Quick Prone Lesson Courtesy Of Appleseed

Things happen fast at Appleseed shoots, and it isn't always easy to get them on video. The wind was still during this lesson, and you can hear the instructor. The lesson I didn't get on video is raising and lowering your NPOA (Natural Point Of Aim) in prone. Your leg sticking out behind has a toe at the end of it. Dig that toe in to drag your leg back to raise your NPOA, or to push your leg forward, lowering your NPOA. Practice that a few times and it becomes second nature. You will be able to adjust your elevation quickly, easily, and reliably if you do this!

Muzzleloading Demonstration By Jim Wallace, Sons of the American Revolution

This demonstration was a real treat for the attendees at the Appleseed shoot at Marion on Patriots' Day weekend.

More Appleseed Photos, Marion, IL, April 18 and 19, 2015

This is the fourth Appleseed that I have attended, and the second one where I shot.  The last two I carried the trunks for Susan and Pattie. It was a stretch for all three of us to shoot, but it was worth the effort, and Pattie was able to rest when I shot.

 Susan's new rifle was dialed in right on the money.

We had some great history lessons, and even a muzzleloading demonstration.  I have raw video of that, and will process it soon for all to see.

NINE! Count 'em; NINE attendees won a Rifleman Patch! I missed the first one on Saturday, but here are the Sunday winners.  If any of the readers can provide names, please comment, and I will edit this post.

Steven and Luke Abbott are brothers who both qualified. It was a thrill for all who witnessed it. Luke (In the red jacket) just made it with a score of 210, so he stepped out from under the roof and took some liquid sunshine down his back.

All Those Happy People,

Where do they all come from?  Appleseed shoots are a good place to look for smiles. Susan has been working diligently on her shooting techniques, and it paid off today with a score of 219. No water down her back, except for the rain!

And I made it, too, with a score of 213. Pattie Ann shot, but she couldn't quite pull it together today. After a very full day yesterday, she was pretty tired out. We all had a good time, though, and we really enjoyed taking part in the salute.

Americans, Go Drop A Tear

Where your slain brethren lay!
O! mourn and sympathize for them!
O! weep this very day!

The Cost Of Higher Quality: Shooting The Magnum Research 10/22

Well, we did it. We upgraded our .22 arsenal with a Magnum Research 1722. We visited Larry's Gun Shop in McLeansboro recently to look for ammo, and I looked at the MR 1722 that was in his New rack. It has the Hogue overmolded stock, machined aluminum receiver with integral rail on top, and the graphite barrel. It's light; just 4 1/4 pounds, and the weight is centered around the receiver, not the barrel. I handed it to Susan and she started grinning, then she got down on the floor and tried it in prone and sitting. We filled out a 4473, and Susan has a new rifle. We put a Bushnell AR22 scope on it, swapped the trigger group from her Ruger, and put on 1 1/4" sling swivels for the GI sling.

This model has a target chamber, so it is tighter than other off the shelf rifles, and MR's manual cautions against bulk ammo and CCI Stingers, which have a longer case than other Long Rifle rounds. They recommend CCI Mini-Mags, but we no longer have those in our stash.  We do have a good variety, though, with plenty of CCI Standard Velocity .22 LR. We gave the rifle a real workout last weekend in preparation for an Appleseed event we will be attending.

We found that this rifle is not nearly as picky about ammo as the factory literature would lead you to believe, but we did avoid ammo that we knew would be unreliable. The first thing we tried was current production Remington Golden Bullets, which have been performing well in both our pistols and rifles. They ran just fine in the MR 1722, and accuracy was good, but even the current production Goldens will vary in power once in a while, and the weak ones will throw to a different spot.

We got serious after sighting it in with Goldens, and fine tuned it at 25 meters with CCI Standard Velocity. You can see the first ten rounds in the upper left of the picture. We made the necessary adjustments and shot some five round groups and they were all good.  The surprise for me was the tight grouping of Velocitors. No adjustment is needed to switch to the hyper-velocity rounds for popping coons and coyotes. All the ammo shown in the photo ran without fail in the rifle. We tried Aguila target ammo, and it failed to cycle the bolt. Aguila Pistol Match cycled the bolt reliably, but it throws 1" right at 25 Meters. I have found that to be true with the Ruger 10/22 that I shoot, too.

The down side of this rifle can be considered a feature, or a bug, depending what you want out of your rifle. The tight chamber must be kept clean. Somewhere around 70 rounds after cleaning, the bullets don't slide in cleanly, and you must clean up. I expected that, and we had supplies out behind the barn for cleaning. Fail to clean, and the gun will go click.  You check it, and it will have a stovepipe jam. Drop the magazine!...Because it will have chambered a round, but it couldn't fire with the empty holding the bolt back. Clear the empty, reinsert the magazine, and resume shooting, but stop and clean it soon.  Our cleaning regimen at the range is to shoot PB Blaster in the chamber and action, brush the bolt face and breech, spray the action again with Blaster, then mop it out. Pull a brush through the barrel, then the snake. We then give the bolt a few drops of oil, cycle it a few times, mop off the excess oil, and get back to shooting. The need for extra cleaning was understood when we bought this rifle, and to us it is not a problem, considering the lighter weight and tight accuracy we are seeing. Every firearm purchase is a serious personal choice, and this one fit Susan's needs for the shooting she is currently enjoying. Someone who is wanting a plinker that can suffer neglect would not like this rifle, and it is a tool that you don't throw behind the seat of your old pickup truck.

