[xl_target]

Last weekend I attended my second Appleseed meet.
Out on the Minnesota prairie, it's always windy and the weekend was no exception. We had about 20-30 mph winds all weekend; not really conducive to good shooting.

This isn't bullseye shooting or benchrest shooting. They are trying to teach you to shoot a rack grade rifle with a rack grade trigger and hold upto 4 MOA out to 400 yards. Not only that but they will teach you how to do it all day, shot after shot. You will be able to do this without using a bench or a rest; just your body, your rifle and a sling. They will teach you how to do this in the standing, sitting and prone positions.
Since rifle skills are transferable, they recommend a .22 LR rifle. You can bring any rifle. There were people shooting bolts and I've seen AR's and one guy had an AK74. Keep in mind that you will be shooting about 400 to 600 rounds over the weekend so if you go, don't bring a large caliber bruiser. The predominant rifle on the line was the Ruger 10/22.

image from HERE

This was my second Appleseed. The first one had similar conditions, except that it rained quite a bit.
"A Rifleman doesn't quit" we were told. So we continued to shoot. I came close that time but couldn't shoot well enough to get the coveted Rifleman patch.
Taking what I had learned the first time and applying it along with what I learned this time, I was finally able to score enough points to be awarded the Rifleman patch.



My 10/22 as usual, performed flawlessly. No jams or failure to fire and no loss in accuracy over almost 500 rounds. Of all the rifles on the line, I don't believe we had any mechanical problems with the 10/22's. I've been shooting a rifle since I was a little kid and I've read quite a bit about the subject. However, I kept an open mind and tried to assimilate the knowledge and techniques that they presented. Surprisingly, even this old dog learned some new tricks.

I highly recommend attending an Appleseed meet.
During the lunch break they will tell you about the revolutionary war and what the American Rifleman was capable of and what he endured.
History, shooting and the company of like minded people; what's not to like? Oh Yes, you will be sore and tired the day after from all the standing, sitting and concentrating. However, the feeling of accomplishement was undeniable.

You can get more info from the Appleseed website: Project Appleseed Home .
There were a few families with kids there. Everyone had a good time.

 

[87ss]

That sounds like a good time.

 

[Breadman03]

Sounds like a blast! I'd like to get out to one someday.

 

[Lead Slanger]

I've always thought it would be fun and informative. Congrats on the rifleman patch!

 

[Old Griz]

There is nothing like an Appleseed Shoot.... here is a report from my daughter's first shoot at Chambersburg PS 9/8-9/1012

My 13 yr old daughter got her first rifle (10/22) this summer and has been in love with shooting since...
I found out about Appleseed here on RFC and showed her the information... She immediately checked the family calendar and announced it free and asked if I would take her to the event... How could I refuse..
The cost for her was only $5.00 and that included an Appleseed Tshirt.. we purchased an additional shirt and a patch for a whopping $15.00 to help offset the cost of running the event... I would have gladly given that money and not gotten anything to support them... the event was that good...
Before the event I had her shooting her gun with Williams WGOS peep sights at 25 meters off the bench and in the prone and offhand positions... she was on target and pretty well prepared (we thought )
The event ran from 8:30AM to 5PM both days rain or shine... and let me tell you on Saturday and Sunday afternoon we had a horrific rain storm (about 30-45 min) so bad they you could barely here the instructor give his history lesson under the covered shooting range. It sounded like someone pouring buckets of BBs on a tin roof... but all went well despite the rain...
There were 11 shooters present ranging from a little younger than my daughter to probably anout mid 60s... 3 females and the rest men... all very friendly and willing to help each other.
The two instructors Tom and Greg could not have been any better of more caring and intense as to what had to be done and making sure all the shooters tried to rise from cook to Rifleman and still had a lot of fun doing it...
They obviously started off with a safety lesson each morning before guns were allowed on the range...
During the course of instruction the shooters really got to learn the mechanics of their rifles, i.e. quick magazine changes, clearing and safeing the gun, etc... The also learned the basic shooting positions of a rifleman... prone, sitting, kneeling and offhand and how to transition from offhand to each of the other positions as needed.
For instance they might have 2 magazines loaded (one with 2 rounds and the other with 8 rounds) on the ground next to their shooting mat... they would then have to transition from the offhand position to sitting positions and load the 2 round mag and shoot at one target, change mags shoot 3 more rounds at the first target, wiggle into their new natural point of aim and fire the remaining 5 rounds at the second target and do this within 55 seconds...
As one of the instructors said yesterday it is like they were doing 2 days of calisthenics. My daughter came home tired and sore both days and would not quit... in fact she is already making plans to do this again next year...
Only one shooter managed to shoot a Rifleman score and the instructors told us that generally maybe only 10% of the shooters attending manage to do that... My daughter says next year is her time..
The history lessons and stories that went along with the shooting during breaks were fantastic and very interesting. My daughter intends to be a history teacher and the instructor had her teach the lesson on the different Rev War flags that were hanging behind the shooters.... she loved every minute of it...
Would I recommend this to anyone...
MOST DEFINITELY.... I WOULD RECOMMEND THIS TO EVERYONE... You don't need ot be a history buff, just love shooting... and I don't care how long you have been shooting.. you will learn something.... I did and was just listening to what was going on...
I am disabled and I know I could not get into the positions they teach.. I was told not to worry, even if I needed to shoot from the bench they would accommodate me.
So maybe next time I will show my daughter what the old man can do.....
Below is a small video of my daughter doing part of the history lesson then shooting a flintlock....

Mari teaching and shooting a flintlock