Crittenden, KY - Nov. 29/30, 2013

[slim]

Where's the emoticon for "Brrrrrrr I'm freezing cold!"? Do we have one? We sure needed one for this event!

Six brave Americans woke up early in the morning and headed out into the the frigid air on Black Friday not to secure discounts on name brand electronics or wholesale prices on bargain bedroom sets but to secure the blessings of liberty and guarantee the greatness of Freedom ring forth from this day forever more.

We started off cold - and not just the rifles! Half our shooters hit the 100 yard target on the Redcoat and we worked throughout the day to bring that number up. Solid improvement was made as we thawed out in the warm sun and tightened up those slings, worked the elbows under, and let the Natural Point of Aim finally work it's way in.

By the end of the day, the cold weather was back and we started to shiver again as we finished up the story of Apr. 19th, 1775 and reignited the fire of the Unbridled American Spirit.

Day One is down... 


Building a steady prone position.


The remnants of the early snow as we warmed up the line.


Sorting it out and starting to get comfortable.


Talking Targets to get some "cold hard truth" about our shot groups.


You'd never know RifleBen was doing this for the very first time under an Orange Hat. 


Standing up to the cold air!


Applying the lessons learned and getting ready for the next great group.

[Unbridled Liberty]

Pictures for now.  Commentary to come.

UL

[olefido]

UL

Was that one pic an actual Marlin 795LTR?

[Unbridled Liberty]

UL

Was that one pic an actual Marlin 795LTR?

Yes, it was my brand new rifle.  That young man (Lewis, a Canadian  ) was the first to ever shoot it.  He did well on his only AQT yesterday, but not well enough for the patch.  He switched to my scoped 795 and shot a 231 on his first AQT this morning.

UL

[Noah2A]

I was very excited for my first Appleseed after missing my twin brother RifleBen's first two because of an injury, and I absolutely loved it! Wonderful people in a wonderful program and I can't wait to go back. Weather was a little cold but all of us toughed it out and God blessed us with some nice sunshine today!

I didn't shoot too much today as Ben's flawless-til-yesterday Marlin 795 wasn't feeding without tapping the mag between shots and stovepiped on every AQT course of fire. Not my day I guess. Gotta say I'd really hoped to try for Rifleman after all my practice Friday and lots and lots of 1 on 1 private instruction from my local IIT twin brother. Next time I guess, and I got a lot of malfunction clearing practice.    Big congratulations to Lewis on earning his patch and beating all of RifleBen's AQT scores to boot!

It was really fantastic to see everyone shooting better and better with big smiles all around! And I was a happy boy shooting my Savage .308 bolt action, working on positions and NPOA. Pretty soon I was shooting tight groups in all 3 positions, and soon shooting all shots touching each other in prone and making all 10 shots in the black standing in the AQT. It was really, really great to build up some real skills and starting points with my rifle. With my rifle sighted in and ready to go, I was very excited to move back to full distance targets!

RifleBen, Lewis and I took over the far side of the shooting lanes and switched off spotting each other's shots on the 340-something yard steel plate. With RifleBen spotting, I referred to the ballistics I'd looked at before I came and set up to take a few shots. It was about the first time I'd ever shot past about 45 yards, but when I got into position and got my NPOA, I knew I could hit before I pulled the trigger. Hit all my 4 shots in a row with a big smile.  Every time I'd work the bolt, get back on the scope, check my NPOA, and breathe in and out and then press the trigger, it felt the best it had all day, it was really great. I then spotted for Lewis shooting one of Ben's Mosin Nagant Carbines, and after just 3 shots, he was hitting the plate too.

But the day wasn't over yet! While I'd shot AKs, shotguns, lever actions, revolvers, pistols, and bolt actions, I had never shot an AR and really wanted to fix that. I saw Mark and David were finished shooting and I went and asked to try one of their AR-15's. Mark and David (hope that's right, I'm awful with names) seemed more excited to see how I could shoot their 2 ARs than to shoot them themselves! It was awesome. Like I said, great people at Appleseed!

