Patch, Was ED MiddleBrook(Son of Summers Middlebrook).
In my mind there was no one more deserving of this distinguished award!
This indeed was His Day in the Sun!I have so much to say, but I need to get this posted so all of our eager Participants can post there experiences.I'm already getting PM'S.

[2 clicks low]

 

Please post pic of inferno patch.

2 clicks low

[Son of Summers Middlebrook]

Ed Middlebrook receiving his Infernoseed Patch also pictured Sly 223 and Brian

[Son of Summers Middlebrook]

External temperature read in Kia Soul showed 100 degrees

[Son of Summers Middlebrook]

Up close pic of the patch and Rifelman's rifle

[NHale]

Well done!

Get it?


Hehehehehehehe.

Seriously, great job folks!

[Son of Summers Middlebrook]

Hey Sly...It is Middlebrook, not Middlebrooks.   
Thank you BIG TIME!!! for all the priceless instruction and TRUE dedication to the cause!!!

If anyone wants to earn Rifleman, Sly is the guy for instruction! He will help you both technically and mentally, no matter what the conditions!!!   Sweat...so what, Heat...who cares, Sunburn...no problem...it is all about the attitude to succeed!  See for yourself!  Thanks again Sly...see you soon.  Jennifer is ready for the purple patch!

[Sly223]

Thank you for the kind words I will add them to my bag!
Jennifer,Perfect practice makes perfect! 
I know you will be driven to blow the doors off that AQT next time!
Madam Yottnottin" knows how bad you want this,and yes the Purple Patch Awaits!

[LadyMiddlebrook]

After experiencing 3 awesome Appleseeds, I was truly looking forward to the event at Green Swamp as my 4th attempt at the patch!  Now, although we are members of the Green Swamp Sports Club, I do not think that I will ever attend another AS there. 

At the first 3 AS events, the people calling the line had clear, concise, and correct instruction with a diligence to make it methodical!  They truly cared to see people to have as many attempts at qualifying as possible.  And to tell you the truth, there were times at the first event that I did not get 1 bullet off because I was too slow for the pace - but I learned!!!  And I understood that others were trying to qualify so I needed to do the best I could with the pace that was set!  The clear and precise instruction of these leaders included how many bullets to prep, when to begin prep, how many bullets each silhouette required, when prep was complete, when to load, and when to fire.  They wanted to be there; and they paid attention and ran a face paced AQT grind! 

Unfortunately, the June 10th Green Swamp (Clermont) line was just the opposite of these three previous AS events that I just described.  Saturdays are always slower paced in order for the instruction to take place and sink in.  Sundays - after a bit of instruction are fast-paced AQT grind!  If you don't have a safety issue, you better get loaded and get ready because we are MOVING!  Not here!!!  With only 5 people on the shooting line - 3 adults and 2 children - we were told that AQTs would be cranked out fast since we were experienced shooters!  There were LESS AQTs completed than on the previous 3 AS events where there were upwards of 20+ people shooting to qualify.  There were very few times that we did not get into prep and have to wait so long that my husband and I had to drop our arms or roll onto our sides to wait!  This was during the AQT Grind - if that is what you would want to call it yesterday!!!!The attention to detail that I was use to was completely absent.  Also, qualification was not in the top 3 of priorities. 

The one bright spot in the event was having SLY223 at the event when my husband received his Infernoseed patch for qualifying as a Rifleman.  Sly223 has been a blessing to us since we met him in Myakka.  He shows the qualities needed to truly create a Rifleman and upholds the principles, dedication, and commitment that all Appleseeders should strive for! Hats off to you too, Johnny Appleseed for the help you gave us too!

[MaverickAR6]

Up close pic of the patch and Rifelman's rifle

Awesome patch... and very nice rifle 

[Sly223]

One more Extra thanks to Douglas, if he (our Resident Gun Smith)were not there Saturday we would have lost most of our line to equipment going down I think he replaced or repaired three extractors, and several other things!
Also, Thank you Tom and Red,great to see y'all again!
Corey, My right hand man,Thanks.Try to hitch a ride to palm Bay with Brian.I can put you up at Bill-o-rites if need be.
Willorith my mentor, Thanks for the tune up, see ya next weekend!

[Son of Summers Middlebrook]

Hot Brass = Character Building
Courtesy of my wife!!!

[DeadEyeRed]

First of all, THANK you to our blue hats! Great jobs Connie and Candeese (hope I spelled that right). Without your help,I don't know what we would have done. Secondly, Thank you Brian and Sly,  You allowed the Orange hats to get some time calling the line ... the experience is without measure. Corie I am sooo proud of you, you will make a fantastic red hat one day!

