Flash Report! Hinesville, GA!

[Junior Birdman]

   Day one of The Hinesville Appleseed is in the books and what a day!  I arrived yesterday evening, just behind the Grin Reaper.  Cannon Man was already there and we soon had the line built ready for the morrow. Thunder rolled in the distance, and clouds gathered, so we knew we had the right weekend.
   A quick trip the the official Appleseed supply center, (Wal Mart), where we loaded supplies in a "frog strangling" rain and then adjourned for dinner. We then had a "spirited" ride back to the hotel and attempted to sleep while 4 minute groups danced in our heads.

   Storms continued through the night, but daylight brought clear skies with the accompanying 110% humididty.  We got the the range, even though the locals had removed the signs, and someone had stolen Cannon Man's Colonial soldier pointing the way to Rye Patch Rd.

   In the mist we could make out soldiers. Soldiers from another era. Revolutionary war soldiers!  Yes!  The soldiers had come, and with them, muskets! And look there.......CANNON!  Yep! A 3 pounder, and a pound and a halfer!  And we were going to get to shoot them!   (Why can't we have this at EVERY Appleseed?)

   Folks began arriving early, and soon we had a crew standing around waiting for the word. Grin Reaper told the story we all love to hear. It was fresh again for me, just like every time.  Afterwards, the safety rules, range commands, and we were off!   

   We had 2 lines, one facing east, the other behind it facing west.  They were close enough that Grin, calling the line, could serve as Range Master for both lines.  There was cover for both lines, and the shade would be welcome later on.

   The excitement was thick when we posted the "Red Coats", and we got the "Shoot what ya brung" part out of the way.  Results were a little better than typical, with well more than half qualified at 100 yards.

   Now we settled down for business.  4 minute squares, while we hammered the basics. 6 steps, NPOA, some "Ball & Dummy", and we began to see some smiles when the groups began to shrink.  We graduated to repititions of standing, sitting, and prone, with Grin "Time Nazi" Reaper on the clock, giving Tarletons quarter to the shooters, and offering no "Appleseed time", but REAL time!  That's right!  1 Minute was really ONE MINUTE!  But they seemed not to notice, but set their sights on pereservering and shooting better.   

    Heat was taking its toll, and we were ready for a break when lunch time rolled around.  Up at the house, there was rumored to be hambugers, hotdogs, and the like.  We quickly devoured a fantastic meal and were back on the line in about 45 minutes.  I was soon to regret eating the 5 hamburgers, for I was required to be the spokesmodel for the refresher sitting demonstration. It was tough. But I perservered. It was for the cause.

    Soon enough, we were hammering out Riflemen on the anvil of the AQT.  The shooters settled in and Grin, mercilessly barked out commands, and I saw improvements all ove the place.

   Most folks had "hit the wall" before 1700, and we determined to shoot one last "Red Coat" target, with a little spice.  The shooters lined up and recieved a very "Guy like" presentation from the Grin Reaper, who allowed  as that these bloody Red Coats had drawn innocent American blood this morning in Lexington, and they now stood before us in Concord while the smoke from our burning homes arose, and that perhaps we should do something about it. 
   The shooters ran screaming to their arms, and fetched the Brits a rake, fore and aft, leaving much to be desired in the way of British arogance.  Afterwards, we all shouted 3 "HUZZAHS! and proclaimed victory!   We were all spent from the days heat and shooting, and someone mentioned dinner.....

   Yes, Cannon Man had provided a sumptuous meal of Low Counrty Boil, venison stew, and the like, and we all ate heartily. In spite of the 5 hamburgers.  (I vote we hold ALL Appleseed events in Hinesville!)

   While the shoot had officially ended, the fun hadn't and we took the remaining hard cores down to the end of the line where some REAL musketry was occuring!  That's right.....Honest to goodness Brown Bess rifles, with honest to goodness Brittish soldier targets! (Wooden) A few intrepid folks shot the old gals, and there were some big grins all over the place. But that wasn't all. They rolled out the 3 pounder, and the real fun began! 

