HAT CREEK, CA MAY 28-29, 2016

[NorCal22Gal]

What a fun weekend. 

5 Americans came out to learn to shoot and to learn about our heritage. 

Saturday was a day full of drinking from the firehose! And these students really soaked up the knowledge.  Groups began to shrink and positions looked good.

We got in two AQT's before the end of the day.  Jennifer topped the day with a 209!

April cleared the Red Coat on Saturday and on Sunday.  Steve cleared the Red Coat Sunday afternoon.

Sunday gave us two riflemen!  April with a 211 and Steve W with a 212.  Jennifer was oooohhh sooo close with a 207.  The day also saw lots of high 170's to 190's.

Everyone did a great job.  Keep practicing and come back again and get that rifleman!

Thank you to all for helping us tear down and clean up.  Many hands make things much quicker.

Thank you to my staff for coming out also, couldn't do this with out you guys!!

Welcome aboard to April (aka April 6 Showers) and Steve W (aka TallSteve) as they both took a blue hat to help spread the word about Appleseed.

The books I mentioned are:
Paul Revere's Ride  & Washington's Crossing by David Hackett Fischer

Staff:

Laurie      NorCal22Gal  Shoot Boss
Joe      eaglescouter
Matthew   Scoutcamper
Tim (Huck)   56Huck

[TallSteve]

I have owned, shot, and lawfully carried handguns for more than two decades.  I have taken handgun instruction beyond what is required for a CCW.  I have started shooting fun matches with my local club.  I consider myself somewhat competent with a handgun. 

I have had no real rifle instruction.  I considered myself uninformed, safe, but not competent with rifles.  I stumbled across a mention of Project Appleseed on the internet.  Honestly, it seemed too good to be true.  So I searched for reviews on Project Appleseed.  I found a couple by Massad Ayoob.  He is someone who I trust.  He highly recommended Project Appleseed.  Long story shorter...my GF and I enrolled for The Appleseed in Hat Creek this past weekend. 

We already owned one rifle that only needed to have the scope moved to be ready.  This is a Ruger American Bolt-action .22LR with a scope and GI Sling.  We had extra magazines and 500 rounds of ammunition that work well with that rifle.  We got the scope moved and dialed in.  It was ready.  I was a bit worried about the timed element with the bolt-action.  My girlfriend who is new to shooting was not worried.  She said that she would be happy to shoot the rifle. 

I put the word out that I needed to borrow a rifle.  A friend offered me his Ruger 10/22 with a scope and a sling.  But his schedule prevented me from actually getting my hands on the rifle until four days before Appleseed.  Well, the scope wasn't mounted properly, the gun was so dirty it was not feeding properly, and the gun was malfunctioning.  It appeared that I got these issues resolved and found ammo that the gun liked and the scope was dialed in on Thursday night.  This is not how I had hoped to get ready for the event.  We had made sure that we had everything else recommended on the checklist. 

We decided to tent camp at the range.  That turned out to be a great decision.  Good spot, beautiful area.

I have worked in Fire/EMS and law enforcement for over 20 years.  During that time as a public safety employee I have attended a great deal of training.  In addition, I enjoy or have enjoyed a variety of high risk hobbies during my lifetime.  I have developed the attitude that training is cheap.  That is certainly true in hobbies like sky diving, SCUBA diving, rock climbing, and sea kayaking.  I have had the privilege of attending excellent training. 

My expectations for Appleseed were high.  I was hoping that my expectations were reasonable and would be met. 

Saturday morning we arrived at The Hat Creek Range.  We were immediately greeted by the everyone and made to feel welcome.  We were quite impressed with the rifle range and facilities. 

Once we got the preliminaries out of the way and the instruction started, the pace was fast.  The firehose had been turned on.  I kept drinking it in.  I kept thinking how am I going to remember all of this?  I took notes.  I kept practicing.  I got tired.  I got a bit frustrated.  Especially with my seated position and the transition to seated.  I realized that the seated position was going to be my biggest hurdle to earning my Rifleman patch. 

I actually started getting friendly with the borrowed rifle.  I started feeling comfortable that the rifle would work for me if I could get the seated position figured out.  Then the rifle started malfunctioning again.  The trigger would not reset.  This was late Saturday.

Matthew loaned me his Ruger 10/22.  Same platform as my friend's rifle.  But different.  Different stock, different scope, different trigger.  Another challenge.  Fortunately it also liked the ammo that I brought. 

After the instruction ended for the day, the staff and some of the students went out to Burgers and Shakes.  It was good food, great Shakes, and great conversation.  After that, April and I went to the lake and swam.  Great way to end a "Hard day of shooting."  Then we had a peaceful night of camping at the range.  Great weather.  Great stars.

Sunday we had a review of the basics.  Then I received some individual coaching from the instructors.  The coaching was consistent and perfect.  My seated position was still very problematic for me.  I kept working on obtaining a good position and in at least one AQT I did not get a single shot off in seated.  i was still working on the position.  Another AQT I believe I got 4 shots off in seated.  In frustration I tried kneeling.  That was not stable enough for me.  I went back to seated.  And somehow I tried even harder.

At one point my GF offered to trade rifles with me.  I tried working the bolt under the time standards.  The bolt wasn't going to be an option for me on this event.  I wondered how she would possibly make the time standards.  She was shooting very accurately, but could she do it fast enough?