As for the shooters: great job ED! Congrats! Many had scores that greatly improved !! Dryfire, dryfire, dryfire. It really does make a huge difference. Troy, Candeese, Ray .perseverancece  should be your middle names. Way to hang in there! Be proud of every pebble that it takes to make the road to Rifleman.

We could have shot more AQTs ,but with the heat and humidity ,by Sunday afternoon students refused.I think it got to be too much for all. 

I think it was a great shoot. Amazing history! A lot of one-on-one instruction will pay off in the long run.  Good job all! I am to proud to know you all.

                                                                                                  Teresa

[Sly223]

Ed,
These Badges of courage , are a perfect example of the Rifleman's Bubble!
you were so charged up,you probably only noticed a few hours ago!

[TomM1Thumb]

What a Great weekend for an Appleseed, Mostly clear skies, Just a little rain on Saturday. Lots of Equipment Problems on Saturday! Thank You Douglas for being there! Long Lunch's because of the distance to go get food. Venue info mentioned lunch available, it was not this time.

Lots of Sun, Heat, Humidity, on Sunday! a true Inferno Seed! Ed Our only Rifleman truly earned this First patch. IIT's got plenty of time calling the Line Sunday. While Sly ran a KD line Brian had the IIT's run AQT's on the 25 meter line. A safe Shoot.

[Johnnyappleseed]

Great shooting Ed 
Welcome aboard Sir!

Appleseed is a little better because of you persisitence and persevervance! Whoo hooo another Florida Rifleman,to help right the ship of america .

The fact of conditions being so brutal adds your accomplishment .
Looking forward to pics with you and your new orange hat !

[airplanejoe]

Shooters,

My British colleagues would say "bloody good show". SoSm, Congrats on your performance. Not easy when sweat is running into your eyes. You wanted it, now its yours. LM, don't get discouraged.

Airplanejoe

[jazcat]

Congrats to Ed, glad to see you made Rifleman. And an InfernoSeed patch too.  Too bad Charlie and I couldn't come back for the Sunday shoot. Well, too bad in the sense that it would have been fun shooting but not in the sense that 100 degrees is absolutely crazy.

Thanks to everyone on Saturday especially Doug for my new, itty bitty LTR which is just perfect for my tiny hands  .  Photo below of the rifle compared to a standard Ruger 10/22. Willorith and Sly, always learn something new from you two about history and shooting. Corey, glad for you help too. And DeadEyeRed and, I'm sorry, forgot your better half's name, thanks for all your help too.

We'll see you all again in the fall, have some other things going on right now that will probably mean no Appleseeds for a few months.

[scuzzy]

Well done!

heh! 

Is the inferno patch something y'all came up with in Florida? I just did a shoot in Midland, Texas this weekend. It got to 110 in the shade. I've joked around for the last two years that we need a 'Texas Hell on Earth' patch.

[Sly223]

Just as the Winter seed Patch I'm sure it started in one state and then spread to others that experience freezing Temps. I hope I'm not speaking out of turn if I am Smoake and or 9mm4545 will chime in.
We have talked about it for three years,because we would never get a chance to get a winterseed patch, Finally Smoake took the Bull by the Horns and got the Job done.That said I feel we should share with all of our neibors that have to go through Hell for a patch. Illinoise already wants some for the summer.I think it should remain the symbol for this feat,anywhere! Other wise if every other state comes up with a warm weather patch,it would not remain uniformed!We set our criteria at 96 degrees and 90%+.I've been to Texas infact most parts lived there for four years,your criteria should be triple digits due to low humidity. But that's my 2 cents and I no longer call any shots in Tx.

[Son of Summers Middlebrook]

Thank you AirPlane Joe!
The heat was tough, but the patch has that extra special touch that made it worth the sweat in the eyes.  What an honor!  It is already sewn on my shooters jacket, thanks to my wife.

[TomM1Thumb]

jazcat,

It was a Pleasure, working with Both You and Charlie. I just finished putting a 4 power scope on DeadEyeRed's Youth stocked 10/22 I will sight it in If I can ever get the Grass cut between rain events.

Good Luck in Your Quest for that Rifleman's Patch whichever flavor You choose!

DeadEyeRed's other Half... Tom

[airplanejoe]

Shooters,

I suspect the cries of heresy will echo through my ears. But here it goes. My two cents worth on boresighters (collimators).