   Live fire is always fun, but live fire when your "bullet" weighs 3 pounds and your target is a car, (yep, you heard right, a car), the fun factor goes up exponetially!  Some of the folks got to actually light that baby off, (Following the 6 steps, of course), and I shot photos. Even though I knew it was going to go off, I still jumped and stood there in awe!  We got a demonstration in "skipping the shot", and were duly impressed. The car was too.   Afterward, a nice layer of smoke hung in the air above our heads, covering a couple of acres, and we wondered how the fields must have looked during a battle with several pieces, and all the muskets too.   

   At last it was time to head back to the real world, and a shower.  This one will take a long time to get the grin off my face. Folks, I can assure you that there is no better place to be, at any time, than in the company of Riflemen!   And this shoot is no exception. If you didnt come because of the weather, the bed felt too good, or what ever reason, you really missed out.   Thanks to Cannon Man and the crew for all they have done, and will do tomorrow!  The Hinesville Appleseed will be hard to beat, for a long time to come.   JB

[Son of Martha]

The enemy.




Don't just shoot them, SHOOT them with the big gun...



Hmph.  They'll let anyone in on this act...



More to come.

SoM

[Fred]

     

      Even tho I wasn't there, JB's report and SoM's pics put you right there!

      How about a comment on the way 'follow-through' works with the flintlocks?

      Also a comment or two on how they did, accuracy-wise?

[Muddogg]

Man, I really wish i could have made it...

Somebody but a caption on one of those pics saying, "Wish you were here!"

[icebrain]

Somebody needs to post pictures from the earlier shooting...  I forgot my camera both days   

On the bright side, I had a dramatic improvement over the two days... best score 195, so not quite there yet... but plenty of time to practice. 

Thanks again, everyone... hope to see yall out there next time it rolls around!

[GunRights4US]

There's just no thrill like the thrill of putting rounds on the target.  Defeating the pain, ignoring the sweat, defying the recoil, rejecting the fatigue... and going on to master the weapon! 

I almost said it doesn't get any better than that.  But that's not true!

Go on and add camaraderie with lots of like-minded folks, the best venison stew you've ever tasted, and expert marksmanship instruction by highly skilled shooters who are determined to help you become a better shooter than you've ever been.

Oh! And canons, and muskets, and Redcoat officers, and stirring oral history lessons, and smoke, and yelling "Huzzah!", and well...it was just a hell of a good time! 

Thanks to the fellows with the Red Hats who did such a fantastic job.

Proud to wear my Rifleman patch!!

HUZZAH!!!  HUZZAH!!!  HUZZAH!!!

[Junior Birdman]

  On Follow through with the flintlock:  Slight exageration alert: You pull the trigger, walk back to camp and have a bite to eat, then return to the piece and aim the rudimentery or non existant sights and shortly thereafter, it goes off! 
   But really folks. the term flash in the pan originated with the Instantaneous raging brush fire 3 inches from your eyes that occurs when the hammer falls. If you didn't flinch at that, and somehow kept your eyes open, a half second later or so you will be rewarded with the deep BOOM of the shot. 
   Some decent shooting was had by the novices, and some exceptional shooting by the REAL musket shooters. Son of martha scored against the bloody Brits, leaving one Red Coat with a wound of a delicate nature. (Let's just say he would never reproduce) But I was surprised by the number of shots that actually connected. After all, we weren't shooting at a formation drawn up in line of battle, where the odds were with us. This was more of a skirmish line where one had to take aim at a specific soldier.  As more folks add on you'll see more pictures and first hand accounts.  Makes me appreciate the m14 though.  JB

[Junior Birdman]

   Action on day two!  We awoke to bright sunny skies and slightly cooler temperatures, and maybe just a little sore.  I left early and got more ice on the way. You can never have too much ice in south GA.  When I arrived, the 18th century folks were already there, doing a little rifle maintenance in preparation for the days activities.

   Shooters began to arrive and since we'd lost a couple from yesterday, we crowded into the line facing west and began to settle in. After the folks down on the left end of the line had dispatched the water moccasin which was lying under a shooting carpet left there from the night before, we were on our way. This was to be just one of many "firsts" for me at an Appleseed!  (And no, they didn't shoot it, and yes, the Rev war guys skinned it for proper use)

  We started with the ubiquitous "Red Coat" target, and folks were a bit slower to get into position than yesterday, but we saw some great improvements.
    Eli, one of the Rev war guys, had never shot anything other than a musket before yesterday. Today he would put the "Green Monster", (JB's personal LTR), to great execution, shooting to qualify at 300 yards, AND making the simulated "head shot" on the officer at 250 yards! And folks, he only missed getting 3 in the 400 yard target by t-h-i-s much!  Great shooting Eli!

