Saturday morning I headed out to Vale, Oregon to participate in an Appleseed Project shooting event. The Appleseed Project is designed to teach Americans how to become marksmen, and to empart a better sense and understanding of the events that began the Revolutionary War, our war for Independence. I have read about the Appleseed shoots over the last year or so, and when I heard they had one close, on a weekend I could attend, I jumped at the chance.
The Vale event was held in a great shooting complex managed by the Snake River Sportsmen. This range is about 2 miles south of the tiny town of Vale, just across the Snake River from Idaho. Think hills and high desert. Think room to shoot 500 yards and beyond if that was on your agenda. You could have two or three different events happening at the same time in this complex (they have an arial picture on their website). If they weren’t so far from my home, I’d join up just to shoot there.
I was able to attend the Saturday session, although a second day was offered. Saturday’s training was establishing the basics of marksmanship, of “making the shot”. Sunday was to be a day of practicing and polishing the skills we started on Saturday, and perhaps some distance work out to 200 or 300 yards. Saturday though, was spent shooting at various targets all at 25 meters. The idea is that by keeping a standard distance, but scaling the size of the target to represent 100, 200, 300, and 400 yards, the actual skill of accurately making the shot can be taught. After some time spent establishing the range rules and commands, and a little history lesson, we took the line and began a long, hot, and very rewarding day learning how to shoot (or identifying and trying to stamp out bad habits).
Did I mention hot? The temperature in Boise on Saturday was 101 degrees. I’m guessing we were the same there in the desert as well. The pace of the day was businesslike and very well presented, starting with a baseline set of targets before we’d had any instruction or sighted in. Then we settled down to basic use of the sling, the six steps to making the shot, and the different shooting positions. We learned how to zero our rifles. Each lesson was a building block for the next point. And at the end of the day, we all shot Fred’s version of the Army Qualifying Test.
I enjoyed the day immensely. I identified some bad habits. I learned how to use the sling correctly. I learned a little bit of target “reading”. I used the .22 all day, and laugh at me all you want for not using the .308, but those guys who shot big rounds all day were showing it by the end of the day. The .22 was perfect for the first day’s lessons because we got a lot of shots off and didn’t have to be concerned with 100+ rounds of recoil. I think everyone who was there went home a better shooter. And if we all practice what we learned, I know any one of us can get good enough to shoot expert on the AQT.
The mix of rifles was about what I thought it would be. There were a number of Ruger 10/22s, no two alike. And there were a number of AR type rifles, again, no two alike. There were probably 3 or 4 AKs. I wasn’t impressed by the accuracy of any of those rifles, even at the end of the day. Something to think about if you haven’t spent money on one yet. There were a couple M1As and one Garand. I believe the guy down the line from me was using a milsurp Mauser.
I guess what I found most interesting was the skill level of the participants. At this shoot I think we only had 2 who shot “Expert” at the end of the day, and I believe at least one of them had been to an Appleseed before. And we had at least one who had only shot once before. The rest of us fell in the middle. The majority of the full sized rifles were worth near a grand or more apiece, but the owners were not up to speed. Of course, everyone there was attending for exactly the right reason, to learn how to shoot. But I can’t help but think of how many fancy/spendy rifles there are out there with owners who don’t know how to use them?
But THAT is what the Appleseed is all about. By all means, if you ever get the chance, try to go. You’ll enjoy it, and come away a better shooter, and on your way to being a true Rifleman.
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