Appleseed Helped Me In CMP Rimfire Sporter Competition

[GoodGunner]

I've only shot one Appleseed. It was back in April 2015, and I earned my patch with a 219.

Over the weekend, I decided to try my first shooting competition. The Civilian Marksmanship Program is holding their games all week at the Ben Avery range, and I was interested in the Rimfire Sporter competition.

So I took my ruger 10/22 appleseed rifle, paid $25 dollars, and felt like a total newb. I had no idea what I'd gotten myself into. Apparently, because this is the big Western CMP games, I was surrounded by shooters who were flying in from all over the neighboring states to compete. I started to wonder if I made a mistake and should leave to find a more local rimfire sporter competiton to cut my teeth on.

Good lord. I competed on a budget. I showed up with a stock rifle (except for my tech sight upgrade), a scrap of moving blanket for a shooting mat, and don't even own a spotting scope. I felt like some fool who wandered in off the street.

My fellow competitors could not have been more wonderful. They took me under their wing, loaned me a spotting scope, taught me how to run the score cards, and the courses of fire. I ended up having a great time.

The Appleseed training translates very very well to this competition. The techniques taught for prone and seated were allowed. Unlike appleseed, they shoot those two positions at 50 yards, but the fundamentals don't change with distance. The standing relays came in to 25 yards, but you couldn't use a sling. Even without the sling, I shot my highest leg of the competition during standing slow fire (95 of 100).

I discovered a serious disadvantage though. I have peep sights installed on my rifle. They only have O (open) and T (telescopic) classes for the competition. The rule book put my aperature sights into the T class. Then, they have cut scores for earning the achievement awards. The cuts are higher and harder to attain for the T class. So I was shooting with cut scores calculated from the previous 6x telescopic results. Yeah.

In the end, I shot a 541 (of 600) with 10 X's for the competition, and placed 25 out of 43 competitors. I had a load of fun, learned some things, and met cool people. The lowest T class cut for the bronze achievement award was at 556, so I left empty handed. Still, I felt really good about my performance.

It was my Appleseed training and my rifleman patch that allowed me to "hold my own". Out of curiosity, I calculated my score percentage and then translated that into an equivalent AQT score of 225.

My daughter (who did Appleseed with me) and I talked to the other competitors about Appleseed while we were there. A few had been, and most had at least heard of it. We suggested to them all they sould get involved.

Thanks again to Appleseed for being awesome!

- Andrew

[azmule]

Excellent!  Congratulations!  The CMP guys at Ben Avery are a great bunch, new competitors should never be apprehensive about jumping right in there.

[HNHArmory]

Thanks for posting this GoodGunner.  I enjoyed reading this,  as a person who's been on the outside looking in at the competitive shooting world.  I'd like to think it should help someone on the outside of Appleseed looking in as well. 

Also, I was unaware that CMP games had a rimfire division.   What is it about the tech-sights that make it telescopic, the peep?

[GoodGunner]

I was nervous about getting into a competition, but I'm glad I went for it. Like azmule said, everybody at the CMP and the other competitors were awesome. They could smell we were fresh blood and helped out rather than shunned.

Apparently they've been running this rimfire sporter event at the CMP games for a few years now. It looks like it's really popular. So, yes, there is rimfire for an afternoon.

The official rules for the rimfire sporter have the O and T classes. Apparently the O-class is an open sight. Rear sight must be a "V" or "U" shape. The closed aperature of the peep sight apparently excludes you from the open sight class. I suppose if they allowed peeps in the O-class, everybody would use them.

However, because of the rules, they must not get very many peep sights. When I got there to check in, they told me I made a mistake checking the T-class on the registration. Pretty soon 2 different 'authorities' from the CMP were disagreeing on how to class my rifle. LOL. They ended up getting out the rule book themselves. (I'm pretty sure there was a small wager going on the side).

... If they had let me shoot in the O-class my score would've gotten me a bronze ...

- Andrew

[GoodGunner]

A fellow local competitor told me about Rimfire Sporter events held at the Joe Foss range.

I checked the calendar of events:

http://joefossrange.com/ca-event-calendar/

They're scheduled on Sat 3/12/2016 and 6/11/2016.

I guess the follow CMP rules, but they're non-sancitoned competes.