I settled in with the 20" heavy barrel AR for the first time, and had a real Appleseed lightbulb moment. I'd spent the last 2 days  shooting a left handed .308 bolt action at 25 yards (and 300 something ) but those same skills applied just the same to the AR. I got a good NPOA and hit the plate at 340 yards my first shot out of an AR in my life! But I wasn't done yet, I still had 9 more rounds in there! Breathe in, breathe out, and boom, I hit every single one of the 10 rounds on the plate. No dirt clouds for me! The whole thing about the stuff Appleseed teaches applying to any rifle? It's absolutely true!

But Mark and David were eager for me to try the 16" carbine AR too, and who was I to say no? Shot it too and was sad to see 2 misses of the 5 shots, but I enjoyed it.

Well I came to Appleseed still a little wary of the practicality of it all, and with little confidence in my own rifle shooting. But I went home with some real experiences and great stuff to practice, and a lot of good targets and even some full distance shots. Not to mention I'm totally hooked on Appleseed and will be back again and wearing the tee shirt proudly. Now I just need the patch to go with it!


Thanks a million guys, and God bless!

[olefido]

Very diverse line up of rifles.

[DDoss]

I want to start off by thanking the great instructors/historians we had at the shoot this weekend. In addition to the instructors we had a very knowledgeable group of students. I enjoyed this event even more then I thought I would. I went into the event knowing that I was a novice, I walked out knowing I was more of a novice then I first thought. Great information on shooting, very inspiring tells of liberty and courage. I never knew before I came how important rifle/musket marksmanship was for our country's independence. My shooting continued to improve through each AQT. I already ordered a web sling, tech sights, and more red coat and AQT targets. I look forward to taking these skills taught here and applying them at the range with some new additions to my SKS. I will certainly be back for more! Congrats to Lewis on earning the Rifleman patch. Noah had your rifle been working right I have no doubt you would have walked out with a patch as well.

[K9mal]

First I want to THANK everyone so much for such a super great event! It honestly is the most fun I have had in quite some time. I am honored and humbled to have enjoyed shooting with such fine fellow sheepdogs. And I can't wait to come back for more.  The instructors were totally awesome.  I was so happily surprised that they were able to take such a novice rifle shooter as myself and actually have me shooting groups(albeit loose ones  )in just a few minutes-shooting a rifle LEFT handed for the first time in my life. I was floored by the stories of the RW. Such an incredible history and to think it is never taught.  That makes me both sad and angry.  Knowing such a glorious history gives us strength for the future! I have already begun to tell my friends that they have just GOT to go to an Appleseed and I'm just getting started.  I too did not realize the importance of riflery before and to be honest it had probably been 10 years since I had fired a rifle before the Appleseed. I've been blasting away with pistols and especially my 870(which still has my heart right next to a good K9 lol)  but I now have a new appreciation for how important rifle skills are. Although most of my time is spent with K-9 issues I will be keeping in touch with my rifles from now on. I've just joined the RWVA,ordered 2 slings, 2 packs of targets and 3 of the Paul Revere books from the store and of course even more ammo .  The books will be excellent Christmas presents. I am speaking up to people about our precious history. I suspect they will be as shocked as I was to hear about it(finally). Thanks for loaning me the mags Monte and thanks for loaning me your sling Unbridled Liberty.  SPECIAL thanks again to the wonderful patient and amazingly effective instructors! Can't wait to see everybody again and I hope to have some friends lassoed in to come with me next time too                                                                                  - DLogsdon

[Unbridled Liberty]

I was honored to be in the presence of Americans who would rather shoot rifles and learn about our heritage than stampede the malls or sit in front of their TV's.  Thank each of you for coming out.  As you all heard, Appleseed instructors do not get paid.  Our reward is a new Rifleman, a nod of the head, a smile, a laugh or a tear during the Three Strikes or Dangerous Old Men stories, and an exclamation of "Hey, this sling makes a BIG difference!".  Our reward is also when we see attendees take the time and effort to post such outstanding feedback here on the After-Action Report.  Thank you!

