Lexington/Concord (Harvard) Appleseed 19/20 April

[dwarven1]

Congrats to Dwarven1:

RIFLEMAN!

Thanks, Chris, but we had THREE Riflemen today, and I believe that two other people shot Rifleman yesterday - one guy who did it at his FIRST SHOOT. Now, THAT'S an accomplishment. And I might be wrong, but I think that it was our own ChrisFromMA. Congrats to all the new Riflemen!

Total for the weekend: approximately 30 people shooting, two instructors, two instructors in training, somewhere around 15,000 rounds down range... and FIVE new Riflemen.

The next shoot in the Northeast is this coming weekend in Proctor, Vermont. Come on out for some quality training!

So... who's going?

 

[Vintovka]

...aww shucks...

Yes, I did manage some beginner's luck today, but I know that I'm just getting started. This Appleseed has really motivated me to get out and practice, and find out just how far I can push myself (if, that is, I can push myself into a proper seated position...)

More importantly, I'm also motivated to bring some folks along to another Appleseed. I've dragged a few non-shooters to the range to plink before, and they've enjoyed it. They'll be perfect candidates for the Appleseed experience (maybe one of Crak's Mini-Appleseeds... which I will certainly attend!)

 

[Nickle]

A grand total of 5 Riflemen, with a few more knocking on the door.

Nickaios 223, Erik W 216, ChrisfromMA 213, Paul B 211 and the Dwarven1 at 210. I'm pretty sure Ross was the only repeat Appleseeder (correct me if I'm wrong), and the most persistent Rifleman I've yet met. Rifle trouble upon rifle trouble, even a cut hand, couldn't keep the Dwarven1 down, no way.

Of course, I had faith, as I did tell Ross I had an orange hat, with his name on it, waiting for him to shoot Rifleman this weekend, and I KNEW he could do it.

Well, congratulations to our latest RWVA IIT (Instructor In Training). Once I get them to Photobucket, pics are coming, including Ross getting his "wet down" for shooting EXACTLY 210. No creek to throw him in, so I liberally doused him with water taken from the North Bridge at Concord (I really wanted to take there, and throw him over the bridge.

On behalf of my Shoot Staff (Crak, GMB74, ripersnifle and Cheryl), the RWVA Staff and myself, I wish to thank every one of the shooters that attended. You truly are the best bunch I've yet worked with, and I do mean it. The future of Mass is in your hands. Apply what you learned this weekend, do your history, and make things happen, folks.

 

[dwarven1]

Yes, I did manage some beginner's luck today, but I know that I'm just getting started. This Appleseed has really motivated me to get out and practice, and find out just how far I can push myself (if, that is, I can push myself into a proper seated position...)

As Fred said, a Rifleman persists! I need to keep practicing until I can consistently shoot a Rifleman score, too.

As for it being luck... I'd be willing to bet that your other scores were pretty high, too. The 40 rounds that you have to fire on the AQT pretty much eliminate luck as a factor - you had to have your NPOA down, and following the six steps for that high a score. The hard work is now making what you did a reflex, burned into your muscle memory, so that you can continue to shoot like that. (Which is what I need to do, too - one score isn't enough.)

More importantly, I'm also motivated to bring some folks along to another Appleseed.

Ah... step 7: RECRUIT!

Nickaios 223, Erik W 216, ChrisfromMA 213, Paul B 211 and the Dwarven1 at 210. I'm pretty sure Ross was the only repeat Appleseeder (correct me if I'm wrong), and the most persistent Rifleman I've yet met. Rifle trouble upon rifle trouble, even a cut hand, couldn't keep the Dwarven1 down, no way.

I'm glad you couldn't eavesdrop on my thoughts about 20 minutes before shooting that 210: I was about ready to quit, just pack up my toys and leave. The constant equipment hassles and the physical pain (somehow I managed to do something to my lower back on Saturday so that it was tough to get down prone) I was in were REALLY dragging me down. I just kept hearing "TheGuy" in my head from my first Appleseed shoot and decided to give it one more try and see how it turned out with my LTR newly re-sighted.

Thanks to all the instructors for all the hard work - it was a long weekend, and I know for a fact that at 9:30 Saturday night Nickle was still running around trying to get some handouts (that he hadn't gotten shipped enough of) xeroxed for Sunday morning.

 

[Chris]

Well, I had a freaking ball. First rifle instruction I've had since I was a teen. Lots of rust shaking loose. I'd like to thank Shane for the help he provided in pointing out the little things that make a difference. My groups settled down quick.

Felt good after day 1. Was getting mostly good groups. Missed whacking the redcoat at the end by a flier on the 200yd target. (just barely got the headshot too) Have a nice 1" square target from that day with none or one in the white on all 5 squares. Even managed to have enough energy to get some chores done at home later. Was a really good entry to rifle shooting. You could easily walk on with just a basic understanding of your gun and do well.

