Back in March of this year, I attended a two day Appleseed shoot with 10 other bloggers, but I was probably the only one who didn’t write about it afterwards. I don’t really have a good excuse for that. Even though I didn’t make Rifleman and earn my Rifleman patch, I wasn’t the only one, as about half of us didn’t make it. It’s not uncommon to not make it the first time.
Anyhow, what I gained from those two short days can be measured in actual scores in the Vintage Military Rifle (VMR) match I compete in at Crosse Creek Rifle and Pistol Club nearly every month. I used to average maybe about 140-160, occasionally hitting 180, and I think in one rare instance I eked out a 202 (or somewhere around there). Since that Appleseed, I’ve been consistently scoring 200 or over, although that last match I shot exactly 200, but it was a day when everybody scored lower than usual due to the scorching heat.
Given my marked improvement, I figured that if two days could do that, eight days of Appleseed would be even better, right? Well, I guess I’m going to find out. Saturday, August 25, I arrived in Siler City, NC at the Country Hearth Inn, about 12 miles from the RWVA home range in Ramseur, NC. I am signed up for the Rifleman Boot Camp (RBC) starting Sunday, August 26. I’ll try to post daily on my experiences, but one way or another I’ll cover the events of the week.
The RBC is geared more toward teaching Rifleman how to teach others and make Rifleman out of them. It’s not solely for those destined to be Appleseed instructors, as they have boot camps for that purpose called Instructor Boot Camps (IBC). There is, however, plenty of opportunity to earn your Rifleman patch. Also, the schedule is a bit more relaxed since we do have eight days (well, seven and a half, due to an agreement with a local church that they won’t shoot before noon on Sundays, but Sunday morning can always be used for some of the instruction and history portions that are spread out through the week at other ranges). We will be slightly more rushed to get as much done as possible this particular week due to the impending doom of tropical storm Isaac, but we should have enough time to cover the things we need to.
Stay Dangerous, My Friends.