Congrats to Lewis on your 231 Rifleman score.  There were more than a few Canadian-born American patriots who fought in our Rev War.     Oh, and you will be pleased to know that when I was putting my Marlin LTR away that you were using on Saturday, I found that the front sight was loose.     I am going to Loc-Tite it before the next event.

Donna, your enthusiasm is quite contagious!  Now please go and "infect" everyone you can and get them out to a shoot next year!  And thanks for your comments.

Daniel, thanks for your comments as well.  I saw a lot of improvement, and you are making the right choice with a web sling and Tech Sights for your SKS. 

Mark and Monty, I appreciate the input and feedback you gave at the range and at our dinner.  I hope we can work out some events at your range next year. 

Noah, you are knocking on the door, and I believe you will get a patch at your next shoot.  Thanks for your comments on here as well.  We value such detailed and excellent write-ups.

Justin, good seeing you again, and you are very close as well.  Practice and persist!  Dave, nice meeting you.  Hang in there; you are going to break 210 soon as well.

Ben, you did an outstanding job for your first time instructing!  You will make an outstanding red hat in a few more shoots.

And Slim, what can I say?  You said recently on Facebook that you never keep calm or some such nonsense.  You, sir, epitomize calmness under fire.      Thanks for Shoot Bossing this event.

I hope I didn't leave anyone out.  You were all excellent students.  You came with a teachable attitude and tried new things and you persisted.  You paid attention during the history.  I guarantee you that every instructor made note of these things.  It was great to meet you all and I have a feeling that we will be running into each other again in the future.

Don't forget about our "LibertySeed" program, where we come to your group and tell the history of April 19, 1775, with no shooting involved.  We have a separate LibertySeed website: www.libertyseed.org  where you can see the upcoming events, participate in the forum, or request a LibertySeed event for your group, school, company or organization.  LibertySeed's are free and are especially good for those folks you know that would like to hear the story of April 19, 1775, but who do not want to spend a day or two on the firing range.

Blessings to you all.

UL

[joker1]

Hi gang, Mark here. Monty and I had a great time. (Noah, David is my dog's name ). We greatly enjoyed both the history and the shootin'. It's a shame our battered old bodies weren't flexible enough to shoot better. That doesn't mean we didn't learn a lot and are now motivated to get better.
The history also got the 2 of us talking. Turns out Monty's grandparents were Henrys, as in direct descendants of Patrick Henry. Yeah, that freakin' Patrick Henry. We've been best friends for 25 years and I never knew.
In addition to some practice we both have some books to read and some friends to inform so overall I'd say the program is a success.

PS. Monty sat down and read my copy of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution on Sat. night.

[RifleBen]

Ah, the Declaration of Independence. One of my all time favorites. Read the language, the logic, the purpose, the gravity, the wisdom. Those farmers and shopkeepers weren't just starting a revolution out of spur-of-the-moment emotion; they knew very well what they were about. In fact, they weren't starting anything; they were verbalizing to the world the ideals they had embraced for centuries and were now forced to defend. The bulk of the document consists of a rather saddening and impressive list of the ways in which the King had proved himself a tyrant, and thus unfit to rule these farmers and shopkeepers who dared love their traditional liberties. Y'all heard over the weekend that war had already begun: by the time the Declaration was signed the King had essentially declared war by removing the American colonies from the "protection of the crown" and armed conflict was already a common occurrence, beginning on April 19th, 1775.

The colonists may have routed the Redcoats on April 19th, but the King wanted his colonies back to satisfy his lust for control and to pay for his wars. He had declared that American ships were to be targeted for attack; the colonists were to be treated as rebels and criminals, and he had invited foreign countries to help him trounce his misbehaving little daughter. The men of the Second Continental Congress knew they would need to put all Americans on the same page and legitimize their defense in order to open the door for allies in their struggle in order to stand a fighting chance in their stand for liberty and decency. Several months before July 4th, 1776, the men who carried our nation on their shoulders began choosing their words.

Now who feels like reading that little document again? I know I do 

[RifleBen]

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.