Puryear, TN - 3 Day KD - August 30, 31, September 1, 2014

[dond]

Placeholder.

[dart67eb]

So many things to talk about...so few keys on the keyboard.  First, I can't say enough about how I enjoyed myself spending time with such wonderful people!  I finally had a chance to put faces with some legendary names.  They also saw that I look nothing like my avatar.  Once again, I brought my case of S&S (stubborn and stupid) to Puryear along with the Como rain.  I WAS going to get my KD patch with my $500 iron sighted AR.  Yeah, right.  Close but no cigar.  To make a long story short, between battling a handle that didn't adjust properly, fogged glasses, and old eyes, it just didn't happen this time (reminds me of my first Appleseed which was there with a Mosin M38 and a cracked rib, but that's another story.)  That doesn't matter, though.  I had a chance to hang out with some great folks, watch JBL put on a shooting clinic (after lesmoore got the first KD patch), and watch a couple of "Yankees", Jon and Nick, (yeah, like I should talk, but I was ready to translate since I've been down here for so long - dinner, supper anyone?) bang away on M1A's.  Dond did math.  Being a former physics professor, I don't think he can help himself.  I haven't done math since '87.  We all got it, though (smirk.)    His wife Sarah brought homemade ice cream and cookies and that did wonders to smooth things over.  Thanks again to Dond, Ramblin' Wreck (with the assorted strings hanging out of his body) and JBL for making this a great event.  I know I'm forgetting names, but Russ?, the bolt gun guy next to me (who GOT the KD) and the wonderful couple sitting across from me at dinner are welcome to flog me next time. 

[Josey Wales]

..Grumpy1 and myself Josey Wales went to West Virgina, Kentucky & Tennessee on a road trip.  Our road trip was to accomplish a few things, like in search of mans meaning, Known Distance shooting, to meet good old American country folk, to eat hush puppies & molasses, listen to blue grass music, and to get mentored by one of Appleseeds most valuable asset, a four star MI, a patriot and Southern Gentleman, none other than dond..
..Our 16 hour drive started when Grumpy1 & I met at Cabala's in Hamburg, PA after a few separate hours of traveling alone. After picking up much needed supplies like beef jerky, ammo and pretzels we packed up into one truck and continued, As One.  We reached West Virgina and traveled deep into the back woods of the Appalachian Mountain's to visit some old Appleseed friends spanner, brickhouse and their lovely little daughter Sarah who I unconditionally surrendered a whole box of cookies too, and least us not forget the goats and the ducks. What a pleasant visit it was but we then continued on to Kentucky.  The next day in Kentucky we got to meet dond and his lovely wife Sarah face to face.   We had spoke on the telephone before but meeting face to face was a true pleasure.  We went to lunch to fuel up at Lairds Bar-B-Que in Puryear, Tenn.  A smoked pork butt never tasted so good, but I must attest some of that good flavor to the good company at hand cause by now we were in the presence of RamblinWreck, JPL n wife Lesmoore.  Plus the peach n pecan fold over fried mini pies were delicious.  Off to the 600 yrd KD range for Friday setup..
..Now for the KD event.  Boy did these Instructors put on an excellent marksmanship clinic.  Professional and articulate, knowledgeable and friendly, dond and the Puryear Instructor crew worked very hard for the students.  The art of the rifleman came alive 100, 200, 300 and 400 yards, up and back with sighters and instruction.  Jumping in and out of the pick up truck bed counting hits and measuring the MOA groups and calculating adjustments. It rained on and off the whole three days and we all embraced the weather cause we are riflemen.  On Monday the hidden KD steel targets at unknown distancess was quite the test and a pure joy came from reaching out and ringing those bells from hits on targets. Great drill, awesome lessons..
..We ate supper together on Saturday night like one big extended family and that reminded me of NYS back in 2009-2010.  Ya'll got it down there and it was a pleasure to be a part of it.  I can only hope that NY and the Northeast can recover, I will continue to do my part.  Stay strong & keep growing my Southern brothers and sisters, ya'll made me very proud..
....Strength & Honor, Josey Wales....

[Ramblin' Wreck]

I'll follow up with more later including pictures but there's one thing about the weekend Josey Wales doesn't know. he finished in 2nd place in the "Top Shot Appleseed" competition we did on Monday morning. There were 3 parts, Target Identification, Range Estimation and taking two shots on each target you ranged. Grumpy1 tied for 3rd place. Watch those guys from New York, they can shoot. 

