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

Colorado Springs, CO - AAR - Oct 16-17, 2021

Started by Captain, October 18, 2021, 12:52:47 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

Captain

What a great weekend at the fantastic Pikes Peak Gun Club (PPGC). As a longtime supporter of Appleseed, we were allowed to use one of the normally private bays, in addition to getting early access to the facility and paying the same prices as members to shoot! We're lucky to have such supportive partners in our mission.

Sixteen Appleseeders (4 volunteers and 12 shooters) gathered to celebrate our shared American heritage and join in the quest to become Riflemen! The weather was absolutely beautiful; sunny and cool fall days on the Front Range. By the end of the weekend, tremendous progress was made by all the shooters with several patches earned and some first time Appleseeders making some huge improvements. More details to follow, but I thought I'd start with a quick group picture we managed to capture on the first day.



More pictures to come as I get caught up!
There's things that gnaw on a man worse than dyin'. - Open Range

Captain

After getting everyone signed in and some quick introductions, we started with the Safety Rules. It was then time to get down to some shooting! We started with the "Hits Count" target . . . aka "The Redcoat"



      

Right out of the gate, Chin showed he was back on the line to shoot! He cleared the first Redcoat of the weekend and received a special quarter commemorating the surrender of the British at Saratoga.

Nice shooting


Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. - Benjamin Franklin
There's things that gnaw on a man worse than dyin'. - Open Range

Captain

#2
The rest of Day 1 was spent learning the fundamentals  of shooting - position, firing the shot and natural point of aim. We learned how to zero our sights/scopes and, of course, we heard the history of April 19th, 1775! . . . The Three Strikes.











We capped of the shooting on Day 1 with another try on the Hits Count target. This time, Ben cleaned it and got his Saratoga Quarter.


We had three youth shooters on the line and we recognized their presence with a special patch. It's a challenging program for all who attend, so it was a nice to have these young men out learning marksmanship and embracing their heritage.



To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them…"
- Richard Henry Lee, Declaration Signer

There's things that gnaw on a man worse than dyin'. - Open Range

Captain

I would also like to recognize a couple of shooters who did something special for Appleseed this weekend. When we think of Appleseed volunteers, we normally imagine those folks at a shoot who are wearing those colorful Appleseed hats. But, at each event we ask our shooters to return to Appleseed . . . and bring a friend. This is that "Seventh Stepping" you hear about at each event. These shooters return to our lines as paying participants and they bring others out to embrace our heritage. These people play a vital part in Appleseed and help us get the word out - our most effective advertising. With that said, big thanks to Ben, who came out in a group of three. And big thanks to Chin, who was part of a group of four coming to this event. This is Chin's third shoot of this year, always bringing out others and he is recognized as the MVP of the shoot. Thanks for playing an important role in Appleseed!











If we are to guard against ignorance and remain free, it is the responsibility of every American to be informed. ~ Thomas Jefferson
There's things that gnaw on a man worse than dyin'. - Open Range

Captain

#4
Day 2 was a lot of review and shooting and good stories. All of our shooters made impressive progress on the second day. Jacob was putting together solid AQT efforts as was Dion, who inspite of having difficulty with some of the "Rifleman's Yoga", managed to get some 6 minutes groups . . . shooting irons. Lucas, a brand new shooter with a new, out-of-the-box rifle managed a 183 by the end of the event! He's already "in the hunt" for that patch. Both Chin and Ben were quick to score expert . . .



Mike persisted all weekend. He was a returning "seeder" and determined to get his patch. Late in the day on Sunday, he put it all together and . . .



During one AQT, we found that one of the shooters had scored Distinguished! Nice job Ben!





These are the times that try men's souls: The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. - Thomas Paine

There's things that gnaw on a man worse than dyin'. - Open Range

Captain

We also had a special treat on Sunday. Mike told us how much he had enjoyed the Hezikiah Wyman story from his first Appleseed. He had been motivated to read about the story on his own after the event and even bought the shirt from the Appleseed store. Bravhrt suggested he could share that story if he'd like, so at lunch, Mike took center stage and tld his first Dangerous Old Man story . . . Hezikiah! Nice!



Does this guy need a hat or what?!

If you will not fight for right when you can easily win without blood shed;
if you will not fight when your victory is sure and not too costly;
you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival.
There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves.
-- Winston Churchill


There's things that gnaw on a man worse than dyin'. - Open Range