National Rifle Association Whittington Center (Coors Range) August 23-24, 2014

[TaosGlock]

Just rollin' in from the NRA WC.


We shot from 25-1125 yards!

As our shooters learned, the 6 steps to FTS, NPOA and RC not only work at 25 yards, but also at 1125 yards with the M1 Garands!
Our shooters were at the KD range yesterday until 6:00.
All made hits on that infamous 1000M White Buffalo (except 2 who had to make the long drive back to Nebraska). 
Way to go shooters! You are the best!

This was yet another awesome weekend with a group of the best of the best of American's and Appleseed instructors alike!
Saturday group shot:



We will have many more events here at the National Rifle Association's Whittington Center!

More to come, we are satisfyingly beat and ecstatic  as you can see!


Shoot Boss BlueFeather is all giddy that  50% of her shooters made Rifleman at this fine event!

The rest were qualified at either Marksman or Sharpshooter and a couple knockin' on the Rifleman's door.

Congrats Rifleman!: L-R with Rifleman patches in hand. Brie, Jeff, Jon and James.


...more later.

[TaosGlock]

Sunrise is met with the instructors rising to gorgeous colors.


From the cabin, you can see the red building of the Coors Range in the newly risen sunlit sky.


The unique aspect of Project Appleseed is "The Story" of April, 19th, 1775. That was the day our Nation was born.
America was born on the principles of effective marksmanship starting predominately at Concord's North Bridge. We deliver the heritage portions
at various times during the day depending on many factors.
We sum this up as the 3 Strikes of the Match.
Captwa gives the First Strike of the Match, the march to Lexington and who fired the first shots.


Captwa helps Shorty adjust the loop sling in prone. This is a very capable set up for long distance shooting.


BlueFeather and Jones with the 6 steps to firing a shot. "Focus your eyes on the tip of the front sight".
Shooters do an exercise to drive that point home.


...more later.

[Ramblin' Wreck]

What a great event at a beautiful venue. I may have to do the driving directions from Rising Fawn to there for a future event.

Way to go y'all.

Wreck

[TaosGlock]

Day 2 dawns with beautiful sunrise that casts a warm glow over the high country of Northern NM at the NRAWC.

Near the entrance to the range:

The Betsy Ross flag flies proudly after over 238 years and greets the students on the main range road.

[TaosGlock]

Inches, minutes and clicks. One of the first duties of a Rifleman is to sight in his rifle quickly and efficiently.
Captwa and BlueFeather do IMC on the target line.


Jones explains the AQT-Army Qual. Test. 40 rounds required, magazine and position changes are mandatory.
Simulated targets from 100-400 yards.


Shooters in standing and prone positions:




Shooting the Green Coat target. BF takes a rare moment to pause for the camera.


AQT time!


Cease Fire! Cease Fire! Cease Fire! Momma antelope and a threesome wander onto the range.

[TaosGlock]

On April 19th, 1775 words like "Don't Tread on Me" were not just popular slogans bandied about like 21st century bumper stickers.
These words defined a code which helped define the American Revolution.
This is not the same as the Revolutionary War according to John Adams. Do you know the difference?
Come to an Appleseed to find out!

Flags of our Founders. These flags represent the blood shed for the freedoms we enjoy today.
We proudly fly them outside and inside when we are at the NRA WC.


As Paul Revere said, "Turn out Turn out the Regulars out!" The regulars were out, in the form of our Redcoat targets shown below.
This is a humbling target that answers that eternal question, "what is my effective range?"
An estimated 14,000 folks turned out to form a new Nation back on April 19th, 1775.
All in an era with no cell phones, radios or electronic social media. How many folks could you muster today.....think about that for a bit.

[TaosGlock]

It is time to do some distance shooting. What works at 25 yards works at 100 yards. We shoot a full size Redcoat target as a team shoot.
Here is the winner: Congrats team left-yeah, we gotta get a better name next time!
L-R- Shorty, Brie, Ailene, Jon


James on his 30-30 and Jones with his AR. Jones made a hit at 910, the 30-30 at 550. It can be done and a Rifleman can do it!


...more later as we advance to the famous 1125 yard White Buffalo!

[TaosGlock]

It is off to the HIGH POWER RIFLE SILHOUETTE RANGE.


We start with a quick briefing on the M1 Garand history, sight alignment/sight picture and loading an en bloc into the rifle. Thanks Oleg Volk for the pic below!


Folks definitely want to get a Garand after this particular event! 

Come to an Appleseed and see how you can get an M1 Garand delivered to your door!