  You know, I never asked him to what he attributed his meteoric success with the modern rifle, but I bet that he'd say something along the lines of: I just listened to what y'all said and did the same." 
  Hmmm....Now let me get this straight....you just listened to the things we said.....and then put them into practice, without question, no matter how simple and basic the thing sounded.....and they worked? 
   OH MAN!  Somebody should put all these tips and instructions in writing and maybe go around teaching folks how to shoot a rifle with these techniques! 

   After the Red Coats, we settled into a quick rendition of 4 minute squares to polish the stuff we learned the day before, get those sights adjusted just so, and prepare for what we knew was coming.......the AQT. (Insert ominous sounding music here)   

   The shooters groups had improved greatly from the day before.  One young man with a .22 bolt gun had gone from barely on paper, to whacking those offensive squares with alacrity!  I wish I could have filmed his bolt actuation skills, as it was a thing of beauty. No NPOA breaks there!

    After the squares, we moved on to more exciting things, like standing, sitting, and prone targets for parctice before the AQT. (DUM DUM DUUUUM) (Ominous music).  We saw good improvement from the day before, even a few perfect 50's were being shot. (Doncha hate those guys?)

    Soon, it was lunch time. And if there's anything a Rifleman likes to parctice more than shooting, it's eating.  Folks were given 40 minutes to get up there and back, and being a bit sore , were loitering about in groups, talking, until the Shoot Boss loudly proclaimed they had 37 minutes left. This proved motivational, as we all moved to the house with alacrity.   

   Another great meal of burgers and dogs. A bit of fellowship and fun. And Cannon Man brought out the awards!  If there's anything a Rifleman likes better than shooting and food, it would be awards!   He gave out medals and ribbons for the best shooters with the muskets from the evening before, and a few REALLY nice plaques and trophies for the shooters who had earned them with pride.  3 hamburgers and a dog later, I was back on the line, ready for a nap...er...I mean some SHOOTING!   

  And now for a look at the procedings from a Red Hat's perspective:

  The shooters stood, mostly in silence. Staring the stare only Riflemen understand. Shifting anxiously, checking equipment for last minute details. Some bit of nervousness pervaded the line, but a steadfast resolve shone through. It was time to shoot........the AQT. (Insert more ominous music here) 

   The Range Master barked out the cold, chilling commands: Shooters! With 10 rounds, LOAD! And sounds of metal on metal echoed in the thick south Georgia air. Then silence. Not a shooter stirred, (except for Josh, attempting not to fall, standing crossed ankled...doncha hate those young, nimble types?)

   And then at last came the words they had been anticipating since lunch. Nay, since Friday. Nay, even since BIRTH! FIRE!  And the eruption of smoke, noise and all the things which make this country great occurred in an instant! 

   Huge sprays of water lept skyward from the wet area behind the target line. The roar was incredible. Each shooter "In the Rifleman's bubble", totally unaware of the noise, concussion, or hot brass down the pants.
   They stod stoic. Only relaxing to let down between strings, eyes trained on the target. It was wonderful. If you've not experienced this you can't imagine.  At last the call to CEASE FIRE! and all was silent but the rustle of clothing, the rattle of slings being removed, the low tones of conversation, inquiring: "How'd you do that time?"  The anxious milling about, waiting to go forward and see. 

   As an instructor I get to witness a transformation at every Appleseed. And the tranformation was complete. Yesterday, they arrived as individuals, loosely associated, and to begin with, the line ran spasmodically. Today, they act in unison, as a well oiled machine. Nobody waste their prep time. Nobody lags on the line. They actually anticipate what is next and are prepared for it. Every instructor here will attest, it is constant and exactly the same at each Appleseed, and yet still it impresses me, every time.

  We spent a while grinding out Riflemen on the millstone of the AQT for a while. The heat and strains took their toll, and some had to sit out some of the shooting. All perservered. More improved scores, more learning. Learning about your rifle. Learning about yourself. Learning about your forefathers and generations yet to come. Appleseed. It's a beautiful thing!

