Posted: 10/21/2009 2:30:34 PM EDT
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ok...there will be an appleseed shooting event in my town next month. my dad is going to one soon, and is really excited about it.
have any of you gone to one of these? seems like fun...just looking for input. thanks! |
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I went to one in 2008, and earlier this month(Oct 2009). I had a ball!
Go to www.appleseedinfo.org for a list of what to bring. You will learn military rifle marksmanship w/iron sights, the way it has been taught for about a century. You will also hear about how marksmanship carried the day in our Revolutionary War. If you score "Rifleman", you will be able to hit a man sized target at 400m,and make a head shot at 250M! That's not a typo. The safety officers are also coaches who will help you. I also think it is WAY underpriced for what you learn there. You will also have a lot of fun. 
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tag. I wanna do this. Of course, the tin-foil hats at work think this is a ruse to collect lists of "domestic terrorists" to the Obama administration. Hmmm... I might not mind being on Obama's @#! list. Appleseed has instructed hundreds of national guard troops on base... I find it a great "list" to be on... 
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Been to two. They were free both times aside from ammunition and a donation for lunch (it was provided). I like the patch...
Great program. I have seen it catch some flak from folks on here for not teaching modern fighting techniques, but that is not the point of the exercise. It will make you a better rifleman. The intent, as I understand it, is to instill a sense of pride in national history/tradition while inculcating a respect high standard of old-fashioned rifle marksmanship in participants, especially first-timers. Advice: Take an old carpet, mat, or some type of shooting pad. Bring whatever flavor of shooting sling you like. They will teach loop sling. Bring a reliable rimfire if you have one, or a centerfire if your shoulder and wallet can afford it. In my experience, round count has been 250-350 on the first day and similar on the second. Most shooting will be done at 25Y. Be willing to learn. |
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Been to two. They were free both times aside from ammunition and a donation for lunch (it was provided). I like the patch... Great program. I have seen it catch some flak from folks on here for not teaching modern fighting techniques, but that is not the point of the exercise. It will make you a better rifleman. The intent, as I understand it, is to instill a sense of pride in national history/tradition while inculcating a respect high standard of old-fashioned rifle marksmanship in participants, especially first-timers. Advice: Take an old carpet, mat, or some type of shooting pad. Bring whatever flavor of shooting sling you like. They will teach loop sling. Bring a reliable rimfire if you have one, or a centerfire if your shoulder and wallet can afford it. In my experience, round count has been 250-350 on the first day and similar on the second. Most shooting will be done at 25Y. Be willing to learn. I'll add three tidbits here, too 1. Make sure you have gone shooting before. This program is good. But it is not for a brand-new shooter. There have been several reported instances of new shooters becoming quite frustrated. 2. Be familiar with the gun you are bringing. Know how to work it, clear jams, etc. Appleseed teaches basic marksmanship. It is not in any way a tactical class. 3. Bring a semi-auto. Preferably a Ruger 10/22 or Marlin 795 - with either tech-sights or a scope of your choosing. Make sure you have sighted-in the rifle with the type of ammo you will be using. Have several spare mags. Stories of folks shooting "Rifleman" with bolt-guns are rare, and only done by experienced shooters familiar with the setup - and most of them do so on purpose for the challenge. |
| Next one near me isn't til April next year... Have it on the calendar. Have done the stages twice and hopefully will be able to try it a couple more times this weekend. Came up about 8 points short last time and I rushed the final stage definitly costing me points. |
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3. Bring a semi-auto. Preferably a Ruger 10/22 or Marlin 795 - with either tech-sights or a scope of your choosing. Make sure you have sighted-in the rifle with the type of ammo you will be using. Have several spare mags. Stories of folks shooting "Rifleman" with bolt-guns are rare, and only done by experienced shooters familiar with the setup - and most of them do so on purpose for the challenge. I shot mine with a Mossberg 44US. I could have done better with a decent set up Semi. The mossy is accurate but I had problems with feeding and the bolt pulling out of the rifle. ETA: 
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You should go. I just got back from the Boulder City,Nevada shoot today a few hours ago. It was the third one I've attended. I just missed rifleman by 3 points with a 207(ARGH!). This was with a borrowed 10/22 with my 1.25"GI sling jerry rigged to the 1" sling swivel with a zip tie and crappy eye relief on the scope. Please forgive the tooting of my own horn .The last time I went I scored a 181, so I at least improved. This has taught me without a doubt that shooting is a perishable skill and I need to make more practice time! If you go take the wife and kids so they can learn something about our revolutionary heritage.The kids especially need to hear the story of April 19,1775 because God knows they won't hear it in school.
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Quoted:
ok...there will be an appleseed shooting event in my town next month. my dad is going to one soon, and is really excited about it. have any of you gone to one of these? seems like fun...just looking for input. thanks! What city?? I just did the Appleseed in Midland, it was pretty good Kane |
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Quoted:Take an old carpet, mat, or some type of shooting pad.
Bring whatever flavor of shooting sling you like. They will teach loop sling. Bring a reliable rimfire if you have one, or a centerfire if your shoulder and wallet can afford it. In my experience, round count has been 250-350 on the first day and similar on the second. Most shooting will be done at 25Y. Be willing to learn. All of this. Quoted:1. Make sure you have gone shooting before.
This program is good. But it is not for a brand-new shooter. There have been several reported instances of new shooters becoming quite frustrated. I would respectfully disagree on this point. We had several Zero-Experience shooters at the shoot I attended. Instruction got them up to speed gradually but effectively. The frustration I saw seemed to be related to lack of familiarity with the function of the rifle they were using, a point that you have addressed succinctly in your post. 
