News:

We need volunteers in sales, marketing, PR, IT, and general "running of an organization." 
Maximize your Appleseed energy to make this program grow, and help fill the empty spots
on the firing line!  An hour of time spent at this level can have the impact of ten or a
hundred hours on the firing line.  Want to help? Send a PM to Monkey!

Main Menu

AAR Marion Ohio Sept 22-23, 2018

Started by Corvette, September 24, 2018, 12:41:36 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

Corvette

Ten committed shooters arrived on time Saturday morning at Meeker Sportsman Center near Marion Ohio.  They came from as far away as Cincy and Cleveland area and they were greeted by a crack team of Appleseed Instructors.  CrazyDuckHunter, JMadison, Cactus Jack and CWCDL79 helped get them all registered and setup.  We had perfect weather, a dry range and an excited bunch of shooters.  Over half of the line were Riflewomen in the making and many were new to rifle marksmanship. 

The day opened with introductions, a welcome and the safety briefing.  Rifles were brought to the line and the Sat morning Red Coat was shot.  Results were very solid.  With 10 shooters, we had 6 at 100, 5 at 200, 2 at 300 and 400, 4 joined Daniel Morgan and we had 1 Cleared Red Coat (an instructor who was shooting this weekend, BamaFan7). Instructions commenced and we struggled some with some equipment issues.  Eventually, these got sorted out and we moved through prone steady hold, the six steps and NPOA, shooting related drills along the way.  Lunch featured the First Strike. 

Saturday afternoon progressed at a good pace with sighters, IMC, sight adjustments and steady hold in seated.  The Second Strike was presented at the afternoon break followed by steady hold in standing and a practice AQT. 

The progress of our shooters, especially several of our ladies, was impressive.  We were seeing great groups up and down the line by everyone.  The day ended with a Red Coat and the results were clear.  We had 9 if 10 at 100, 8 of 10 at 200, 5 of 10 at 300, 3 of 10 at 400, 6 (over half!!!) joined Daniel Morgan and 2 cleared Red Coats.  Huzzah!

We had two shooters that had work conflicts come up and could not join us but the rest returned Sunday ready to go. 

After the morning Red Coat that had similar results to Saturday afternoon's, we did several NPOA drills that worked on Rifleman's cadence and we rolled into the AQT's.  The shooters struggled some with the faster pace of the AQTs and the extra challenges of time, mag changes and transitions early on and while most got more comfortable with the course of fire, it continued to be a challenge throughout the day.  Don't worry shooters, it will get better when you come back to another shoot. 

We struggled most of the day trying to find a rifle that would fit Becky.  All our loaners had length of pull that was just too long and balance points that made it hard for her to shoulder and hold the rifles.  she struggled with oversized rifles, especially in standing.  But, she persisted and didn't give up. 

Our Riflemen scores came from our two Appleseeders shooting at this event and they were great scores. 

Alex (Bamafan7) scored on all four AQTs and earned his Distinguished patch with scores of 241, 241, 239 and 238.
Chewy pounded out 227, 221 and 224.

Several shooters were on the porch and/or knocking on the door with scores in the 190s/low 200s. Melissa, Johnathan, Anne, Sarah, MK, I am willing to bet that another weekend with us will put you over the top. 

Shooting at distance was covered at lunch and the Dangerous Old Men were shared at the afternoon break.  The final Red Coat was shot with fantastic results. With 7 shooters at this point we had 7 at 100, 7 at 200, 4 at 300, 400 and the shingle.  We had three cleared Red Coats with Melissa stepping up with our two Appleseed instructors. 

This was Melissa's first time shooting a rifle, a loaner at that.  She did not understand how impressive it was to go from new shooter to clearing a Red Coat in a single weekend.  Great job!

The formal part of the weekend ended with some shooters bidding fair well.  For the rest, we spent some time working at distance.  Several of the shooters (including several of the ladies) took the chance to fire an M1 at a steel target set at 200 yds.  Chewy was working on that same target with his 22 and was scoring consistent hits on that target. Very impressive.  Other shooters were working with full size D targets at 200 confirming their zeros and building confidence at that range. 

Finally the line was broken  down and all the remaining shooters helped us clean up and break down the line. I want to thank all the shooters and instructors for a great weekend.  I look forward to seeing all of you again at another shoot. 

Corvette

Be bold, brave and forthright and the bold, the brave and the forthright will gather around you!

BamaFan7

Being on the shooter side of things this week, I can't say enough about the passion and skills of all our instructors and our shoot boss. The group did such an amazing job, evidence by the outstanding results. Shooting next to Melissa all day, I couldn't help but feel inspired by the will and determination of a new shooter.

Thank you to Corvette and all our Instructors for making this such a successful event. God bless and I hope to see everyone ASAP.
"where the body of the people, or any single man, is deprived of their right, or is under the exercise of a power without right, and have no appeal on earth, then they have a liberty to appeal to heaven, whenever they judge the cause of sufficient moment."

