Before you take a rifle course you need a, uh, RIFLE. You probably already own a suitable gun. If you don’t, let the hosts know beforehand, and they can most likely round up a loaner for you. Even if you’ve never fired a gun before, that’s something the experienced and dedicated Appleseed crew can deal with. They’ve certainly done so before.

At the single event I attended, I saw everything from a WWII Russian Mosin-Nagant (which kicked hell out of the brave young man who shot it, yet he persevered and shot remarkably well!) to an M-1 Garand and more than one M1A/M-14, and an SKS and an AK47 semi-auto clone, and a few AR15s. That said, though, the OVERWHELMING majority of shooters chose the humble .22 Long Rifle cartridge, usually in a semiautomatic rifle.

Half or more of the course is fired from prone position, and that gets in the way of the firing hand working a lever action, and tends to cause short-stroke malfunctions with the forward hand when operating a slide-action. Appleseed legend has it that their best score ever was fired by a septuagenarian master of the smallbore rifle, using a bolt action target gun…but few of us are old masters, and when you have a relatively short time to drop to prone or sitting, load, fire two shots, reload, and fire eight more, the bolt gun is slo-o-ow. It’s not so much the time it takes for the four motions to eject the last spent casing and rechamber the next shot…it’s more that the gun moves off target during that violent motion, and the hand has to re-take its firing hold and position on the trigger – and take up trigger slack – ten times instead of just once, while the clock is running.

That’s why the great majority who are Appleseed veterans recommend a semiautomatic. I saw the super-popular Marlin Model 60 there, but this rifle is generally encountered with a tubular magazine…not fast at all to reload.  The dominant gun, by far, was the Ruger Model 10/22 semiautomatic, so named because it holds ten rounds of .22 Long Rifle in its relatively easy to swap out box magazine. (Yes, longer magazines are available from aftermarket sources, but many of them don’t work reliably.)

The flip-up iron sight on the rear of a standard 10/22’s barrel is designed for plinking, and not conducive to either maximum accuracy or easy adjustment for zero. Experienced Appleseeders recommend the Tech-Sight, an aperture type iron sight reminiscent of those on the WWII Garand and the Cold War M14, with very reliable and repeatable click adjustments. Fit THIS on a Ruger 10/22, attach a GI surplus web loop sling, and you have the LTR (Liberty Training Rifle), the quasi-official .22 of Appleseed.

We nearsighted geezers do better with magnification. The pretty girl shooting next to me did great with a red dot optic, but her younger eyes were sharper than mine, and for me, the big red dot obscures the center of a precision target. I’ll take a powerful telescopic sight…I set mine at 8-power magnification…but that’s just me. I tried the course of fire again with a 2.5X Weaver scope on another .22, and it delivered ample precision and “feedback.”

Most first-timers at Appleseed won’t win the Rifleman’s Patch. That’s OK. It’s not about that! It’s about the history at the core of our nation’s history. It’s about both personal and collective discipline, and the heritage of marksmanship in what USED to be – and hopefully will be again – known worldwide as A Nation of Riflemen. Bring what you have…come ready to learn…and open yourself to the Appleseed message of pride in your country, a nation built upon baseline American values of individual accomplishment and self-reliance.

Blackhawk cushioned shooting mat, which folds into a rifle case, worked GREAT for Mas, and at least one other shooter there. This one has been augmented with car blanket for even more comfort. Rifle is Ruger 10/22 with Evolution adjustable-length stock and ATN red dot optic. Orange “chamber flag” to show that gun is completely unloaded is standard Appleseed safety protocol, and is issued when you get there.

Ordinary Ruger 10/22, with Tasco telescopic sight and milsurp web loop sling, is “good to go” for Appleseed.

This determined young shooter ran the course with hard-kicking bolt action Russian Mosin-Nagant, WWII vintage. OUCH…but he did well!

The Rifleman’s Patch is a benchmark of Appleseed shooting…but the experience is much more about history, discipline, responsibility, and skill acquisition than it is about winning an award.

“We’re proud that even experienced rifle shooters always seem to learn something here,” said Florida State Appleseed Coordinator Eric McCabe at the event in Hernando last weekend. He then asked, “Who learned something here in the past two days?”

Everyone’s hand shot skyward. Including mine.

Some of the lessons I learned in 500 rounds or so, and a few runs over the challenging Appleseed Qualification Course:

PREPARE THOUROUGHLY…AND DOUBLE CHECK EVERYTHING BEFOREHAND.  The night before leaving for the shoot, I put a 5,000 round case of .22 ammo in my SUV…and the next morning, made the impromptu decision to take the Significant Other’s van so we’d have more room. The ammo stayed behind…and I was able to buy Remington Thunderbolt for $40 per 500 rounds at the range. I was lucky there. I replenished the supply with CCI Mini-Mag at a Wal-Mart the first night. Just call me “Mr. Tactical” … sigh …

EVEN THE BEST EQUIPMENT CAN FAIL. I had gone to Appleseed with a perfect gun for it, one I hadn’t shot for at least eight years: a Ruger 10/22 Clark Custom “Squirrel Gun,” built by the late Jim Clark, Sr.’s daughter Kay Clark-Miculek. The Douglas heavy match barrel is just over 16” long and fluted, giving accuracy with perfect balance for fast offhand shooting, and the famous Clark trigger job helps a shooter do his best. A stock designed for practical rifle shooting from Brownell’s had been added, and an inexpensive Tasco scope worked fine…but I had neglected to Loc-Tite the scope mount screws, which Appleseed line officer Doug Cowan spotted, and corrected, since Mr. Tactical here hadn’t brought any Loc-Tite…(sigh again). Thanks, Doug. Prior to the fix, the scope had “walked” forward on its rings, taking the groups to places I didn’t want them to go, and costing me my first attempt to win the grail of the Appleseed, the Rifleman’s Patch.

