The Appleseed Project: Day Zero

Last weekend was spent at the Elstonville Sportsman’s Association in Manheim, Pennsylvania.  I was participating in my very first Appleseed.

For those unfamiliar with Appleseeds; they are rifle marksmanship courses provided by the Revolutionary War Veteran Association (RWVA).

To quote the RWVA on the purpose of the Appleseed Program.

“The Appleseed Program is designed to take you from being a simple rifle owner to being a true rifleman. All throughout American history, the rifleman has been defined as a marksman capable of hitting a man-sized target from 500 yards away….This skill was particularly evident in the birth of our country, and was the difference in winning the Revolutionary War.”

DAY 0: Prep

Appleseeds actually require a fair amount of equipment. Nothing outlandish, but there are a number of items they recommend you bring.

Obviously, you will need access to a rifle and a box of ammo. It’s rather hard to be a rifleman without a rifle.  Safety protection for eyes and ears is also a must.

There was a fair variety of rifles at the Appleseed I attended. But it is interesting to note that 80%-90% were chambered in .22LR.  The fact that expending nearly 500 rounds in 2 days is rather costly with any other caliber is a strong influencing factor.  At least half of the rifles I saw were based on Ruger’s 10/22 platform. Though there were a number of other .22LR, including a couple of folks utilizing a tube magazine on day one. Including the gentlemen next to me. On the second day he was using a 10/22.

Most of the 10/22 rifles were equipped with Tech Sights which replicate peep hole style battle sights.

http://www.tech-sights.com/

Having just received my 10/22 on Thursday (special order as I wanted the longer 22″ barrel). I did not have the means to equip my 10/22 with Tech Sights.  I found that I had much difficulty keeping my eye focused on the stock front sight. Which is black with a little brass pip.  The curse of the computer programmer – bad eyes.  Not being able to pick up Tech Sights locally I visited a semi-local BassPro shop and purchased some fiber optic TruGlo sights.

I have used fiber optic sights in the past and find them very helpful in getting focus to lock onto the front sight.  The TruGlo sights are fairly simplistic offering very little opportunity to adjust the aiming point.  Nor do they offer the modularity and replaceable fiber optic inserts that the Hi-Viz sights on my Ruger MKIII provide. But they were a significant improvement over the stock sights.

My next favorite item of equipment was the foam pad I picked up from Walmart.  This helps save the knees and elbows. I also brought a tarp as the ground was rather damp from morning dew.

A lot of the training provided at Appleseed involves the use of a GI style web sling.  I did not have one, but was able to borrow one from an Appleseed instructor.

A full list of items Appleseed recommends a student bring can be found here.

Friday night I was packed up, ready to go, with as much of the recommended equipment as I had readily available. (A staple gun would have been a nice addition. But I had already purchased one gun that week and I am not sure I could have swung a second one by my wife – not even a staple gun.)

For more info on the Appleseed Project visit Appleseedinfo.org or read my next couple of blog posts.

—-

Appleseed: Day Zero

Appleseed: Day One

Appleseed: Day Two