- Andrew

[Agrivere]

Congrats on making it to your first competition!  I'm a big believer in the idea that competition shooting is one of the very best ways to improve your marksmanship skills, as it provides a level of stress and anxiety that our usual training and Appleseeds do not provide.  For those who haven't tried competitive shooting, you'll find that at most of these types of matches the other competitors are absolutely awesome, especially to new shooters.  In fact at most of our local matches I'm quite certain you could show up with nothing, and other shooters would provide you with everything you'd need to shoot, including rifle and ammo.  It really is a great group of folks.

I shoot a LOT of different types of matches, and I believe no amount of training or practice would have helped my marksmanship skills nearly as much as what I've learned from shooting in matches, and what I've learned from my fellow competitors.

My best advice would be to get out there and go for it!  However I would remind anyone looking to get started in competitive shooting that you'll get out of it what you bring into it.  What I mean by that is bring the same attitude to a match that you would bring to an Appleseed.  A positive, teachable attitude.  I've heard a few stories of Appleseed folks showing up to a match with the idea that they are "Riflemen", and they arrive at the match intending to show the other competitors how it's done.  Without exception, this approach will lead to failure and disappointment.  There's a good chance you'll be shooting with High Masters and National Champions who will not be impressed with your Rifleman patch, if you take that approach.  If, instead, you go in with a teachable attitude, I can't tell you how many times a world class shooter has taken the time to give me pointers and tips, and even helped me work on positions or taken time after a match to help me fix some flaws in my shooting positions.  I could never have shot a 250 on the AQT without both what I learned at the Appleseeds I've been to, and what I've learned from shooting in many matches over the past couple of years.

There are lots of different types of matches to look for, if you're looking for something similar to what Appleseed teaches.  If you prefer to shoot .22 LR matches, look for Rimfire Sporter (these aren't real common outside of the big CMP Games matches, but there are some out there), Smallbore 3 Position, Smallbore Prone (hard!), NRA Light Rifle, and Smallbore Silhouette matches.  Some of these will use only one position (i.e. prone, or standing), and some will shoot standing, sitting, and prone, just like at an Appleseed.  A few may even include kneeling as a separate position.

For centerfire rifles, look for Highpower matches, both full distance and reduced range.  A full distance Highpower match involves shooting standing at 200 yards, rapidfire sitting at 200 yards, rapidfire prone at 300 yards, and slowfire prone at 600 yards.  Reduced range matches might be at 100 yards, 200 yards, or 300 yards, using the same course of fire on reduced size targets.

And don't forget about all the different matches out there for Vintage rifles.  John C Garand matches, Springfield matches, Vintage Military Rifle matches, Vintage Sniper rifles, and so on.  Break out the M1 Garand, the 1903A3, or any one of the tons of foreign bolt action rifles from World War 2 and have at it.  These matches are a ton of fun!

Hope to see you on the firing line one day!

[arpjoe]

After my second Appleseed shoot and shooting my Rifleman score I volunteered to be an IIT.  Later on I joined another IIT and his friend to shoot the CMP Rimfire Sporter match at a club in our area in Northeast Ohio.  It was fun and the Appleseed shoot program prepares you very well for the Rimfire Sporter match.  I had qualified Bronze in two Rimfire Sporter matches and proudly wear my Bronze CMP Rimfire Sporter medallion on my Appleseed hat.

Birdman on this forum is the other instructor I went with to the Rimfire Sporter matches.  Since then I have moved to Arizona while Roger still lives in northeast Ohio.  Roger has attended the Camp Perry Ohio National Matches shooting the CMP Rimfire Sporter matches and does very well.  This year,2015, he placed third in the Tactical Rimfire Sporter division and High Senior at Camp Perry.

[Ellis1958]

Bravo!

Second what Agrivere said.

Myself just completed my second season of High Power competition with an EIC match. Didn't do great but didn't place last. High points were rapid sitting at 200yd and rapid prone at 300yd. An EIC match for the rapids follows the AS course of fire where you start standing and drop to the position. Shot a 95-2 sitting and a 94-1 prone which were personal bests in competition.

Geeck had rounded up a few Appleseeders to shoot the match and we all were in AS shirts. Although not a team match we were there as a team. LawDog showed up for support. Had inquiries as to what Project Appleseed was. The seasoned competitors instantly recognized that AS could be the "farm team" for new shooters to High Power.

GoodGunner congrats for jumping in the deep end of the pool. Learn from this match and apply the lessons to the next. Lather, rinse, repeat. For the rest give it a try.