Time to go shovel out the car. Y'all know what I'm talking about.

Wreck

..Grumpy1 and myself Josey Wales went to West Virgina, Kentucky & Tennessee on a road trip.  Our road trip was to accomplish a few things, like in search of mans meaning, Known Distance shooting, to meet good old American country folk, to eat hush puppies & molasses, listen to blue grass music, and to get mentored by one of Appleseeds most valuable asset, a four star MI, a patriot and Southern Gentleman, none other than dond..
..Our 16 hour drive started when Grumpy1 & I met at Cabala's in Hamburg, PA after a few separate hours of traveling alone. After picking up much needed supplies like beef jerky, ammo and pretzels we packed up into one truck and continued, As One.  We reached West Virgina and traveled deep into the back woods of the Appalachian Mountain's to visit some old Appleseed friends spanner, brickhouse and their lovely little daughter Sarah who I unconditionally surrendered a whole box of cookies too, and least us not forget the goats and the ducks. What a pleasant visit it was but we then continued on to Kentucky.  The next day in Kentucky we got to meet dond and his lovely wife Sarah face to face.   We had spoke on the telephone before but meeting face to face was a true pleasure.  We went to lunch to fuel up at Lairds Bar-B-Que in Puryear, Tenn.  A smoked pork butt never tasted so good, but I must attest some of that good flavor to the good company at hand cause by now we were in the presence of RamblinWreck, JPL n wife Lesmoore.  Plus the peach n pecan fold over fried mini pies were delicious.  Off to the 600 yrd KD range for Friday setup..
..Now for the KD event.  Boy did these Instructors put on an excellent marksmanship clinic.  Professional and articulate, knowledgeable and friendly, dond and the Puryear Instructor crew worked very hard for the students.  The art of the rifleman came alive 100, 200, 300 and 400 yards, up and back with sighters and instruction.  Jumping in and out of the pick up truck bed counting hits and measuring the MOA groups and calculating adjustments. It rained on and off the whole three days and we all embraced the weather cause we are riflemen.  On Monday the hidden KD steel targets at unknown distancess was quite the test and a pure joy came from reaching out and ringing those bells from hits on targets. Great drill, awesome lessons..
..We ate supper together on Saturday night like one big extended family and that reminded me of NYS back in 2009-2010.  Ya'll got it down there and it was a pleasure to be a part of it.  I can only hope that NY and the Northeast can recover, I will continue to do my part.  Stay strong & keep growing my Southern brothers and sisters, ya'll made me very proud..
....Strength & Honor, Josey Wales....

[dond]

It was indeed a great weekend, thanks to all the good people who were there. Congratulations to Bill, who showed us how to do it with a .223 boltgun. He shot the KD Rifleman Score AND won the Appleseed Top Shot competition.

Saturday began with some instruction, followed by zeroing at 25 meters. Then we proceeded to the 600 yard range to begin zeroing  at 300 yards and beginning the AQT there. Sunday the AQTs were continued. Monday the Top Shot was held, followed by shooting at 500 and 600 yards.

Interspersed within all this was more instruction and some new history appropriate for KDs.

We truly appreciate the long trip the New Yorkers made to shoot with us. In fact we had traveled to New York the previous month for an RBC and know how long it really is. We all tried our best to show them some good ole Southern Hospitality. This included sending them home with some "home grown" honey, molasses, and legal moonshine. Apparently it worked because they promised to return. We were so pleased to have them join us and look forward to seeing them again.

It was surprising to learn that Jim and Bill were from the same city in TN, and belong to the same gun club there, but had never met until this weekend. Appleseed can really bring people together and make them into brothers. 

Ramblin' Wreck and JPL performed superbly as instructors. And after LesMoore had shot her KD Rifleman Score, JPL took the rifle and immediately shot a 48/50 score to show us all how easy it is. 

[JPL]

Great weekend you guys!  No place else I'd rather have been.  We came away with some great experience at shooting longer distances as well as two new known distance riflemen! 

It was good meeting new people and always great seeing those who are quickly becoming old friends. 

How blessed Les and I are for living close enough to spend so much time on the Appleeed trail with Dond and Sarah.

Nick, I'm anxiously awaiting all those pics!

[Josey Wales]

..JPL, this weekend I will be at Vietvet's house, cause we have the LIPSA Appleseed. I will be able to use his computer and extract some of the photographs and put them up on the AAR.  You and your wife are a lovely couple it was great to meet you guys..