HammBone

Melissa and I had lunch yesterday for a "debrief". She sent me an email earlier and it only said "Such a great experience!!!" and included the attached photo.

She and Mary Kate (her neighbor that also attended) really had fun. She had loads of good things to say about the instructors and the quality of instruction. She was amazed by how much she learned and is confident she can "join the ranks" at her next shoot (probably in the Spring due to a myriad of projects she has running). We also spent some time talking about some of the more difficult to grasp areas like IMC and how best to present them for that "aha!" moment. I am working from IIT2 to IIT3 this coming weekend at Newark so I was all ears.

Thanks to Corvette and the instructor staff for taking good care of my friend and co-worker. I think we have another fire lit and ready to burn brightly.

Hammbone
1st Appleseed/Cleared Redcoat/Rifleman: 4/20/2013 - Miamisburg, OH
1st Known Distance Rifleman: 11/3/2018 - New Philadelphia, OH
1st Winterseed Rifleman: 1/26/2019 - Liberty Center, OH
Donned the Red Hat: 6/16/2019 - Wilmington, OH

"Beware of an old man in a profession where men usually die young." - Anonymous

"Blessed is the man, who when facing death, thinks only of his front sight." - Jeff Cooper

Crazyduckhunter

What a awesome range to hold a Appleseed at. Thank you to the Meeker Sportsman Club for being a strong supporter of Project Appleseed. Without the support of clubs such as this Project Appleseed would really struggle. Thank you!!  :bow:

This was a great group of people to enjoy a Appleseed weekend with. We had brand new shooters using borrowed equipment that really stuck it out and showed they know what they are about. I sure wish that I could have stayed to see the three cleared redcoats on Sunday afternoon. What an accomplishment!!

Cadence

What a great group of patriots that came with that all important teachable attitude!

Since I could only make the Sunday portion, Thanks go out to all the instructors who did an amazing job getting all the students squared away on Saturday to make Sunday instruction all that easier.

Happy to finally work with Catus Jack, Chewy, BamaFan7 and Crazyduckhunter. Looking forward to working with you again.
"A general dissolution of principles and manners will more surely overthrow the liberties of America than the
whole force of the common enemy. While the people are virtuous they cannot be subdued; but when once they
lose their virtue then will be ready to surrender their liberties to the first external or internal invader."
~ Samuel Adams

Corvette

I know others of you have pictures to post.  Let's get them up for all to enjoy.

Corvette :pics:
Be bold, brave and forthright and the bold, the brave and the forthright will gather around you!

Cactus Jack

Meeker is a terrific range to host a Appleseed.  I really appreciate the level of professionalism and patience of all the instructors this weekend.  As it was only my second shoot as  IIT, I learned a great deal and am ready to take the next step up the IIT ladder. 


Look forward to the next shoot at Marengo.   Thanks!!

Cactus Jack
1st Appleseed  7/17  Carroll
2nd Appleseed 10/17  Newark
3rd Appleseed  7/18  Newark
Cleared Redcoat 7/18 Newark
Rifleman 7/18 (215)  Newark

"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."- Benjamin Franklin

neckbones

I can't stop thinking about the weekend! I was looking at rifles online by Monday evening and thinking through the positions and setup.

I definitely support BamaFan7's comments about the instructors. The level of instruction was top-notch. The instructors were patient, consistent, and very supportive.
Thanks to HammBone for introducing me to Appleseed and setting me up with a rifle, mat, and enthusiasm!

Special shout out to Dom; who spent a lot of time with MK and me working on form. You'd think I'd be able to grasp the concept of trigger control using my C-shaped trigger finger, but I guess my earplugs were too effective because he had to tell me over and over and over!

I hope every Appleseed experience has such a good heritage component. Corvette is a very engaging storyteller that you can't help but leave firmly attached to the importance of Appleseed. I hope the comradery is just as good at the next Appleseed, because that was a great experience! Thanks for all the hard work to make the shoot so wonderful! Looking forward to the next one.

neckbones


neckbones


neckbones


cwcdl79

#11
What a beautiful weekend at Meeker Sportsmen! fine instructors to work with, and even better students. Everyone showed up with a teachable attitude and drank deeply from the firehose. I was stoked to see all of the enthusiasm as the weekend went on as well as the improvement that happened. I can't wait to see you all further down the line. Now if we can teach bamafan that earplugs are not snacks... ;D

Corvette

Neckbones,

Thank you for the kind comments.  I am confident that there is a patch in your future at the next event.  I hope you can join us again soon.  It was our pleasure to work with you at Marion and I look forward to working with you again soon.

Corvette
Be bold, brave and forthright and the bold, the brave and the forthright will gather around you!