Try appleseedinfo.org for the schedule. A lot of shoots are posted there already.
Try appleseedinfo.org for the schedule. A lot of shoots are posted there already.
I attended one back in 2006 using an FN FS2000 with an AimpointXD with a 3 M.O.A. dot. I had a decent time, especially since 5.56mm ammo was only about $200 for 1k rounds of surplus XM193. That was the longarm that I was using most at that time (I'd just done an article on it for SWAT) and no one gave me any issues about it other than curiousity. When asked where I got it, I probably shouldn't have joked, "from a UN Trooper who doesn't need it any more." Most shooting was done at 50 feet or 25 yards (I cannot remember which). On the second day we were able to take advantage of the range facilities and shoot at 300 and 400 yards.
The folks running it were enthusiastic and fun. The big thing to keep in mind is that the shooting and manipulations is is based on what you would do in traditional High Power competition and not a fighting carbine class or even a long range carbine class--the sling is tight around your support arm to the point that you use your control or fighting hand (the hand you use to pulll the trigger with) to do all magazine changes.
I don't know the person Tamara linked to, but we most assuredly did have a chance to sight in at the beginning, as my gun was not sighted in for 25 yards or 50 feet--which was where they wanted the guns sighted for because that was where we were doing most of our shooting.
Also, I would not consider this introductory gun training for someone who had never fired a rifle before, which seemed to be another of the guy's criticism, but an introduction to high power style rifle shooting--getting Americans back in touch with their rifleman heritage and presumably making them more conscious of political firearm issues that can effect them.
Fred the founder was there, and seemed surprisingly mellow for someone who put out stories for entertainment about getting together with your buddies and shooting invading UN troopers or something like that. He used to include this in an packet regarding Appleseed. Hey, if they want to fantasize about shooting invading UN troopers that's fine with me, because frankly ALL THIS ZOMBIE SHIT HAS GOT TO STOP!
Last edited by Ed L; 12-27-2011 at 02:44 AM.
I have no idea if Jeff Cooper covered that or not.Originally Posted by SLG
I didn't, but then I was shooting a carbine that had already been zeroed, and not an M14 I'd just retrieved from the 'smith like my friend who was, I think, attempting to get into the spirit of the thing with his choice of rifle.
I think part of the problem with the wildly varying reports from Appleseeds is that it is very much a franchise operation, and individual instructors can vary wildly in personality and organizational skills. The one at which I shot was the first one at that location, with a scratch instructor team, and it had something of a slapdash, rushed feel to it. I would gladly attend another one with the same instructors at the same location, because I've no doubt they got the bugs ironed out.
FWIW, I had never shot NRA High Power before, my only prior experience with formal precision rifle shooting was on my college three-position smallbore team.
Last edited by Tamara; 12-27-2011 at 08:44 AM.
Having taken API 270 twice at Gunsite, the first time in 91 with Jeff Cooper as instructor, I can answer questions about sling technique with a practical rifle. Jeff favored the CW sling, as made by Milt Sparks, and later the Ching sling, so you could transition from carry to shooting without moving the sling. I have shot scores of game animals over the years with this sling arrangement, ranging in size from deer to elephant. Quick memo is you do not use the sling off hand, since the elbow is not supported, but do use it prone, sitting, kneeling and squat.
Is the Ching sling allowed at Appleseed, and is there a reason it wouldn't be preferred, since it is practical to carry the long gun with and quick to assume a shooting position with?
What is the ideal rim fire and center fire to bring, and should they be scoped?
They push the loop sling pretty heavily. Remember that this is more oriented to formal competition marksmanship than anything like what you'd run into at Gunsite. IIRC, Shootin' Buddy was using a hasty sling. I used my house gun, an M4gery which has no sling (well, a single point that wasn't even clipped to the gun for that weekend,) and which was, at the time, fitted with only irons, mostly because I was curious to see how I would do with it.
With a COF intended for iron-sighted .30-'06's, a scoped 10/22 is damn near cheating.
That was confusing, are there separate center fire and rim fire stages/tests?
Nope. Just the "quick & dirty AQT", shot with whatever you brought.
Like many things at Appleseed, this depends on the instructor crew. In New England, they're pretty good about showing both loop sling and hasty sling and the pros/cons of each.
No dice. They've got a ton scheduled, just none in my 5-state area. I won't travel very far for this particular event, not with the lukewarm reviews it's getting.
I wrote:Tamara responded:I just realized the point of confusion--the gun I brought was sighted in--but was zeroed for 100 yards. So at the 25 yards that we were shooting at reduced sized targets, it would have been off by a bit. Other's people's rifles might have been sighted in at other distances also, so to make it easy and allow everyone to aim dead on, we sighted our guns in for the distance that we would be shooting at.
One thing that got a bit annoying was the attitude of one instructor--the maybe you can be one of us--a rifleman as they thought of themselves as some special elite. Yes, being able to shoot well is something to be proud of, but that attitude eemed out of place at that venue considering that I've never encountered that attitude with any of the many special operations or combat veterans whose classes I've attended.
Then that person started initiating a competition with an Appleseed that they held in another state, saying that they had more people show up in that other state, but maybe we could beat them by shooting better. The person was good natured about it and perhaps wanted to create some excitement, but It just seemed silly to me.
Last edited by Ed L; 12-27-2011 at 03:14 PM.
Reply With Quote