[VietVet]

 Posting these photos for Josey Wales.

After seeing these a trip to Tennessee is now mandatory for me.

See all at the next one.

[LesMoore]

What a great weekend!! 

As JPL said, it was great seeing old friends, and making new ones.  It was especially great to have Nick and Jon from New York!

Thanks to Don, JPL, and Ben for their hard work instructing!!

Hope to see everyone again soon.

Leslie

[Grumpy1]

This was an Awesome KD Experience!

Dond and his instructor team , Ramblin Wreck, and JPL did a Fantastic Job!

We Began Saturday with some classroom work, and history and then we headed out to the range for a quick 25m zero. Then we relocated to the 100-600 KD range. Starting at 300 we zeroed made corrections and notations. Then 400, 200, and finally 100. After we completed zeros and calculating the dope on our rifles, we began shooting full distance AQT's.
Ramblin Wreck did a Great Job running the line, No wasted Time , The line was strictly business! . Prep, shoot , score , prep!  We finished up Saturday Night with a trip to a local Restaurant. Don and Sarah invited all of us to join them for dinner, it was great! I think I definitly could get used to this Southern Hospitality!

  Sunday began in the classroom with some fairly intimidating math. This was necessary for range estimation. We learned about Mil Dots and MOA. Don walked us through this, for some the path was a little longer than for others, it took a while but it did finally start to click...Monday afternoon!, thanks Don you're a patient man.

Ramblin Wreck told some new History, Timothy Murphy at The Second Battle of Saratoga, Kings Mountain, and  Jack Hinson, One Mans War. Then we headed out to the range for more FDAQT's. And it really is true" You Can't Miss Fast Enough. Congratulations to LesMooore and Bill for scoring that elusive KD Badge. Maybe next time for me practice, practice, practice.

Monday we shot the Appleseed Top Shot Challenge, basically this was a final exam. Four Targets were secretly placed on Sunday Night, some wer hidden, some were more visible. We had to find the targets, range the targets, and engage the targets 2 rounds per targets, using proper dope and wind calculations. Points were awarded in all three catagories, and extra credit was givin for unsupported field positions. This was really alot of fun, and a Great leaning experience. Congratulations to Bill and Josey, for First and Second place!

This was an Absolutely Awesome KD Event. I would highly recommend this event to everyone! Instructors and Rifleman alike you will definitly learn from the Best, and improve your skills.

It was also Great meeting new people and putting faces with the names, dond,Sarah,Ramblin Wreck, JPL,LesMoore, Dart67eb,Imadentist, Bill and Jim, you all made this event special. 

As Josey stated above this was alot more to us than a Marksmanship clinic, and I know I've left out alot, because there just isn' t enough time or space to list every detail.

One thing is for sure, I had a Great Time and I will definitly be retuning to Puryear!

I'll probably skip almost getting hit by lightning at a gas station in West Virginia,tho

[jmdavis]

A trip to visit Spanner and Brickhouse, KD, stories about riflemen and precision shooting, and comradeship that brings back memories. It sounds like you guys had one heck of a time.

[Patent guy]

A trip to visit Spanner and Brickhouse, KD, stories about riflemen and precision shooting, and comradeship that brings back memories. It sounds like you guys had one heck of a time.

Agreed!  I'm green with envy.  I hope this becomes an annual event, so that I can try to replicate this myself.  JMDavis, want to join me?  maybe we could kidnap BeSwift and fill up the minivan.  This sounds like the perfect antidote to the daily grind (and feckless forum drama).

[jmdavis]

It sounds good to me. I could meet you guys up there then we could head into WV, and finally down into KY/TN. Or we could schedule a weekend of camping at Cavalier down here, invite SPanner, Brickhouse and Sarah,  and spend a day shooting smallbore and then shoot some KD or vice versa. When I had the opportunity in 2011 or 2012, I bought 150 of the surplus military D centers (48"x48"). They are still in a roll in a sealed 8" sonotube. Then again, I have a good supply of SR, SR3, and MR centers that will let us shoot out to 500.

Sorry to hijack the AAR Don, but you've gotten us excited.

Mike

[dond]

The more who are excited the better it will be for everyone, Mike. We would love for you all to make the trip next year. I'm anxious to meet you all. 

[Josey Wales]

..awesome, let's keep this going..

[dart67eb]

Hey,  we're doing a KD in Como in Nov.  Now if you want to see the REAL south...