Sounds like a fun, educational couple of days. I'm around an hour away from there so I can commute. Perfect! Saves the wife from hanging out all day for two days. Hope my old eyes and progressive lenses don't fail me!
I've heard nothing but good things about Appleseed events in Indiana. I can't wait to go to one this weekend in Nashville. Who knows, maybe I'll be able to go to Nappanee as well.
Thanks to the training, I got my Rifleman patch! The weekend started cold, wet and extremely windy. Ended on a high note weather wise. Five of us qualified, one of us twice, three more once including a 12 yo girl, and I made it 5 times.
Takeaways for me: The training is wonderful as is the history. I learned how to use a sling correctly, which even the Army didn't teach me. A little bit of gear makes it so much enjoyable. Dress for the conditions. Bring a rifle that is sighted in, and shoots straight. That way you don't have to worry whether or not it's you or your equipment. I had my 10/22 with trigger work, barrel work and the ammo it likes. It shoots very accurately if you do your part. I also had a scope for these old eyes. I knew when I goofed up. I can't help but think more people on the line would have qualified if they had a good rifle/ammo combination. I don't base that on anything but the targets I saw in the other lanes, so I could be wrong. I've just been shooting rimfire for long enough that I believe it to be true. I'm not saying you need to spend a bunch of money on a rifle just to use it here, but at least know your rifle's potential. I'm used to shooting supported from a bench at my home range (Roush). Learning how to shoot offhand, transition, and change mags in timed situations was a whole new deal for me. The APQ targets don't look all that impressive if you are used to popping Shoot N See target dots at 50 yards, but the score adds up pretty fast. If you are looking for some good, common sense rifle training with some really great history thrown in, Appleseed could be the ticket.