  At last a break in the action, and The Grin Reaper had the lads assemble at the portajons for the big Zombie Shoot.  Given the signal, the shooters rushed screaming to their rifles and began to defend motherhood and apple pie! "Head shots, men!" "You have to shoot zombies in the head!!" Many a grizzley zombie fell to the Riflemans bullet, and in the end, we saved the planet!

  That seemed to perk up the bunch, and we were chomping at the bit to get at those Red Coats one last time!  So without further adu...adeu...adieu....DELAY, we set about doing just that!  Lots of good scores on the Brits, and it was over.

   Another Appleseed comes to a close. This is the worst part. I could stay another week, but then we'd have to charge extra and call it a Boot Camp.  We broke down the target lines, policed the brass, cleaned up in general, and said our goodbyes. As I drove off the property the clock showed 1702.  Right on time.

   A great shoot. One with many firsts. It will be hard to beat this one guys!  Overheard a lot of great chatter with rousing points: (Heard from the left end, the area known as "The Danger Zone": "  You cant quit!  When the Marines on Tirawa ran out of ammo did they quit shooting? Well, yeah, actually they did. But that's not the point here!") 
   
   A great time had by all. I believe we had 3 Riflemen earn their creds over the weekend, with many more knocking on the door. I'm talking about scores over 200, just shy of the magical 210.  One got a magical 211, avoiding by one point a dip in the pond!
    But they left with a tool bag chock full of things to work with when they get home.  Dry firing, 6 steps, NPOA, cadence.  And I have no doubt that those who perservere will gain the coveted patch of a Rifleman before too long at home.  (You guys can just have someone clock you and witness the act, send us a note to that effect and voila! RIFLEMAN!)

   I can't wait to go back to Hinesville.  If you didn't make it, for what ever reason, don't miss the next one!   

   I can't give thanks enough to the folks that made it happen. Your hard work paid off in spades and you can be proud of the fruits of that labor.  You will be looked on by others thinking about hosting an Appleseed event with wonder and admiration, and I know you'll be more than happy to help them with how it's done when they ask.  Thanks to all!    JB

[GunRights4US]

What a great report!  I'm having flashbacks here. 

[Fred]

    If creative writing teachers ever find out what this programs does to instructors, we'd have a whole new audience to content with.

    Good report, JB. (Some of the best parts - and it was hard to choose - will be in the Oct 20 issue of SGN, so be sure to let your Ma know so she can get her a copy...)

[militiaman 1741]

Hey, it was fun for us Rev War guys too.  We don't get the opportunity to live fire the muskets very often but at .75 cal, when loaded whit swan shot, they make an awesome goose gun.  Thanks to the red hats who ushered Eli into the modern era.  He was quite proud.  Should have been, too.  I have loaded a picture of Ron pointing to his hit on the redcoat so there is no question.  Changed him from a bloody lobsterback into a Frenchman.

[GunRights4US]

That was one heck of an outfit Militiaman!  My boys just couldn't shut up about it.

[Grin Reaper]

Turns out Cannonman was right - it IS hot & humid in September.  Wow!  Double-WOW!
Fortunately, the forecasted rain waited until we had finished setting up the target line on Friday evening.

This was a new adventure for me, as I learned about 23.5 hours prior to the event that I'd be wearing the Shoot-Boss hat for the first time.  Fortunately, I had 2 Master Instructors to keep me on-target, sort of like those rubber bumper-things they put in the gutters at bowling alleys for small children to use.

The threat of rain kept 3 pre-registered folks from attending.  They needn't have worried, since it was far too hot to rain.  Did I mention it was hot & humid?

We had 4 shooters in Revolutionary War uniforms.  Nothing like the image of Cannonman with the tri-cornered hat, big blue uniform coat, and scoped AR15.
Lots of 2-generation teams shot that weekend.  If I got the numbers right, we had one father-daughter, 2 father-son, and two father-2-sons sets on-hand.

The property-owner grilled hamburgers and hot dogs for us.  Very posh for a fellow used to eating MRE's at Appleseeds.

GunRights4Us brought his 2 boys, and the three of them kept their end of the line ("The Danger Zone") alive with uninterrupted joking and the thunder of M1A's.  So THAT's what Freedom sounds like!

The heat was a bit much for some.  Did I mention it was hot?  One shooter adjourned before lunchtime, and 3 more left prior to the end of Day 1.