CHECK THE RULES BEFORE YOU ENTER THE CONTEST. On my second try on the qualification course, I shot 232 out of 250 possible, with 210 required to earn the Patch. Unfortunately, the replicated 400 yard sequence on four tiny targets required ten rounds to be fired in a 2-2-3-3 shot sequence. Mr. Dyslexia here shot ‘em 3-3-2-2 instead. Part of the Appleseed core goals is instilling discipline, and that cost a price: the score went down from 232 to 216. That would have still been six points higher than needed to “make Rifleman,” but…

…The old guy here had also shot the Clark 10/22 using the bottom of an extended 25-round magazine as a unipod, which definitely steadies the gun. I thereafter learned that this is not kosher at Appleseed; they want the shooter using techniques that will translate to any rifle. So, I had to shoot again with short magazines and no “monopod” technique; the third time was the charm, with a 229 score and the Rifleman’s Patch. I hadn’t been able to find an Appleseed Rule Book online, and should have asked about the technique when I got there. Mea culpa…lesson learned.

So, yes, we old rifle shooters can learn (or re-learn) things at an Appleseed, even though the program has its most dramatic effect on new shooters. Check out the Appleseed website and you’ll get an idea why I’m enthusiastic about what they do.

“Next episode,” we’ll talk about suggested hardware to bring, and software to practice beforehand.

Gail Pepin switched to standard stainless 10/22 with conventional scope after her tricked-out 10/22 and red dot sight both suffered mechanical problems. (Photo courtesy Paul Brown, Appleseed)

Mas shoots Clark Custom 10/22, using extended magazine as unipod, only to discover that technique is forbidden at Appleseed. He had to re-shoot. (Photo courtesy Paul Brown, Appleseed)

Test your rifle and ammo before you attend. Extraction failure jammed this customized 10/22.

Appleseed Qualification Targets are challenging. Center “V” rings are the size of pencil eraserhead, 9mm case diameter, a dime, or a bottlecap respectively. See previous post for discussion.

“Zero” your rifle before you go. This is 10-shot/25 yard group. Knowing your gun and ammo “can do it” builds confidence.

I’ve been hearing for years from friends I respect about the Appleseed Project, which is a two-day weekend program (though you can get a lot out of just one day) that teaches dual lessons of American History and riflery. The history focuses on April 19, 1775 and the events that surrounded “the shot heard ‘round the world,” in a humanistic detail that you rarely see in history books. The riflery focuses on standard military marksmanship doctrine, circa early 20^th Century – and I don’t say that as a slap, because that doctrine makes a very solid foundation for “modern techniques” to build upon.

The objective of the program is to reawaken the United States as a nation of riflemen, and to imbue all the independence and responsibility which that concept implies. The course I just came home from was held at Hernando Sportsmen’s Club in Hernando County, Florida. I was most pleased to see how many young people were there, boys and girls alike: as simplistic as it sounds, the fact really is: “The children are the future.”

A large and dedicated cadre of Appleseed disciples was there to supervise the marksmanship training and deliver the powerful lectures. As a firearms instructor myself, I always watch how others teach the gun. To a man (and woman) the Appleseed trainers were patient, sharp-eyed, super-safe, and respectful of all students of all ages. From the technical side, I found their corrections were always on point.

In the course of 500 rounds or so, attendees were drilled on safety, fundamentals of marksmanship, and three shooting stances. Offhand (standing without artificial support), a more solid choice such as kneeling or sitting (with the latter recommended, and several optional postures shown), and the most solid position for precision hits, prone (on your belly). The targets ain’t easy: an Army L-silhouette shape from chest to rounded head, and not very big at all. The shooting at a basic Appleseed is all from 25 meters, which sounds like easy short-range gunning until you realize that the tie-breaking center “V” ring is the size of a 24-ounce Coke’s bottlecap on the target that represents the 100 yard silhouette…is completely covered by a dime on the target that represents the 200 yard target…about the diameter of the base of a 9mm pistol cartridge on the mark that equates to 300 yard shooting…and comparable to the diameter of the standard eraser on a number 2 pencil on the target intended to duplicate 400 yard marksmanship.

The 5-point zone surrounding the tie-breaker ring, shaped a bit like an inverted “V,” is a bit bigger, but not much. 100 yards is duplicated offhand, 200 from sitting, and 300 and 400 yards from prone. With 5 points possible per shot, some 40 shots fired, and double value for the “400 yard” duplicator, 210 out of 250 possible points are required to earn the coveted Appleseed Rifleman patch.

Does that sound tough? It IS. Yet I saw some fine shooting from the 20+ attendees, many of them kids, a total group half or less what normally shows up for an Appleseed in this venue, according to lead instructor Trey Dawson.  Of our contingent, only 4 of us earned the patch, but all I talked to were eager to come back…some to try again to earn the patch, and all to move up through the organization’s well-structured instructor ranks and help promote one of the best ideas that has surfaced of late in the encouragement of individual rights and heritage. In an upcoming entry, we’ll talk about the guns, the accessories, and the hardware you’ll need. Meanwhile, know that kids or women can attend for free, and info is available at the Appleseed Project website.

We had a great crew of safety officers and coaches at the Appleseed. Orange hats denote range officials, while red caps mark the senior instructors.

A line of rifle shooters at Appleseed.

Appleseed staffer Mike Larney uses a dummy gun to demonstrate the use of the loop sling to stabilize the rifle in any shooting position.

4 of the 20 or more shooters earned their Rifleman patch at Hernando. Here they pose with their targets.