QST de N7GMT

I attended an Appleseed Project shoot a few weeks back. I was very impressed with the program and with the ability one can learn to shoot accurately, consistently, and quickly. To that end, a buddy and I went out to the range to practice what we’d learned.

I wanted to practice with something that had decent iron sights on it (i.e., not the stock Ruger 10/22 sights), so I took my AR-15 defense rifle. I had never really sighted it in, so that was the first order of the day. After a few “squares” at 25-meters, I was starting to feel very good about the capabilities of my little rifle.

We put up some AQT targets and took turns shooting and timing. You have to get forty rounds off in 4 minutes: 10 rounds shot from a standing position at the 100-meter equivalent target; 10 rounds sitting or kneeling at 200-meter equivalent target; 10 rounds each from prone at 300- and 400-meter equivalent targets. You have magazine changes and position changes, all within that four mintues [sic]. (Oh, and don’t forget to count the number shots for each target on the bottom rows! 3,3,4 and 2,2,3,3)

After a morning of leisurely sighting-in, the AQT didn’t seem that bad, even with the time pressure. I managed to squeeeeeeze off the last round about three seconds before the clock ran out at four minutes. And this was the result:

236/250 points!

Needless to say, I was quite pleased with my score. At the regulation twenty-five meters you can just barely make out the gray fuzz of the 400-meter equivalent targets when focusing your eye on the front sight, as you’re supposed to, but it can be done.

Thanks to One-of-Three for the encouragment … and for the use of his loop sling!

—Two-of-Three

Note to self: order enough loop slings for all rifles.

[Yes, I know that's improper Title Capitalization; so sue me, it looked better that way to my {ahem} unprejudiced eye.]

This last weekend I participated in a little grass-roots patriotism and history lesson. I attended a marksmanship training taught by the Appleseed Project, which was started (if I understand correctly) by the RWVA. The aim of the group is to wake the sleeping rifleman in each American, to take them back to the roots that got this country its start.

Pretty much anyone can shoot a gun; there’s really not much to it. The Appleseed Project teaches you to shoot well, accurately, and at distance. Along the way, the introduce you to many details behind the famous stories of the Revolutionary War. You remember Paul Revere’s famous midnight ride, with the “one if by land, two if by sea”, right? Well, that’s one small part at the end of quite a long story of concerned citizens watching out for each other and trying to make a way for themselves in this new land. We also learned about the Minutemen and the three age categories; we learned about a little old woman, collecting dandelions for her meager dinner who is credited for single-handedly capturing eleven British grenadiers.

And then there’s the shooting. Lots of shooting.  (I think we went through about 650 rounds the second day alone, and about 400-450 the first day.) They recommend that you bring a .22 LR rifle, with good sights (not necessarily a scope). You can learn the techniques for accurate shooting and perfect them with inexpensive .22 ammunition and then apply what you’ve learned to other rifles.

The first day we went through all the basics (see below) and learned to sight in our rifles (”Inches, Minutes, Clicks”). The second day we practiced, practiced, practiced. And then we practiced some more. As long as I remembered all the steps (respiratory pause and “dragging wood” were my biggest problems) I did well, getting a little bit tighter groups each time. If I forgot to focus on the fron sight, or if I didn’t pause, or if I tried to muscle the sight where I wanted it, rather than relying on NPoA, I got garbage.

Hopefully I can encourage you, dear reader, to try an Appleseed shoot. Learn a little history; learn some marksmanship.

Well worth the time and the small fee.

---

And just so CRak, SavageShootr, and One-of-Three know I really was paying attention this weekend (and I did not look at my notes, or look anything up online):

The Four Rules of Safety

1. ALWAYS keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction.
2. Do no load until given the “Load” command.
3. Keep you finger off the trigger until your are on target.
4. Everyone is a safety officer and responsible for those around him.

The Six Steps to Shooting Accurately

1. Sight Alignment
2. Sight Picture
3. Respiratory Pause
4. Focus …
   1. … your eye on front sight
      (”Hard focus on the front sight” – Front Sight)
   2. … your mind on keeping front sight on the target
5. SQUEEEEEEZE [sic] the trigger
6. Followthrough: trap the trigger to the rear, call the shot

Somewhere in there belongs NPoA, natural point of aim, which is mostly a combination of 1, 2, and 3 … or at least that’s where you wind up, if properly relaxed at the tail end of number three.

OK, so recently I did the nigh-unthinkable: I bought an iPod.

I know, I know.

But it still has the best user experience of all the (stock*) MP3 players out there.