I gave my 1st-ever Revolutionary War History lesson.  Ever explain 4/19/1775 to guys wearing Revolutionary War outfits.  No, that wasn't the least bit intimidating!

The .22's are the way to go for Day One.  A little over half of our shooters were using the Affordable Alternative to the centerfire rifle, but Jr Birdman had the only Liberty Training Rifle.  No fewer than 3 shooters used it over the next 2 days, including one young man who'd never fired a rifle before (I specify 'rifle' because he had a lot of experience shooting a smoothbore musket, but nothing else!). 
All but one or two .22's were scoped, some with RBS's (Really Big Scopes).  Several tube-fed .22LR rifles were utilized.  We used the 'load 11, eject 3rd round' method for the AQT stages requiring a 2rd & a 8rd mag.
2 SKS's, one Garand, 4 M1A's, and a few AR15's were also in attendance.


The opening Redcoat target gave us one 300yd shooter, two 200yd shooters, 2 officer hits, about 60% had 3 hits on the 100yd target, and one shooter put 1 round on the 400yd target.   Much better than the national average, proving you don't need a huge turn-out to have a good bunch of shooters.

The standard recipe of 6 Steps, NPOA, IMC, 4moa squares got us started. 
Ball & Dummy produced little bucking, but some flinches and whole lot of trigger-jerking.
We added a few more practice targets for the always-challenging Stage 2 of the AQT.  Most of these guys (and one gal) needed very little work on Stage One.  I've never even heard of a group who shot as well offhand as the Hinesville crowd, even at the beginning!  Stage One scores of 38+ were the norm Saturday morning, and fully 40% were shooting 43+ !!!

A few folks were resisting the use of slings, but letting them try it their way, and noting no improvement, brought them around.  Several guys were reluctant to give up their Security Blankets (aka, bipods) Until Tank shot his AR15 off-hand with the bipod still unfolded.  So what's the big deal about that?  He had just had major repair of a complicated wrist fracture of his shooting hand about 8 days ago, and was still wearing a splint on it.
No Wal-Mart dresses were offered; I employed the Ballet Rule:  "Okay guys, the rest of you can still use your bipods, but you have to put on a ballerina outfit if you do so." 

We saw a little more trigger-jerk and a slightly higher-than-average amount of dragging wood this weekend.  After only 70 or 80 reminders, this improved, and magically so did shooting.  Who knew?

Cannonman's son Chris became the first Hinesville Rifleman with a 217 on his 1st QDAQT, a performance he kept up all weekend.  A Toccoa Rifleman alumnus also produced multiple Rifleman scores, with the added job of coaching his daughter.
SGTCap scored Rifleman by Day 2.  GunRights4Us did so about an hour later.
Both of his sons started off ahead of average, and continued to improve.  Good job, all! 

One young man was showing impressive speed with getting his 1st Stage 2 shot off with in less than 5 seconds (a standard set by Dragon Wood), but wasn't hitting well.  JB did a little coaching and a little sight-adjusting (Stop! Brass-Hammer-Time!) and suddenly the bolt-action shooter was producing 40-something scores on Stage 2 with times under 42 seconds.  Apparently, you DON'T need a semi-auto for Appleseeding (it's a gerund, too!).

As far as I saw, no one brought a sight-adjustment tool for their rifles.  Something to put on your shopping list, Appleseeders.  A few guys didn't have slings, or even sling studs.  These are a must-have.

Appleseed is a heck of a durability test. Some guys not only used their back-up rifles, but their back-up back-up rifles.  Letting you know what equipment works - one of the many services Appleseed provides.

We had heard that Stars & Stripes magazine would be dropping by, but I never saw them.

Several shooters who had heard of the event on other internet forums were there.  One of them (SGTCap at ar15.com) shot Rifleman on Day 2, and Icebrain (from RimfireCentral) came very close more than once.  No doubt he'll get there by next time.

This was a fun-loving and unbelievably polite bunch of shooters.  I'll use SoM's oft-quoted description of Appleseeders, as it seems especially appropriate here: "Not a waste of skin among them."