Day 2 was tiring. My best was a 196 which came right after lunch. As Ross pointed out, seeing I spent last weekend in bed with Pneumonia, I was doing OK. But fatigue set in and I could see it in my targets. Nice groups to start, but by the time I go to the final prone image, I wasn't even hitting black. I began packing up before the final qualification both because I was toast and I still had the 20x30 canopy to pack up.

Funny story of the day was the shooter next to me and I were posting great groups. We set up a Ball and Dummy drill during the standing part. Well, when we went downrange, I found 17 shots on my standing and he had 3. OPPS. Sad part was if he had shot the same standing as he had shot on the two previous targets, he would have nailed Rifleman. (he did so later) And even with the penalties (ie, had to throw out the 7 best shots) I scored a 191 on that target. Probably would have been tickling 200 on that one.

Saw a lot of odd problems with various guns. Got a couple of nice .308 shaped burns from flying brass that managed to get inside my shooting Jacket. My AR ran like a champ. Counting my Stripper Clips, I fired over 440 rounds this weekend. Had I shot the last AQT, redcoat, and drill, it would have been an easy 500+ round weekend.

Looking forward to Crak's Mini's this summer. I'm going to nail it soon enough.

 

[edirtyfour]

That was me next to you... I was so happy that I did an instantaneous tap-rack-bang when I pulled the trigger on the snap cap I didn't notice that I had acquired Chris' target when I finished. Like he said, when I scored it I would have had rifleman then.

The weekend definitely was quite a bit of fun, and gave me a chance to get the rust out too. I was shooting a 20" A2 AR with a heavy barrel. I started shooting okay on Saturday - I got three in the 200yd. redcoat and two in the 300yd. redcoat, and my groups on the 1" squares were a little bit larger than Chris'. By the end of the day I cleaned the redcoat target.

Sunday started out sloppy, but by 11:00 I was consistently scoring greater than 200 on the rapid fire AQT's. The afternoon got mildly frustrating as I needed my groups just a little smaller to get 210 and couldn't seem to get there. Just about when we were done, Crak watched me for a whole AQT and gave me some really good feedback. Come to find out I was dragging my trigger finger on the rifle quite a bit. Next time when I went prone I figured out why I was doing that - the sling was a hair too tight and I was using my hand to compensate for the slight amount of cant that was introducing. I loosened my sling just a hair just before the last AQT and redcoat of the day. That combined with me making minute adjustments to my NPOA especially on the 300 and 400 yard targets gave me a 223 on the AQT (228 if scored with the .30 cal rule), and that was with two rounds that were complete misses during the standing section. I also cleaned the redcoat again immediately after.

A huge amount of thanks to the instructors and to Chris for the loan of his stripper clips and 20rd. mags - I only had 30rd. ones and they were tearing up my arm even with a sweat band there. Due to him lending those out he was shooting at a disadvantage as he had to reload his single 20rd. mag with strippers halfway through the AQT's.

 

[Vintovka]

As Fred said, a Rifleman persists!

The constant equipment hassles and the physical pain (somehow I managed to do something to my lower back on Saturday so that it was tough to get down prone) I was in were REALLY dragging me down.

Boy, I think we were in exactly the same boat, Ross.

Apologies in advance for the long-winded post, but I feel compelled to share my "A Rifleman Persists" story...

I woke up Saturday morning with the first real back pain I've ever had (found out this morning due to a vertebra having popped out of alignment), and considered bailing on the weekend (very glad I didn't). After setting up at the range, I could barely get prone until the 2nd dose of aspirin kicked in. At no point could I get into a proper seated position, so just dropped my forward elbow onto my knee (just like we were told not to do), and did my best. After my sights fell apart Saturday afternoon, I just could not get back into the rhythm with a different (but perfectly capable) loaner rifle.

Sunday AM, I could barely stand up, and had to force myself to the range out of sheer stubbornness. After two sighter sets on my freshly-repaired LTR (which, amazingly, held its zero after having the Tech Sights re-installed), I felt pretty good for the first of the day's 40-rd sets. Now, to set the stage: the shooter to my left (sorry Soldier... I recall your real name but not your NES ID) had an AR with a .22LR upper which was perfectly tuned to fling brass right at my head. No big deal... my shooting glasses protect my eyes just fine, and I found I could focus past the sensation of being repeatedly smacked in the side of the face. My scores were okay, but not great.

On the second attempt, I did well until I was finishing my seated set, when one of my neighbor's spent cases landed flat on the side of my cheek and stuck there. It felt like a bee had stung me and wouldn't fly off. I was so focused on keeping the front sight on that target, that I was counting off to myself "three more... two more... one more...". I finished the set, then smacked the brass off my face. After dropping into prone, I'd discovered that, in the process of jerking my arm to brush the brass away, I'd popped the rear sling clip off the swivel. Being so slow transitioning between positions, I didn't want to lose any more time by messing around with the sling, so I just brought myself into as steady a prone position as I could, and popped through the final 7 targets.

