Project Appleseed

First off, we weren't sure we could get this party going, what with the flood watch and the constant soaking of the I35 corridor.
Weather had beaten us before -- this is a tricky place to get to when it rains, and even more difficult to leave 

Thursday, we made the call.  The shoot was ON!  Where, you may ask?  Let me tell you...

<cue announcer voice><Camera: Pan down from gantry>
Carved into a little niche of the Texas Hill Country, just a ways down a meandering dirt road (Range Road, naturally!) -- 'bout a half-mile from the Schuetzen Verein (established 1849!) in the bustling hamlet of New Braunfels ... sits the Central Texas Silhueta Association range.

With target ranges from 25 yards to 500 meters, CTSA is a world-class range dedicated to shooting metallic silhouette most weekends of the year. 

....but not this weekend.  No, definitely not this weekend....


This weekend was dedicated to Project Appleseed, and Known Distance shooting!! 

Indeed, THIS weekend 15 stalwart shooters and 6 of the Texas cadre (and a brave dSB from Florida!) braved the threatening storm clouds and gathered to sharpen their skills, perfect their range estimating, and work to earn a special badge of honor: The Known Distance Rifleman patch.
Our shooters came from as far away as Wyoming (Hi, Sleepy!!), and as close as the nearby hills of Fredericksburg, ready to test their skills and wits against all that we could throw at them.  Or, something like that

We started the day with a healthy dose of history, provided by our very own Paul Rome.
Then, onto the math!  Ballistics and come-ups were discussed, white boards de-whitened, and then -- before the haze of too-much-math began to cloud the shooters precious eyes -- It was off to the target line to hang up our Full-Size D Targets!!! 
The afternoon came and went, as our crew validated come-ups and steady-hold-factors -- and we saw the first two of our Known Distance Riflemen!
Shawn and Judd picked up their patches with scored KD rounds of 202 and 209, respectively!!! 
After lunch (and some great history from PaleRider!) we fired up a Hits-count AQT ...
And that one saw our very own Jason score 41 hits count with an M1A using irons!!  Hardcore?  You bet!!

All but one of our shooters returned the next day to learn the craft of range estimating using their front sights and scope reticles.  Now, it must be said that our range pumpkins were the standard 15" diameter that all pumpkins strive to be, even though a few of them appeared much smaller , and I could have sworn that stop sign was significantly tiny compared to the industry-standard 30"  But, no worries!  Most (AND I MEAN, MOST!) of our shooters were able to range these items (even in their diminuitive state!) within 10-20 yards, and our contest winner was able to accurately range 3 of the 4 targets to within 5 yards.  Well-Done!!! 

Back to the AQT grind after lunch, but not before hearing about Jack Hinton from our very own Tumbleweed (who had to leave a bit early, sadly!)  Our first one out-of-the-gate saw Michael get his KD Patch!  Another 3 followed, and several of our shooters retired that day with scores in the high 30s (39 in the case of Paul!!!)  Also, one of our shooters (Chris) accepted a Blue Hat!!!  Cheers!!!

We finished the day by shooting 6 rounds at a Ram target at 500M.  Spotting was a bit difficult, as there was some grass in front of the target, but 9 of 12 shooters hit it at least once, with the high scores being 3 of 6 (3 shooters!).  That was definitely a bit of a challenge, but no match for the "standard size pumpkin" at 500M    That's right!  A less than 2MOA target at half a kilometer.  Could we hit it? 

Why yes, yes we could.  Sadly, our pumpkin did not make the trip home.   

If I had to give it a score from 1-10, this weekend was definitely a perfect 15!
An extremely enjoyable, fantastic group of shooters, and a PERFECT WEEKEND with NO RAIN!!!

See you next month!!!

Jim (GR)

Thanks to everyone for a great shoot! I spent more time chasing a recertification as a KD rifleman than I'm happy to admit but being humbled by AS is a good take home. It was fun to see how AS is run back in my home state!

Wow - now that's what you call a Texas Known Distance.

Missed seeing you guys. But I'll see you there next month.

more photos:

I'm not one of those that got close to Rifleman but I did have lot of fun, learned my scope better, made hits at all 4 distances and gained more skills with my rifle than I had before. This was my 2nd Appleseed but far far from my last. I'll probably see you guys again when you get back to Lonestar for another Fri-Sat 25yrd shoot and hopefully make Rifleman then. In meantime I'm going to experiment with 100 yard zero vs 25/300 yard zero as much as I can on my home 100 yard range.