We all go to hear the patented Happy-SoM "heh, heh, heh" when the smoothbore musket firing session started.  If you want a real appreciation of the shooting ability of our forefathers, try to hit with one of those monsters.  I doubt I would've hit the broad side of a barn from the INSIDE with it.
Cannonman demonstrated his artillery piece for us.  It wasn't nearly as loud as we'd thought, but every bit as impressive.  "Remember to follow-through!"

Day 2 started with some excitement - one of the shooters moved the cardboard he'd been using as a ground-pad to find a foot-long water moccasin coiled beneath it.  Our Hero Emitt prudently chose to avoid gunfire in solving this issue, and proceeded to employ his high-speed low-drag tactical Boots of Serpent Stomping, forming the first recorded Appleseed snake-flapjack.
Then RevWar re-enactor Militiaman 1741 skinned it.
Another Appleseed first.

We had nearly 100% of our Day One guys return for Day 2, including at least one who'd only planned on shooting Saturday.  We added a shooter when Anthony brought his teenaged son with him for Day 2.

Since we had no Sunday morning quiet-time restrictions, we got started at 0900.   The extra shooting time gave us a round-count of nearly 500rds for the weekend.

A total of 21 Appleseeders dipped their toes in the Tradition this weekend, and we gained 3 new Riflemen.  How many Appleseeds can claim a Rifleman rate of 1-in-7?

I don't know that I've ever been made to feel more welcome or appreciated anywhere, even my home range.
A huge "Thanks!" to Cannonman & our hosts, and the Appleseeders, in Hinesville.

Pics to follow.

[Fred]

     Nice report, GR.

     Now that you're a shoot boss, you can mingle with a whole new crowd - your betters!

     We throw around gerunds all the time! Heck, for a nickle I'd throw out one or two right now...

     Sounds like a GREAT shoot, and you are lucky to have some heat, because it's been cool - even cold - up here in NC.

     SoM in one of the pics looked like he was melting away.

     I hope cannonman will consider this an investment in the future, and that the plan will be to double or triple the turnout next time - or know the reason why.

     With the Rev War costumes and gear there, it'd be nice to see if we can get a bunch of kids there next time - boy scouts, cub scouts, girl scouts, 4-H - any of them we can, because this event would make an impression on them, big time.

     Once again, great report.
     

[Scout]

Fantastic Report Grin!!

Congratulations on your Promotion and for running such a tight ship.

I sure am proud of you Sir.

And glad it was you in the humidity, and not me

[Son of Martha]

More pics:

Cannonman's very nice awards, High Rifleman, High Junior, High Male,  High Female.



Grin doing the talk.



2nd GA Artillery equipment park:



See also:

http://www.2ndgeorgiaartillery.org/

"The Regulars are out!"



Cannonman61 and Militiaman1741 get set to LIVE fire with a cannon--HooAH!



Dr. Price sends some hate and discontent downrange...



Father and son:



SgtCapp Rifleman Capp with his night-sniper 10/22 (Antitank scope is NOT optional):



Zombies(!) in the wire!



'Njoy

SoM

[Fred]

     Very nice pics, SoM.

     You can tell people were having fun.

     And not a sign of any heat in any of them - were you guys simply making that up?

     As to that last pic: Did anyone make sure all the portajons were empty, before turning everyone loose to run for the line, and start the course of fire?

     Or is there a superhero present, just stepping into the jon, to do a quick change into costume?

     Or was someone being punished? "You - you have to start from inside the portajon!" No, can't be, the guy is smiling...

     So what's he doing inside the portajon - either going in, or coming out?

     Let's have the truth, guys.

     No coverups. No 'shading' to save sensibilities.

     Just the facts.

     Why is that guy hanging on the door of the portajon, when everyone else is running?

[Grin Reaper]

As to that last pic: Did anyone make sure all the portajons were empty, before turning everyone loose to run for the line, and start the course of fire?

Why is that guy hanging on the door of the portajon, when everyone else is running?

Ah, Fred.  If you'd ever known the joy of a "Zombies in the Wire!" charge, you'd know that traditionally zombies only attack at the least opportune moment -- Jim was just getting into the spirit of the event.  You must have missed his Toccoa Zombie Squad war-shout

Oh, Crap! Zombies!

accompanied by the sound of a slamming portajohn door.  Ah, the memories....

More pics
Cannonman's 1st Redcoat target -- looking good!

