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It's an amazing facility. All the rifle ranges have electronic scoring so no need to post targets and make the long haul to and from the range. No trying to see small holes at 600 yards with a spotting scope. Because of this you can do a ton of shooting in a short amount of time. Instant feedback after every shot. 5 ranges total on the grounds plus a trap field and a sporting clay field. The 600 yard range, 100 yard rifle range, and 50 yard pistol range all have electronic scoring. Range 4 I didn't get to see is a 50ft range. Range 5 is a set of 15 action pistol bays. If there is a nicer more well run range anywhere in the US I don't know about it.

I was there for the a Project Appleseed event. A Project Appleseed Event is a shooting clinic not just for inexperienced shooters but expert shooters as well. I know a guy that competes in high power matches with regularity and he first told me about the program. Anyone would consider him an expert shooter and he still goes to the clinics regularly as a refresher on the fundamentals and the challenge of scoring rifleman on the AQT. They also go over a little history centered around the start of the revolutionary war and how America's marksmen helped defeat the British.

Project Appleseed

They go over the fundamentals of shooting standing, sitting/kneeling, and prone. You learn how to properly use a GI style sling to support the rifle with a Hasty sling or Loop sling setup. The goal is to get your rifle supported by bone structure and the sling so you don't have to use your muscles to support the rifle or to aim your shot. They go over the 6 steps of firing the shot.

Sight alignment
Sight picture
Respiratory Pause
Focus
Squeezing the trigger
Follow through

The first day was spent with lots of drills with the aim of working on the 6 steps and working on your shooting positions. They have instructors on the line watching you shoot to give you feedback on what you are doing right and wrong. It's one thing to read about what you should do and you think you might be doing it right but you still may be doing it wrong. I found plenty of things I was doing wrong I thought I was doing right. My sling tension was too tight. I have a tendency to lift my finger off the trigger when I reset the trigger. I thought I was pulling back on the trigger correctly with the pad of my finger but a slight adjustment of my hand position on the stock gave me more curl to my finger and a better trigger pull.

Saturday on Range 5. My iron sighted 10/22 and shooting position.

Groups got better as the day progressed.

Most of Saturday spent drilling and working on fundamentals and giving you the skills to shoot the AQT.
The AQT is their version of the Army Qualification test. 10 shots standing. 10 shots sitting/kneeling. And 20 shots prone. There are 4 stages all timed. Stages 2 is the most challenging for most folks as you start standing and move to the sitting/kneeling position shoot 2 rounds change your magazine and shoot 8 more shots. 5 on one target and 5 on the other. All this has to be done in less than 55 seconds. Stage 3 is standing to prone with a magazine change in 65 seconds at 3 targets. Stage 4 is prone at 4 ~1" wide silhouettes. Score over 210 on the AQT and you will receive a Rifleman patch. I had a tough time in stage 4 just seeing the small target at 25m with iron sights. I always had one or two shots out of the scoring areas on those and those one or two shots prevented me from earning a rifleman badge. 201 and 202 were my best scores. I would have had a 206 but in the second stage of one of my AQT's I put 6 shots in one target and 4 on the other. That cost me 9 points and I finished with a 197. My main problem all weekend was sight alignment. I was so busy concentrating on 10 other things that something that simple is what cost me a rifleman badge. I could make great groups but sometimes they would be an inch to the left or right because I didn't have consistent sight alignment. Both of my 200 scores had two shots outside of the scoring area because of that.

We ended the day shooting at 100 yards on the electronic scoring system. I shot 10 shots standing, kneeling and prone during our free shooting time. Scored a 76 standing. 82 from a sitting position. And 92 from the prone. While shooting prone I worked on my sight alignment. Shots 1-2-3 were scattered because I stopped thinking about my other fundamentals. Breathing, Proper trigger pull, and did not support the rifle properly. Took a moment to reset my brain and shot 3 2 shots groups working on my sight picture. #10 I squeezed off right as they were calling a cease fire.

If you have a chance to go to an Appleseed event or the CMP marksmanship park I highly recommend it. Now that I've completed a normal Appleseed I can participate in the Known Distance event which is centerfire only and at the CMP they shoot out to 600 yards.

This post was edited on 3/27/17 at 10:42 am