Equipment Used:
- 22 caliber Rifle
- 22 caliber magazines (3 minimum)
- Rifle Scope
- 22lr ammunition 500 rounds
- Shooting Mat
- GI Sling
Saturday (9/24/2016) began with a discussion of the Appleseed organization and the roles of the Instructors present. Appleseed is a 10-year old volunteer organization that teaches marksmanship skills and history lessons from April 19, 1775. The history portion of the class set out to answer the following four questions:
⦁ When was the American Revolution won?
⦁ Where did the American Revolutionary War begin?
⦁ Why did the British Regulars turn and run at the North Bridge?
⦁ Who shot first at the Lexington Green?
The next session went over the Four Safety Rules and how to make your rifle safe. Rifles were brought to the line and shot at Redcoat targets. Redcoat targets include a magazine change and 13 rounds. Three hits on the 100, 200, 300 and 400 yard targets and one hit on the Morgan’s Shingle target.
The instruction then moved to the proper use of a sling to increase your accuracy and the six steps to firing a shot. We moved on to zeroing our rifles on square targets. Instruction moved on to obtaining a proper sight alignment, natural point of aim (NPOA), trigger control and transitions between different shooting positions (standing, kneeling/sitting and prone).
The day ended with the Third Strike history lesson and the firefights on the British retreat to Boston. At Meriam’s Corners, the Colonists fired on the Regulars for the first time without being fired on. The final shooting target was another Redcoat target to see if there was improvement during the day.
Sunday (9/25/2016) began with a group Redcoat exercise. With the scope and more evolutions spent shooting at square targets to zero in the rifle, we took training on Known Distance (KD) shooting to prepare shooters to take their centerfire rifles to the 100 and 200 yard range. We also shot several lighting rounds of AQTs. By learning the techniques taught on the first day and taking serval practice rounds, one is able to greatly improve their AQT scores, accuracy, and timing. We had a history lesson on the Battle of Saratoga which took place near the range and was the first battle where the British surrendered, or had a “convention” because British General Burgoyne refused to call it a “surrender”. The day ended with a final Redcoat target – In comparison to the previous day, there was a great improvement in all around performance of the tests with everyone there.
Being a citizen has certain duties and responsibilities, people sacrificed everything they had to give us the ability to be American citizens (where we are today). We owe it to the folks from the past and present to keep the spirit of the American Revolution alive.