This gent was shooting well offhand, 6 or 8 days after open reduction & internal fixation of a complicated fracture of his dominant wrist.

Son of Martha displays muzzle control during the load phase

SoM displays his smooth smoothbore form

Anthony learns what 'flash in the pan' means

Cannonman shows how it's really done

Dawn breaks over the Hinesville range, Day Two

Emitt looms over the carcass of his prey

A folded bipod -- it's a beautiful thing

More Father/Son goodness

Icebrain wrings out Jr Birdman's Liberty Training Rifle

The SoM NPOA target discussion

[DragonWood]

Great reports from Grin and JB! Gosh if someone is closing in on my first round off in 5 seconds on the sitting stage, I am going to have to work to get that down to 4 seconds!
Hey Grin, I was wondering if you got honored the shoot boss in the same cerimoneous way that you got your red hat?!!
I heard you did a great job!
See you along the trail, DW

[RifleWoman]

I have to admit, that even the Mr. is wishing he was there.  He got that sudden glazed look of envy when cannons where mentioned.  I guess Cannonman knows how to do an Appleseed right. 

[SGTCap]

Are you implying that a 4.5x14 scope is a little much?     Thats what the guys at rimfire central recommended.  I think my next 10/22 build will be a liberty trainer similar to JBs if the sights ever come off of backorder.

If it makes anyone feel better I kept it turned down to 5x.  I think its actually easier to shoot on the lower power settings.  I think too much magnification was leading to overcompinsation.

[Old Dog]

Nothing wrong with that scope as long as it works for you and it's reliable.  I used to have a 4x12 Bushnell on my groundhog rifle.  After awhile I noticed it was just about always on 8X.  Eventually I ran across a used 10X Bushnell and bought it for the groundhog rifle.

Talking about shooting a rifle is in someways like talking about other sports.  People don't mind telling you who (what) they think is best (why there's works better than yours).  If it works for you just smile at them and tell them your experience shows that it works for you.

[Flathead]

Had a great time at the shoot, it's the third one that I have been to, second one with my daughter who stuck it out thru the heat and humidity. The great thing about these shoots is that everyone in attendance is the kind of person that you would enjoy sitting down at the dinner table and getting to know them better.
Shot 215 the afternoon of day one after putting about 200 rounds thur the CMP Garand and with it only getting the high 180's and low 190's, it can give you a beating on a hot day, at first I thought that I would shoot just it that week end but had to break out the ar to get the score where I needed it, can't wait for the Toccoa in November.
I guess the .22's are the way to go for the first part of the course and getting the mechanics down of firing the shot, then go to the ar's, mini's, to build up to the big bores that way the flinching, jerking, bucking would be less.
For those coming to the november rember the range goes to 300 yards so bring something that can shoot that far.

Observations from my point of view,   Instruction was very good, they covered NPOA that some people finally got after just wondering what it meant when reading the guide,
The amount of malfunctions and FTF, not many shooters had tools to work on equipment they brought,
several had to severly adjust sights on first morning,
amount of back up rifles for the back up rifles,
need to have people bring more ammo to the shoots if no quiet time on sunday morning,
How eveyone loved the Garand and was asked several questions on how to get their own, would be a good angle to get more people involved in the program,  by the way, Anthony looked like he was enjoying having his way with it on the final red coat targets and the Zombie targets!!!!! but at least there wasn't any sticky stuff left on it!!
To those who thought about going and didn't make it  SHAME ON YOU!!!  If my 15 year old daughter can stick it out for a week end then so can you!!!!

[Grin Reaper]

I guess the .22's are the way to go for the first part of the course and getting the mechanics down of firing the shot, then go to the ar's, mini's, to build up to the big bores that way the flinching, jerking, bucking would be less.
For those coming to the november rember the range goes to 300 yards so bring something that can shoot that far.

Good points -- bring them both.  .22 for 25m training, then the centerfire for sight data at actual ranges.

Toccoa will offer something different from the average Appleseed --  shooters who show sufficient proficiency will get to shoot on the KD range, and that includes the guys with .22's.  Working out the details now...

[GunRights4US]

Toccoa.  Hmmmm

It's during hunting season, but that KD course is real tempting.

[Grin Reaper]

It's during hunting season, but that KD course is real tempting.

I believe it was Oscar Wilde who stated that the only way to get rid of a temptation is to give in to it.