After all the build-up, I'm sure you've guessed the punchline: that set-from-hell resulted in my best score of the weekend... and the only one which reached Rifleman (if only just). I must thank my neighbor for the brass, as I am convinced that the distraction, and probably the resulting lack of a not-quite-perfectly-adjusted sling, had the effect of focusing my resolve. As Nickle would say, I'd "quit futzing the shot!". This is not to say that using incorrect positions and skipping the sling are a good thing. But, by not worrying about the positions and gear which I haven't yet mastered, I instead focused on making each shot count.

Thanks again, everyone! Be seeing y'all at the range!

 

[dwarven1]

I can sympathize with you on the hot brass - I had several empty cases eject from my LTR right onto my open left hand; I ignored them as much as I could but DAMN were they hot. Finally I dug out one of my riding gloves and just wore that on my left hand.

And just because Nickle is egging me on with this...

 

[Chris]

Due to him lending those out he was shooting at a disadvantage as he had to reload his single 20rd. mag with strippers halfway through the AQT's.

Actually, I had 2 20's still, but I was focusing on shooting and kept messing up my count, so I started using 2 30's for the standing and sitting positions instead of just 2 20's for the whole thing. (ie, 10 rounds in a mag, not 20)

I'll be packing more 20's from now on. (^_^)

It was my pleasure to help. I lent mags, stripper clips, sight tool, some cleaning stuff, paracord, staples, water, etc. Oh yea, and I never once hit ANYONE with hot brass. (^_^) Just trying to do my part. (^_^) I even helped Ross sight in his scope. Feels good to have helped two new Riflemen even if I came up short.

 

[Nickle]

I have no doubt you'll get there eventually Chris. Remember, it took Ross 3 Appleseeds, because he had various troubles, but he never quit, and he made it.

 

[dwarven1]

I do want to point out one thing: Crak, Nickle and I got there early to set up. We had to lay out the shooting lines and drive in stakes to hold the stringers up to put the targets on. We had dry, rocky ground that we had to hammer steel fence posts into... and if you've ever seen Crak and I, you'll know that we're office types, not ranch hand types! Don't get me wrong, we were doing it... but it would have taken a long time for just the two of us, especially since we had TWO different ranges we had to set up!

Fortunately, a lot of other folks started showing up... Martlet, Chris, ChrisFromMA (I think) and many more. I pointed out that a Rifleman sees what needs to be done and starts doing it without asking. Well, we have a LOT of folks who embraced that idea Saturday morning, because almost instantly there were folks laying out the wood stringers, folks pounding stakes in the ground, folks putting the stringers up - in short, everyone pitched in to help.

Thanks, guys - we couldn't have started shooting as soon as we did without your help! It was a great group of boys and girls and I hope I see more of you at area Appleseeds!

 

[Nickle]

Good point, Ross.

Folks, a Rifleman is much more than just some that shoots well. It's a spirit, a man (male is the default gender for English, so this includes the ladies out there) of the caliber that was found at lexington and Concord on April 19th 1775, the kind Col Percy was referring to when he said "they have men amongst them that know what they are about".

Some people are just lacking a shooting score, and they're close. I'd have to say that everybody that was at Harvard struck me as one of those type of men.

Remember, we have it easy in the Northeast, as we know what we've lost over time, or learned from our neighbor having lost. many parts of the country aren't lucky, they say their rights are "God given", and they're depending on God fighting to keep those rights, because they sure aren't doing it.

Get out there, write your Reps, write your newspaper, get a friend to the range.

 

[crak]

I hate to rain on the love parade (which is well deserved, don't get me wrong), But I spent yesterday until sunset and a good chunk of today cleaning up several thousand casings across two ranges. So a big Bronx cheer goes out to all the Wolf and 22 shooters who left the place looking like an abortion. If I didn't know better from years of Appleseeds leaving ranges cleaner than they found them, I wouldn't vote to let Appleseed into my club a second time.

Anyway, I still love you all. I'm just cranky. Great shooting over a great weekend. Thanks to Nickle, Shane and Jim for coming down from VT and for all the help setting up, tearing down, and storing (Russ!) the target line.

 

[Admin]

That's not the shooter's fault. You guys should have called a police call before clearing the range...

 

[crak]

I can guarantee it'll be the first thing I do the next time. Russ and I were storing the target line and by the time I came back everybody was gone. Just me, the brass, and two days of the F word.

 

[Admin]

I can guarantee it'll be the first thing I do the next time. Russ and I were storing the target line and by the time I came back everybody was gone. Just me, the brass, and two days of the F word.