We were so busy shooting that I didn't bother with photos during our outing, but we will get some pictures next time out to share with our readers.

UPDATE: We shot at an Appleseed event on April 18 and 19, and Susan's new gun ran just fine. We cleaned it before every target for scoring and it ran great. Other folks there had Ruger 10/22's and they had dirty chamber problems on the second day. We knew exactly what to do to get them going again, and very quickly. You can work on a rifle at Appleseed only during the preparation period before shooting, and it has to be done with the muzzle right at the firing line. We would shoot my cleaning oil mix down the barrel, and pull a snake through the bore, then put a few drops of oil on the bolt. It worked every time, and I will have to do a video to show how quickly you can do a cleaning at the range to get your gun running again.

Getting Ready For Appleseed

 Anyone who has attended an Appleseed event will recognize the pattern of our bullet holes.  The AQT has four stages, with four targets on the bottom, then three, two, and one large Red Coat at the top.  We also were shooting the Red Coat targets, and 1 inch squares.

  

Pattie had lots of quality time relearning how to shoot the various stages, and getting comfortable with her rifle and scope. Her time spent pistol shooting over the winter at the Carmi Rifle Club has really kept her sharp.

She started out a bit wobbly, but soon was keeping all her shots in the targets.  She impressed us more than you can know when we had her shoot the tiny Shingle rectangle from 25 meters. She hits it Every Time.

Pistol League tomorrow, and then another rifle practice on the weekend, and she should be ready to try for a Rifleman Patch.

Chamber Flags: Make Them A Habit!

Here is a cheap, easy method to make some ultra-deluxe chamber flags for your rifles and pistols.  Be safe at the range!

Warmed Up A .22

It's been a long layoff from shooting our rifles, so I set up the gong at 100 yards today and gave it a workout with one of the 10/22's®. We have our Appleseed rifles zeroed at 25 meters, and I was guessing that they would hit about 5' low at 100 yards, so after the initial magazine I dialed it up 5.  That was pretty close, but 6 minutes up seemed pretty well perfect. It felt good to shoot again, and the rifle behaved well except for one magazine that needs to have the spring tightened up a bit. The last several groups are from sitting, and on the final one I emptied the magazine on one breath..

Christmas Presents For The Rifleman In Your Life!

These steel targets will look familiar to anyone who has attended an Appleseed Clinic.

They are an all steel version of the AQT (Army Qualification Target) that you shoot to qualify for a Rifleman Patch.  The silhouettes are slightly smaller than the black portion of the paper targets, and if you can hit them at 25 meters (82 feet), using your sling from prone, sitting, and standing, you should be able to score 210 or higher at your next Appleseed.

The target has simulated 400, 300, 200, and 100 meter silhouettes, plus the 1" square.

You can call the number, or e-mail to order.  You can also click over to the Facebook Page to see more photos, including the full-size target, which can be shot at 100 to 400 yards with .308.  Check it out if you have a place where you can shoot a quarter mile.

Carmi Rifle Club LadySeed Highlight

Dawn is one of the coordinators at the Carmi Rifle Club, and we shoot with her regularly at the weekly Pistol League evenings.  She was able to attend the annual LadySeed event on Sunday, and she earned the coveted Rifleman Patch.  She even scored higher than the required 210 points! I think everyone was just as thrilled as she was.

                                       

Every shooter made improvements from the intense workout, and we plan to attend another Illinois Appleseed event in October.  Check out the groups Dawn was putting on paper!  You can tell she has been practicing, and it paid off.  Congratulations, Dawn!

Not My Victrola: Mamas and Papas

This song drove folks to distraction during WWII, but Jimmie Rodgers caused it all with his song, Pistol Packin' Papa, during the 1930's.



These songs came to mind today because we spent the day at an Appleseed event, and will go again on Sunday.  Susan and her Mother Pat both shot, and I can't tell which one is happier.

I think it's Pat.  Click on the pic to enlarge.  All Four out of five hits are in the 1" square.  Two years ago she had to retrain her body to use the left side. She owes part of her success to a year of shooting Ruger pistols, especially for e-Postal matches.

 I know you all are waiting for the e-Postal results.  We should be back from the range at a decent hour tomorrow and I hope to begin putting the results together.  Since I haven't posted August results yet, feel free to submit your scans until I show the results!