[cannonman61]

Okay!

I waited a week to see what sort of AAR I would get from all concerned. It seems the consensus of opinion was that the shoot was a hit! I am very happy about that. I put a bunch of time and some money in making it happen and with a positive response, I am more than happy to do so again in the near future.

As we do at work lets look at this in terms of postives and negatives.

Positives:

1. Very efficient time management by the redhats
2. Superlative instruction by same redhats
3. Range was well suited to the 25m AQT
4. Rev War additions were well recieved
5. Awards were nice and an added incentive
6. with 3 redhats pupil-instructor ratio was great, good 10n1 when needed
7. Redhats were very helpful at teardown time and left the place A+ shape
8. All attendees saeemed to improve
9. Equipment used to setup target line very novel and efficient
10. Met some of the nicest people I have ever met

Net negatives:

1. The weather-temp/humidity
2. The range does not drain well and parts were under water Sat/Sunday on the long range
3. The berms need attention for the 100yd and 200yd range
4. Reptile control was absent. Emmit saved the day. (Remeber to take up mats at night)
5. Not as much utilization of 18th century gear as I had hoped. ( My fault here I believe)
6. Attendance was not what I had hoped for. I counted 22 Appleseeders and 3 Redhats.
7. It ended to soon! 

In all seriousness. I hope all had a great time. Next time out I will pay more attention to the Rev War aspect of our program. It is my hope that by adding all the things that made this a Appleseed of so many firsts will make it a standout in the program and add to the punch it can have nationwide. I would like to see everyone who has an interest in history attend and become a rifleman too.

I have no new pictures to post and Grin and SoM did a good job of that already. Suffice it to say that if you missed this one, you missed a real winner. But, dont dispare! We will be holding another in the early spring and as the landowner enthusiasticly said " we'll make the next one even better!". He better come up with something new, as I may run out of tricks!! (My wife says "not likely!")

PS hearing SoM's happy little giggle each time the musket or cannon went off made my whole weekend! Oh, and ask him or Grin how to start a fire like Col. Parker did 232 years ago. SoM did it to light the candle for the cannon shoot, I wonder if Grin can do it to.  Go to it boys, light the fire under all these complacent people out there!!

Fred, ask Grin where your pin is. It has a special connection to the Rev War here in GA. SoM has a booklet I put together 13 years ago that sheds more light on the area's Rev War contribution.

Cannonman61

[icebrain]

Aww, come on guys, the temperature wasn't that bad     Just a few weeks before the heat index was over 100 at night!  And often topped out around 110-115.

[cannonman61]

Okay Ice,

I checked the weather service for Saturday and the temp was only 88, but with the humidity it was a wet bulb of 98. Sunday was much better. The temp was only 83 and with the lower humidity the wetbulb of 88 was tolerable with the nice breeze that day.

Also, my clothing on Saturday was not even close to what most were wearing. I will save a full uniform and hat (all 100% wool) for you to try for the first day next time.  I did shed the regimental and all accoutrements after the first few strings of fire. By Lunch I only had on the small clothes and even ditched the hat. Something I don't usually do even in small clothes in hot weather.

For those who may have missed it, check out militiaman 1741's website he posted on an earlier thread. he has added some new stuff in support of the Appleseed program. I think you all really impressed him and he will be a great asset towards getting out the word to a new set of people.

I am working to resize what few pictures I have of the event as they are to large to load in their present state. I am uploading a new album on webshots of the event. You might try it there. It is at www.webshots.com and look under cannonman1961's albums.

I hope you all have a great one!!!

[cannonman61]

Ok Gentlemen!

That was so much fun we are going to reprise our little adventure, hopefully with more recruits, on the following dates in 2008!

Spring date: March 1-2 2008

Fall Date : Oct 4-5 2008

I hope to see all of you there dragging a few more with you next time!

I have some new cannon loads worked up just for SoM. They are 4 stack grape shot! 20 75 caliber balls on four stacks around a center dowel and wrapped in light weight canvas. Just tested them and they should be devestating on the redcoat targets!  Plus I got a few more Brown Bess's together so we can do live volley fire with the new recruits.

Of course, I am aleady working on the menu. Hmmm...... Bow season started a while back, I better get to it!
See you all real soon I hope!

CM61