(*I hear you can put Linux on some of them and it can make ‘em that much better, but I’m not there yet.)

Sure, iTunes is a real pain for anyone with more than six braincells—well, more than six computer-savvy braincells. Sure, it uses an internal, non-user-replaceable battery. No, you can’t just mount it as a flash-drive and drop music on it and have it access them. (You can just use it as storage, but that seems like a bit of a waste of an 8GB iPod nano, which is what I got.)

But it’s tiny. And you can watch movies on it. Yes, the screen is small, and pixels are so small as to be nigh undetectable by the unaided human eye, but it’s pretty cool to be stuck somewhere, waiting for someone to show up so you can do whatever it is you’re there waiting for them for, and just whip out the ol’ iPod and watch the next ten minutes of whatever it was you were watching when life interrupted.

I got it right before taking off for the weekend with my boys for a fathers-and-sons outing …

(note to self, write about that, too)

… and only had time to throw on a few albums before heading out to the western Utah desert. (They don’t call it a desert for nothing, let me tell you.) I played with it a little while out there and a little when we got back before my Sweetie noticed and asked, “When did you get an iPod?”

I eventually had to let her try it out. She had it in her possession for all of—and I’m not making this up—exactly four seconds before asking “So, when are you going to get one?” Yeah, exactly.

So either I have an über-cool new toy, or I’ve finally sold out to the iPod generation. The jury is still out.

(Did I mention I got a “reconditioned” one, so it was, like, 30% off?  Does that make me less of a sell-out?)

We had a birthday bash—well, “bash” might be a bit too strong of a word … a birthday binge might be a better description. My sister invited us all over for Mom’s dinner birthday … “and we did partake.” They had shrimp fettuccine and fresh-picked, grilled asparagus (pronounced aas-pah-RAY-gus, like in Looney Tunes). No joke, grilled. It was nummy beyond expectation. I mean, the fettuccine was really tasty, don’t get me wrong, but my bro-in-law outdid himself with that asparagus dish.

Anyway, after eating ourselves into a stupor (and oh and my what a well sated stupor it was) we plopped ourselves down in front of the Idiot Box and viewed a few things they had on their DVR. After watching bits of this and parts of that, we overrode all objections and got “Bill Cosby, Himself” put on.

Now, my kids have never seen or heard Mr. Cosby himself (not to be confused with “… Cosby, Himself”), but only my weak, partial renditions of The Chicken Heart, and Noah, and the like. I discovered him when I was about nine; my folks had some old LPs and I rooted around in the family storage shed (a.k.a., garage) and found their old turntable and stereo receiver. I nearly wore the grooves out of the vinyl. I had a cassette tape that was eventually at least 15% longer than originally manufactured, I played it so much.

Anyway, my kids seemed to get quite a kick out of Bill Cosby. I think this is an excuse to go buy some CDs. It’s a family building exercise, you see.

[Yes, this is a little late; sue me.]

She’s not the “fairest in the land”,
Nor is she the smartest,
But she’s my Mom.

She’s not the fastest runner,
Nor is she bestest cook,
But she’s my Mom.

She’ll never win the spelling bee,
Nor the Nobel Prize,
But she’s my Mom.

She’s no Joan of Arc,
Nor a Madame Curie,
But she’s my Mom.

(more…)

[sung to the tune of "What do you do with a drunken sailor"]

What do you do with a pregger wi-ife,
What do you do with a pregger wi-ife,
What do you do with a pregger wi-ife,
Er-lie in the mornin’?

Aparently you take her to the horse-pittal and let her bring a “new one” into the world.

Yup. Our latest was bornified this week. Cute little guy.

We’re glad to have him with us. He was our biggest baby—something which did not please the one birthing him. She was quite glad to have him in her arms, though.

I sure do love her, my Sweetie. I don’t, however, know how she manages to do all the things she does. Trying to get all the kids off to school—fed, dressed, with brushed teeth and combed hair—and then to take care of all the other domestic things that need doing every day and every week … and then to top it off with all the other things she does, like being the Primary President for our Ward, making and selling hand-made soap from our home and at the Holy Cow Boutique, teaching piano lessons to the neighborhood kids, playing piano for our church choir … <sheesh!>

Anyway, he’s here now; healthy and happy (as long as he’s fed and no one is messing with his diaper).

Thank you, Heavenly Father, for letting us play host to this wee one.

Apparently I don’t have money woes any more. My fortune cookie told me so:

Don’t worry about money.
The best things in life are free.

I’m sure the rest of my family will be glad to know that.