Jeff and I both let shooters use our rifles and HXP or LC factory ammo.

One shooter at a time comes to the line while the others spot. It take about a second and a half for the bullet to reach the target but about 4 seconds to hear the"whop" on the steel. If no one is side talking and there is no wind or other shooters and your electronic ears are on it is very easy to hear.
Julia is up first...


Then James.


Then Shorty.


Then Jeff.

What no pics of Jon? He brought his own Garand!

Captwa gets bored with this. 
He normally uses his 1903A3 whose sight only go to 800 yards and uses some Kentucky elevation for a challenge! 

Jones gives Jeff's Winchester M1 Garand a try as do I.


As our shooters learned, the 6 steps to FTS, NPOA and RC not only work at 25 yards, but also at 1125 yards with the M1 Garands!
Our shooters were at the KD range yesterday until 6:00.
All made hits on that infamous 1000M White Buffalo (except 2 who had to make the long drive back to Nebraska). 
Way to go shooters! You are the best!

BF and I also shot after the students were done.



But on Monday, before we left to head back to Taos. We went back and shot the 1972 M1A 
Gotta love a cold bore shot outta that baby using PMC ammo!
Thanks to Elmer Ballance for building such a fine rifle!
BF is up first.



Below is a pic of the HPRSR and the White Buff with its 16" black aiming circle:
Quick, how many MOA is that?

The 500M rams are long gone.

[armaborealis]

Looks awesome!  We're looking forward to getting out your way soon.

[TaosGlock]

Sadly, the sun sets on another Appleseed. Below is the statue of Charlton Heston at sunset.
It is located on the original Santa Fe Trail. The original wagon ruts of the SF Trail at the NRAWC are still visible!



A huge thanks to all the shooters who took time off from their daily lives to get re-acquainted with
their heritage and learn/refresh the fundamentals of precision marksmanship.

A big thanks to my all volunteer instructor crew who worked tirelessly to assist this event.
Thanks Captwa, Jones and the SB: BlueFeather!

And....
Thanks to ALL you awesome shooters who showed up and to this event.

A big thanks to the NRA Whittington Staff for the use of the prestigious Coors Range!

And a huge thanks to the Founders who shed blood and sacrificed their fames and fortunes so we could be free men and women.
May their flags fly proud and remind us always of this fact.
We will never forget!

Check the schedule for our next NRAWC events! The Sept. KD event is sold out but might have a space.
And don't miss the shoots at our newest range in Carson, NM! In Carson, there will be shoots in Sept and Oct and a 22 KD in November (date TBA).


The sun will rise on many more Appleseeds here at the NRA Whittington Center.


In Liberty,
Dan Bradford

[SKSRifleman]

Man that range looks beautiful! Can't wait to visit for the KD Boot Camp next month!

[dart67eb]

Awesome!  TG, I just gotta steal your signature pic!

[BlueFeather]

We had an awesome bunch of shooters! 4 riflemen out of 8 students (and several more knocking on the door)... That's pretty fantastic stats.

Shooting the buffalo at 1100 yards was the icing on the cake! We told them at the opening, they would hit it, and most didn't believe us. We had grins all around by the end of the event.

Thanks TG and Jeff for sharing your Garands and for providing ammo. You helped give our students  great memories they'll never forget.

[TaosGlock]

Awesome!  TG, I just gotta steal your signature pic!

Steal away! Found that in a bookstore in the form of a postcard.
TG

Would love to see a tee with that.

[desert_diver]

This was my 2nd Appleseed event.  I'll mention a few of the points which contributed to another good experience

1) Experienced instructors with the skillset to diagnose and correct shooter and equipment problems.
1a) The instructors had good oral presentation skills, which enhanced the "3 strikes of the match" material.
2) Low student : instructor ratio - ample opportunity for 1:1 coaching
3) Strong focus on skill development including use of the sighting-in targets to build skills and the reduced round count AQTs (aka "green meanies").  Both targets require relatively short courses of fire, giving students quick feedback and many opportunities for reflection or improvement with limited expenditure of ammunition.
4) Opportunity to fire center-fire rifles on both days.  Shooting at and hitting the white buffalo target was quite the treat.
5) Great location.  The scenery is good and I was pleased to see wild turkeys on at least 3 occasions.  I understood wild turkeys to be skittish, but the population at the Whittington center seemed unconcerned by the presence of humans.

Negatives:
1) Large & aggressive population of mosquitos.

The range facilities at the NRA Whittington center are incredible - if you haven't had the opportunity to shoot at this location, make plans do so.