We are all in agreement that dry firing training is an invaluable tool. Somewhere in the past, installing a boresighter to the rifle to improve the effectiveness of dry firing became trendy. I'm going to try my best to slay that sacred cow.

Firstly, boresighters were developed to assist in zeroing a rifle (or handgun). That way there was a certainty that you would be "on paper" when the zero was fine tuned during the follow-up live fire session (save ammo, save time).

It was then discovered that they could also assist during a NPOA demonstration. They provide a very good graphic view of the process of achieving a proper NPOA. Notice that I'm saying its good for demonstrations. So far so good.

But the fact that it's good for demonstrations does not translate into that it is good for individual training (I don't like the word practice). Why? First, even with iron sights, at the normal distances we dry fire at home, the dot will be below the line of sight and you won't be able to see it since it is covered by the barrel. During demos, we compensate for that by looking through the left eye (right hand shooters) and really pretending to use the sights. In other words, we are using the boresighter as we would use an Aimpoint, EOTech or any of the dot sights.

What's wrong with that picture? Easy, it ignores steps 1,2 and and 4A of the six steps to firing a shot. The priority has shifted to keeping the dot on the target. What happened to sight alignment, sight picture and focusing your eye on the front sight?

Stick with the low tech, use your sights the way they were intended to be used, balance a coin, but leave the boresighters for initial rough zero or for demonstrations. If you must use gadgets, get a stop watch.

Airplanejope

[alkeford]

sound good joe but remeber at Appleseed we do not train we teach at home we practice. congrats on the new rifleman the inferno patch looks good and yes it was hot as blazes in Hernando,fl this weekend also

[ATM]

Love the patch, but even more I love the fact that folks came out to brave and overcome the conditions to get in touch with their heritage, learning and persevering in the true spirit of a Rifleman!

Outstanding! 

[smoakingun]

First, the patch. I am disapointed that I did not get to award the first one, but I'm glad someone got one. The qual for that patch is temps over 100, in the shade. The next batch of patches will probably not have the word infernoseed on them, this batch was not supposed to, but there was a miscommunication somewhere.

Did I miss something? I don't think anyone has ever complained about an event moving too slow. What happened?

[PHenry]

May be first patch - not first ugly hot Appleseed in Florida! 

Congrats!

[airplanejoe]

To practice, to teach or to train; that is the question.

Why is it acceptable to train with a softball team in order to win that event at the annual Polk County Senior Games and unacceptable to train to earn the Rifleman's patch. Or does the evil lie in marrying the verb "train" to marksmanship?

Practicing with a specific purpose in mind is a euphemism for training for the same purpose. Same flea on a different dog. Just that training, as I visualize it, is more regimented. Sort of like IMC. Anyone can go to the range and zero their rifle. Helter Skelter like. It might take hundreds of rounds. With the IMC method shouldn't take more than 25. Leave your house with a training plan and following that plan will be a more effective way to reach a score of 210. At my home range I see shooters shoot over and over the stages they excel at and spend minimum time with the stages they do not do so well. Maybe an ego thing. Have a plan, follow the plan, and optimize results. Train.

Every time I refrain from saying something for "political correctness", I'm relinquishing part of my first amendment rights. How can I support the second amendment if I am willing to let the first fall by the wayside?

I must be going through an identity crisis in my old age.

Airplanejoe

[Son of Summers Middlebrook]

Rick,
Will you be at this event - Myakka City, FL - Jun 23-24?

[Johnnyappleseed]

To practice, to teach or to train; that is the question.

Why is it acceptable to train with a softball team in order to win that event at the annual Polk County Senior Games and unacceptable to train to earn the Rifleman's patch. Or does the evil lie in marrying the verb "train" to marksmanship?

Practicing with a specific purpose in mind is a euphemism for training for the same purpose. Same flea on a different dog. Just that training, as I visualize it, is more regimented. Sort of like IMC. Anyone can go to the range and zero their rifle. Helter Skelter like. It might take hundreds of rounds. With the IMC method shouldn't take more than 25. Leave your house with a training plan and following that plan will be a more effective way to reach a score of 210. At my home range I see shooters shoot over and over the stages they excel at and spend minimum time with the stages they do not do so well. Maybe an ego thing. Have a plan, follow the plan, and optimize results. Train.

Every time I refrain from saying something for "political correctness", I'm relinquishing part of my first amendment rights. How can I support the second amendment if I am willing to let the first fall by the wayside?

I must be going through an identity crisis in my old age.

Airplanejoe