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Quoted:1. Make sure you have gone shooting before.
This program is good. But it is not for a brand-new shooter. There have been several reported instances of new shooters becoming quite frustrated. I would respectfully disagree on this point. We had several Zero-Experience shooters at the shoot I attended. Instruction got them up to speed gradually but effectively. The frustration I saw seemed to be related to lack of familiarity with the function of the rifle they were using, a point that you have addressed succinctly in your post. Exaclty my point. I will, respectfully,  continue to suggest that folks go out shooting a couple of times with the rifle they are going to bring.
This way, the new shooter can focus solely on their marksmanship - which is the focus of the training. To do otherwise is to short-change the new shooter. FWIW - I know two "shoot bosses" personally. They both agree 100% and wish Appleseed did not do two things they currently do: 1. Try to get the brand new shooter (both said they wish there was another 1-day event for these folks within Appleseed) 2. Make Appleseed out to be a "run what you brung" event. It is not this at all. Best to bring a semi-auto. |
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It can be very tough on some people. Some folks get all bent out of shape when their rifle doesn't work or they have early issues with the 6 steps, the positions, etc.
It seems especially hard on folks with some experience doing things their way already. Many new shooters have no issues as they have no bad habits to break. Yes, I would always recommend to folks to make sure their rifle/magazines/ammo work prior to coming to the Appleseed. It makes for a pretty bad day if you're trying to fight your rifle/ammo and trying to learn how to shoot it. Many instructors carry loaner rifles to the Appleseeds so they can loan them out to folks who have rifle reliability issues. Understand, please, when Appleseeds first began the type of person (personality, age, outlook on life) was different that it is now. Many of the folks who attended the early appleseeds and became instructors because they liked what they saw/heard and the type of people they met have left the program over the last couple of years. It appears the aim of the program has changed as it has been "toned down" or outright changed so as not to "scare people away". Some RWVA folks thought people might be scared off by instructors wearing camoflaged clothes so we were told to stop wearing them. Some RWVA folks thought people might be scared off by political talk so we were told to stop talking politics. etc., etc,. etc.,......in order to grow the program has to appeal to a different "type of American" than in it's early days and the program is ever changing. The comment about 1 day events for new shooters is being addressed in some locations by what is called a mini appleseed. They are either 1/2 day or 1 day events at a local range. Black Creek Range NE of Richmond, VA used to have 1/2 day mini's on the 3rd Sunday of every month where folks could come (for free) and begin to learn the basics. Then when they did attend a 2 day event they had a head start and were more comfortable with their rifle, the positions and the course of fire. |
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<snip> Some RWVA folks thought people might be scared off by political talk so we were told to stop talking politics. <snip> Both appleseeds I attended contained many vague political references rolled up into the history component. Not direct, but more vague with references to the extent that "with what is going on in Washington DC, there may come a time soon when we will need all the riflemen we have" or along those lines. Again, it was nothing direct, but strong undertones were there. Perhaps this is unavoidable given the content. I also found some of the history presentation to be slightly misleading. It was motivating, but the marksmanship prowess of the Lexington/Concord Minutemen is greatly overblown. As far as we know from the historical record, no actual rifles were present at these engagements. The new england Militia on average were very poor marksmen and in total fired an astonishing number of rounds per casualty inflicted (I do not remember the estimated number so I cannot quote it). Furthermore, the myth of "we beat the redcoats by fighting like Indians and aiming" was perpetuated- which is patently false. As to their courage and willingness to place all on the line for right, however, I completely agree. There are several real engagements of the era, which strongly featured actual riflemen put to good use that could be cited. I think King's Mountain and Cowpens, as well as Marion/Sumter/Pickens North Carolina guerilla groups are great examples of what riflemen could do. Unfortunately they are more obscure examples. |
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Yeah, there was possibly one rifle. The old guy on the white horse. Everywhere he appeared he killed redcoats from outside their effective musket range.
The redcoats had a very high casualty rate that day vs. the actual militia casualites. Over a third of the colonist's casualties were unarmed men/women/children killed during the looting, burning and close combat as the redcoats lost officers, got desperate and decided to teach those sorry colonials a lesson on their way home. The story is that it got worse when Percy's troops got to Lexington. He and his officers allowed their troops to enter houses beginning in Lexington and take whatever they wanted. The beat people to death with their rifle (musket) butts and/or shot them if they did not cooperate. It's understandable the redcoats caught the hell they did. They were unprepared ammunition, food, water and support wise for the hornet's nest they stirred up. Their belief was they could go anywhere and do anything they wanted because they were British Regulars on orders from their king's governor of the colony. Had Percy not shown up when he did at Lexington the first group under Smith would have been lost quickly at Lexington or just beyond as they were out of powder and ball and water and they had lost a large part of their command structure. Percy's arrival saved the redcoats from having a "totally lost day". Yes, there are some very good examples of rifle use later in the war but the focus of the story is April 19th 1775 from Boston to Concord and back to Boston. The book the RWVA leadership recommneds reading is called Paul Revere's Ride. I think a better book is one written in 1912 by a guy up there in Massuchusetts who talked to the grandchildren, read the old papers, books, letters and court records. That book is called The battle of April 19, 1775 : in Lexington, Concord, Lincoln, Arlington, Cambridge, Somerville, and Charlestown, Massachusetts by Frank Warren Coburn. Here's a link to a free PDF version you can download and read. The details in the book and at the back of the book are great. Lists of names of the men in the companies of militia, damages from the looting/burning done by the redcoats, etc., etc. http://www.archive.org/details/battleofapril19100cobu |