I felt very confident in my slow prone.  My groups were good enough and consistent.  I felt reasonably confident in my standing.  it was good enough.  I needed to remember to take my breaks.  My transition to prone was a bit slow.  I found myself not always getting all my shots off.  I kept working on getting NPOA and then I sped up my cadence.  Maybe 2 breaths per shot.  My slow prone improved.  I now realized that a Rifleman patch was possibly within reach this event.  I just needed to acquire NPOA in a good seated position and get most of my shots off.  Not all of them, just most.  I also realized that my best chance was going to be working the AQT from bottom to top.  Start very strong.  Transition to fairly strong.  Seated- do my best.  Then finish strong.

I was also having problems with the reloading using the rotary magazines.  They were much more finicky than my pistols.  My reloads were slow and cumbersome.  I worked on those during the extra time after I finished my slow prone. 

It was the next to last AQT of the day.  I felt calm.  I had a plan.  I felt I had a better than 50 percent chance of earning my patch.  We shot slow prone stage first.  I felt really good after that stage.  I felt my shooting was solid.  (I later learned that I earned 94 points in that stage).  After transition to prone I felt that I shot solid with one flyer on my last shot as I rushed the shot due to worrying about time.  (I later learned that I was right about the flyer and I shot 38 points that stage).  Seated next.  I wasn't worried.  I had a plan.  Get good NPOA and fire 5 good shots.  Then muscle to second target and try to get 5 aimed shots off.  The first target in seated felt solid but I was really worried about time.  I muscled to target #2, aimed, and fired at the bottom of every breath.  (I later learned that on target # 1 all of my shots were centered with regard to windage, low in regard to elevation but had a respectable grouping and earned 16 points.  Target # 2:  The results were very interesting on this target.  I had a diagonal line of shots that ran:  High and off target on left, hit in 3 zone, then two hits in 5 zone.  These four shots were in a perfect line.  I had another shot that was centered with regard to windage and hit near the bottom of the 3 zone.  So 4 shots hit the target earning me 16 points but with a grouping that was diagonal and spread out. )  I felt pretty confident that I did well enough in this stage that if I didn't blow it in standing, I would qualify.  Standing stage.  I was not worried about time.  I used the resting position about 5 times.  I got all my shots off and felt confident.  (I later learned that 8 of my shots hit the 5 zone and the two others hit the 4 zone.). 

I felt very good about this AQT.  I was very calm.  I felt that I had done good enough to earn my patch.  I was very tired.  When we pulled our targets I remember only looking at the seated stage.  I liked what I saw.  I didn't even study the whole target.  I turned in my target.  I felt happy.  I was also exhausted.  I saw Joe score my target and saw that I earned 212 points.  And I earned every single one of those points.  I made it over the bridge.  I had a huge smile. 

They were getting ready for another AQT.  I decided that I was going to sit out my first AQT or shooting of the weekend.  I sat down and watched April shoot.  I couldn't tell where the bullets were striking, but her form looked really good.  And with the exception of one stage she got off all of her shots.  I felt that she had a good chance of earning her Rifleman patch.  I had a big smile. 

Then we shot our last Redcoats of the event.  April and I both cleaned it!  Our effective range was 400 plus we both got the shingle!!  I was beaming.  April was whooping it up! 

Then we learned that April had also qualified as a Rifleman!!  She earned 211 points using the only rifle that was not a semi-automatic of the event!!  What a great way to end the event!! 

We were asked if we wanted to take the 7th step.  We had already decided that we wanted to help with this project.  We accepted our Blue Hats.  We are already planning our next Appleseed as participants and making a plan to improve. We will buy a second rifle so that one of us is not using a borrowed rifle.  And that when we are helping as staff at a future event, we will have a loaner rifle to make available. 

I have high standards for training.  My expectations were high.  My expectations were exceeded.  The training provided was top notch.  The cost of this training is one of the best kept secrets of the industry.  (Unfortunately).  Where else can a person get this level of training for $60 or less plus the cost of ammunition?  The range facility is great! 

The people we met were great.  I truly enjoyed shooting with them and talking with them.  I look forward to working with Joe, Laurie, Tim, and Matthew at future events.  I hope I see my fellow students at future events.

Oh, and the history lessons and stories...

I wish that history was presented in school with the passion that it was presented at Appleseed.  I wish that the personal stories were shared in school.  I found the stories to be engaging, thought provoking, and inspiring.  So much that we came home and ordered the books that they came from. 

A proud Rifleman and Blue Hat,

Steve

[NorCal22Gal]

Steve, you did a great job!  I'm hoping that later you or April or both will take the next step and become instructors with us.  It's great to have you on the team!!!

[Puma Mami]

Thanks to Laurie, Joe, Matthew and Tim for your wonderful instruction and help. My scores are way up thanks to your expert coaching! So many little things make such a huge difference!

It was pretty agonizing to come so close to rifleman and still not quite get there. Only a 3-4 point difference between me and Steve and April, but that was the difference between victory and continuing the effort. "A rifleman persists," and I will do that. I've been doing some weight training, and I believe that will help to eliminate some of the muscle shaking and help me get those last few required points up for next time. That and the "rifleman's bubble," and all of the techniques and tips you taught. Thank you for what you do!   

I look forward to (finally!) becoming an instructor and helping others through all of those mistakes and hard work to achieve rifleman. Since it's not been easy for me, perhaps I will be better able to help others. I hope so.

I'm glad Steve and April took blue hats, and like Laurie, I hope you will both go on to become instructors. You are great additions to the program. Welcome to the Appleseed Trail!

Jennifer