AAR – Bedford Contingent Appleseed
Had a good time, glad I went. The end. No, wait…That’s not adequate.
Attended Bedford Appleseed Sept 14/15 at the Childress farm– great weather – great lunch – great training. Several of the instructors were long-time INGOers: Huff, Techres, The Bubba Effect, Slow to Speak, Tater, Chilidog, Mitch, Jeff, and two guest instructors from California: Nero and American Amazon. I didn’t get a chance to thank all of you individually and shake your hands, but I appreciate the good work you do. If I’ve missed listing you by name I do apologize.
We started off cold (with no training) on a “redcoat” target. That scored our baseline ability. Then we began to “sip from the fire hose”. We were taught the fundamentals of marksmanship based on the Manual of Arms for the M1 Garand Rifle. It was intense and it was effective. They covered the basics like effective sling use (bicep loop and hasty), sight picture and alignment as well as sight adjustment. They also explained the importance of trigger discipline and controlled breathing. We fired from Standing, Sitting/kneeling, and prone positions - occasionally with transitions from one position to another.
The training consisted of group instruction, individual instruction, and demonstrations interspersed with interesting tidbits of Revolutionary War history told by great storytellers. As each new aspect of the training was added we’d shoot some targets and generally see an improvement in our performance.
As for my personal performance, well, that’s a mixed bag for several reasons (mostly operator error and equipment failure based on operator error). As I told the instructors, I have 50 years of bad habits to break(some related to shooting
). While it’s not entirely true you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, it does take some time for it to all sink in. In my case I think it has all sunk in but it doesn’t all seem to bubble up to the surface at the same time. When I focus on the sight I screw up my controlled breathing, when I focus on my controlled breathing I mess up my trigger control, etc. I think it’s time for more practice, practice, practice. I’ve seen it written that practice doesn’t make perfect, but perfect practice makes perfect, so I will need to use everything I learned at the Appleseed in my practice.
My performance was somewhat effected by several equipment failures that I should never have experienced. My rifle of choice was a Marlin 795. I really like this rifle – it’s a removable magazine version of the Marlin 60. I got the rifle a couple years ago and have used it for plinking and squirrel hunting. I have always been in the swab the barrel, lube the action, and go shoot camp. Never again. Four very small metal shavings (probably molding sprue from the factory) caused the rifle to malfunction. First the bolt locked open and wouldn’t close. I borrowed a rifle from Huff to finish out the day. At one point I cleared the jam and got the bolt to close. About a dozen shots later there was a different malfunction. The sear wouldn’t reset. Back to the borrowed rifle. That evening I tore down the rifle completely and found the 4 metal shavings. They didn’t come from anywhere in the action, so they must have come from the factory. From now on a full tear-down and clean for new guns.
On Sunday the rifle functioned almost flawlessly. Sometime after lunch the last-round hold-open stopped catching the bolt, but I think it was just dirty from heavy usage.
Sunday’s problems were really of a different nature. I peaked just before lunch with a score of 202 – Sharpshooter. I had been hoping for Rifleman, but that will come in time. After lunch I was tired, stiff, sore and sleepy from a great meal. I wouldn’t have been surprised if my scores weren’t quite as good, but they were bad… and they got progressively worse. I’ll blame the tiredness for the fact that I didn’t realize until halfway through the last AQT when I was using about 6 inches of Kentucky windage that the scope had come loose and was just barely attached with only one mount.
Take home message in three parts: 1- go to an Appleseed and learn the proper techniques for marksmanship. 2- Clean your rifle thoroughly before you go. 3- Invest in some Loctite.
I enjoyed the weekend, it was worth every bit of the time and money invested. I will do it again.
Had a good time, glad I went. The end. No, wait…That’s not adequate.
Attended Bedford Appleseed Sept 14/15 at the Childress farm– great weather – great lunch – great training. Several of the instructors were long-time INGOers: Huff, Techres, The Bubba Effect, Slow to Speak, Tater, Chilidog, Mitch, Jeff, and two guest instructors from California: Nero and American Amazon. I didn’t get a chance to thank all of you individually and shake your hands, but I appreciate the good work you do. If I’ve missed listing you by name I do apologize.
We started off cold (with no training) on a “redcoat” target. That scored our baseline ability. Then we began to “sip from the fire hose”. We were taught the fundamentals of marksmanship based on the Manual of Arms for the M1 Garand Rifle. It was intense and it was effective. They covered the basics like effective sling use (bicep loop and hasty), sight picture and alignment as well as sight adjustment. They also explained the importance of trigger discipline and controlled breathing. We fired from Standing, Sitting/kneeling, and prone positions - occasionally with transitions from one position to another.
The training consisted of group instruction, individual instruction, and demonstrations interspersed with interesting tidbits of Revolutionary War history told by great storytellers. As each new aspect of the training was added we’d shoot some targets and generally see an improvement in our performance.
As for my personal performance, well, that’s a mixed bag for several reasons (mostly operator error and equipment failure based on operator error). As I told the instructors, I have 50 years of bad habits to break(some related to shooting
). While it’s not entirely true you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, it does take some time for it to all sink in. In my case I think it has all sunk in but it doesn’t all seem to bubble up to the surface at the same time. When I focus on the sight I screw up my controlled breathing, when I focus on my controlled breathing I mess up my trigger control, etc. I think it’s time for more practice, practice, practice. I’ve seen it written that practice doesn’t make perfect, but perfect practice makes perfect, so I will need to use everything I learned at the Appleseed in my practice.My performance was somewhat effected by several equipment failures that I should never have experienced. My rifle of choice was a Marlin 795. I really like this rifle – it’s a removable magazine version of the Marlin 60. I got the rifle a couple years ago and have used it for plinking and squirrel hunting. I have always been in the swab the barrel, lube the action, and go shoot camp. Never again. Four very small metal shavings (probably molding sprue from the factory) caused the rifle to malfunction. First the bolt locked open and wouldn’t close. I borrowed a rifle from Huff to finish out the day. At one point I cleared the jam and got the bolt to close. About a dozen shots later there was a different malfunction. The sear wouldn’t reset. Back to the borrowed rifle. That evening I tore down the rifle completely and found the 4 metal shavings. They didn’t come from anywhere in the action, so they must have come from the factory. From now on a full tear-down and clean for new guns.
On Sunday the rifle functioned almost flawlessly. Sometime after lunch the last-round hold-open stopped catching the bolt, but I think it was just dirty from heavy usage.
Sunday’s problems were really of a different nature. I peaked just before lunch with a score of 202 – Sharpshooter. I had been hoping for Rifleman, but that will come in time. After lunch I was tired, stiff, sore and sleepy from a great meal. I wouldn’t have been surprised if my scores weren’t quite as good, but they were bad… and they got progressively worse. I’ll blame the tiredness for the fact that I didn’t realize until halfway through the last AQT when I was using about 6 inches of Kentucky windage that the scope had come loose and was just barely attached with only one mount.
Take home message in three parts: 1- go to an Appleseed and learn the proper techniques for marksmanship. 2- Clean your rifle thoroughly before you go. 3- Invest in some Loctite.
I enjoyed the weekend, it was worth every bit of the time and money invested. I will do it again.
Congratulations!!! Not bad for a tree sniper either. 
Practice your trigger control in cadence with your breathing too, so it becomes second nature. Lots of little things to do during the day to help improve your shooting.