I'd like to sign up now for next years October / Halloween KD if back at same range I want another crack at hitting that damn pumpkin !

What a great time! This truly a wonderful venue. Thank you Tim, A.K.A. Pale Rider for your efforts,dedication and hard work to make all of this possible.   

There were lots of new faces for me at this shoot but there was on common theme---they all had big smiles

Seeing the shooters progress and achieve their known distance status was fantastic. For those who had to leave early i'm sorry that you missed out on the grand finale -----RAM THERAPY.

A personal THANK YOU to Jim--our shoot boss for an OUTSTANDING time! 

One last thing----I'm am changing Pale Rider to "Bag Rest"          
Love ya Tim.

See you guys soon, Two Wolves   

Padraic told me that I missed a GREAT event last weekend.  Reading the AAR and all of your comments and looking at the photos just confirms that it was definitely something special that I missed out on.

Congratulations to all of the shooters and Instructors on another successful AS KD event in Texas!
Debbie

You know -

I try to support this program as much as possible, in whatever way possible.  I believe in the mission of the history and heritage.     That said, I am SO GRATEFUL for the investment that this program is willing to put in to the instructors, as well.  My first KD was a hard lesson of previously-unknown issues with the rifle, and also complications with me in relation to that particular rifle.  As we all know, though . . .

A rifleman persists!     After spending a few months resolving problems, testing and dry-firing, it was so encouraging to come back and take another swing at the bat - and knock it out of the park. 

Without bragging, I'm proud to say that I not only scored KD with irons (as Jim said above), but I was one of the three people that hit the steel ram at 500 meters 3 times - including my first shot.   

Key takeaway here: This program works, folks.  If you're reading this, you've scored rifleman at 25 meters and are considering a known distance shoot - I highly recommend it.

Jeeze, small wonder nobody has  commented on my AAR, Jim!! Yours are AWESOME!!!! 

Well done everybody!! And congratulations to our newest KD Riflemen!!!

Thanks for the awesome shoot, guys! Thanks for the clear skies, God!

It was a fantastic event! We couldn't have had better weather and more enthusiasm!

Hey, Two Wolves (Rodger), if you're gonna play the game, know the rules!  "If ya ain't cheatin', ya ain't tryin'!" "Bag Rest" it is! LOL! Thanks for all of your help, BTW! It's great to see you (and Jerry) out there at almost all of our events! Just like old times!

Man, you just couldn't let this die out, could you? 

Keep the debate civil 

Or at least, keep the non-civil debate in private messages 

Oh, and Two Wolves - You're 100% right 

Quote from: PaleRider on October 26, 2018, 12:09:27 PM
It was a fantastic event! We couldn't have had better weather and more enthusiasm!

Hey, Two Wolves (Rodger), if you're gonna play the game, know the rules!  "If ya ain't cheatin', ya ain't tryin'!" "Bag Rest" it is! LOL! Thanks for all of your help, BTW! It's great to see you (and Jerry) out there at almost all of our events! Just like old times!

AF5US---Trust me when I tell you----Tim IS being civil. We have an excellent ( if not sometimes a little weird ) repertoire relationship. No harm intended from either party. BTW, nice change on the avatar. Hope to see you again at another KD.

Happy trails, Two Wolves 

Quote
No harm intended from either party. BTW, nice change on the avatar. Hope to see you again at another KD.

Oh, I know - I'm just trying to be funny.  You can thank the fantastic Ghostring for the updated avatar, he's the one that put it together for me. 

Many Thanks to all the fantastic instructors for making this such a great event! 

If anyone is interested in taking a FREE medical class:

QuoteStop the Bleed continues to empower the general public to make a difference in a life-threatening emergency by teaching them the basic techniques of bleeding control.

The classes in DFW even give you a free CAT-T Tourniquet

Find a class in Texas

Unfortunately I have existing obligations for the only weekend that's listed near me.  I've copied the bookmark; if they add more dates I'd definitely be interested in checking it out.

Thanks!

Quote from: Philip_Dimmitt on October 29, 2018, 07:27:48 PM
Many Thanks to all the fantastic instructors for making this such a great event! 

If anyone is interested in taking a FREE medical class:

QuoteStop the Bleed continues to empower the general public to make a difference in a life-threatening emergency by teaching them the basic techniques of bleeding control.

The classes in DFW even give you a free CAT-T Tourniquet

Find a class in Texas