It only takes one time to remember that. The good thing is if you do it after every stage it only takes about 30 seconds.

That's what we did in the Marines, but we were just stupid jarheads.

 

[Vintovka]

Crak, I have to admit, I was looking at the growing piles of .22 brass on the rimfire range, and wondering when we'd get a cleanup call. I could only get a half day on Sunday, and can't claim to have picked up a single piece of brass, but I'm signing up in advance to help out in the future.

 

[crak]

Don't worry bout it. Derek's right.

 

[dwarven1]

I seem to recall that at past Appleseeds I saw someone spread a big blue tarp down before he put his shooting pad down. End of the day, he just picked up the tarp and shook the brass into the canister.

Note to self: bring a tarp next time for that reason.

 

[Chris]

I know there were at least 3 shooters on my side that were picking up theirs after each stage. Mine was easy. (^_^) But one thing we noticed was that there wasn't a brass bucket. There were several of us that started to pick up but had no place to put it. I left to find one. I had just walked one in from another range when the guy loading up the target stands called for help. Went over to the rimfire range and picked up that stack and then totally forgot about the brass. Sorry Chris.

 

[edirtyfour]

Aye, I was picking up my brass and a few other people's brass, albeit for personal gain.

A brass bucket and cleanup calls would help - and I'd be more than willing to help pick up the steel cases no one wants in the future.

 

[Nickle]

I seem to recall that at past Appleseeds I saw someone spread a big blue tarp down before he put his shooting pad down. End of the day, he just picked up the tarp and shook the brass into the canister.

Note to self: bring a tarp next time for that reason.

You mean like the firing line at the Ripton events, Ross?

Granted you only went to one where there was a big blue tarp on the ground, but that HAS to stick in your memory.

Folks, I was the Shoot Boss for Harvard, so the blame is all MINE on this.

I SHOULD have had the shooters police the brass at least at the end of each day. Derek, to do it between courses slows the pace excessively in this case. But, once or twice a day works. At Jericho, full distance, we police as we leave each berm.

Crak, we need to get a couple brass buckets for that range, as we hope to go therein the future.

 

[Ned]

I was at the shoot and have to join in the love fest, it was great. Excuse the pun but it was the best bang for buck I have ever had for training. I have taken a few handgun courses but had really no rifle training so I learned a lot. I look forward to praticing on my own now that I have a clue. Depending on when they are I plan on going to the mini appleseeds that Crak is planning.

As far as brass, I was on the centerfire range. I haven't taken up reloading so I was happy to let Nick take my brass and the guys next to me seemed to be picking up their 30.06 and 308 brass so I didn't notice much when I left but I guess there must have been a huge pile of .22 especially on the rimfire range.

As Nickle mentioned there wasn't alot of free time so I think it was something people just didn't think about. In particular on Sunday I spent every free moment trying to get my mags loaded before prep period began.

A lot of books were mentioned during the history lessions, does anyone have a list of the names and authors?

My Ar-15 trigger started acting up near the very end, the trigger wouldn't reset all way, I would have to push it forward with my finger and then it would be good. Shane took a look and showed me where to apply some oil and once it worked in it was good for a while but by the last aqt and redcoat it was acting up again. One of the other shooters gave me a website with some good info but for now I am looking for a gunsmith to check it out.

 

[Nickle]

AR's really heat that oil up and burn it off.

I suggest a good cleaning job, and a little lube in the trigger area (just enough to prevent rust) and a LOT of CLP (Break Free) in the bolt area. They usually run well then, so if it still bothers, get it checked by a 'smith that knows AR's.

 

[edirtyfour]

With all the sand and grit I wouldn't be surprised if a little bit got in your receiver through the open bolt and worked it's way in there.

Thanks for the brass BTW.

 

[Chris]

One reason I was always tossing my jacket onto the rifle was to keep out much of the crap.

I use a CLP on the bolt and it's pretty wet. After cleaning, the bolt assembly literally glides on a layer of CLP. That will get down into the lower over time. However, getting lube down where the hammer/trigger interface is located isn't easy. Make a point of getting in there.

You don't want to push out the pins that hold the lower together much. The pins are steel and the receiver is usually aluminum. Doesn't take many times before the receiver wears so that the pins don't hold. Then you'll need slightly longer pins with little clips on the ends to keep the action together (and those look ugly)

If it's really gummed up, soak it. work the action with it really wet (don't dry fire just the lower, hold the hammer) and try to work out the grit in the action first. Keep adding more CLP and drain out the old and the gunk. It's messy, but it will come clean.

I've switched from the Break Free to Weapon Shield. Mill-l-634600 compliant. I like it as it holds a film better and seems to lift and carry a lot of the carbon and grit away. In most cases I just wipe parts clean.