The Everyday Marksman

Way back in 2014, shortly after starting the first iteration of this site on a free Wordpress blog, I attended a two-day Project Appleseed event. It was a hot August weekend in the hills of Santa Barbara, California. While most people brought along Ruger 10/22s or something similar, I showed up with an iron sighted 20" AR (that eventually became my M16A5). While I came up a few points short of earning my Rifleman patch that weekend, I still think it was the best introduction to rifle marksmanship that anyone can do. The fact that the instruction intertwines with a good bit of Revolutionary War storytelling is a cherry on top.

Not long ago, I told you that my focus for the rest of this year and probably next year shifted to pistol shooting. With that, I've been working through dry fire and reviewing several books on the topic. One day, I discovered that the fine folks at Project Appleseed put together a pistol training course to coincide with the excellent rifle training I did ten years ago. Even better, I looked at the schedule and saw that there was a one-day pistol clinic scheduled for October 1st at the NRA Headquarters Range in Fairfax, Virginia. So I signed up back in July and started the wait.

The rest of this post walks you through the program and my experience with the pistol clinic. Enjoy!

Note: I borrowed photos of the actual event and instruction from the shoot boss, Bill. He posted them to the official Appleseed Forum and his Flickr account, so hopefully he doesn't mind me reposting them here as part of my report.

Project Appleseed

Just about every story within Project Appleseed revolves around the events of April 19, 1775: the battle of Lexington and Concord. This was, more or less, the official start of the American Revolution. Back in the late 1990's, Jack Dailey wrote a series of pieces for Shotgun News under the pseudonym "Fred." While the articles were partly an advertising bid for Jack's business, Freds M14 Stocks, they contained bits of history and a call to develop basic marksmanship skills.

Eventually, this spun off into a CMP-affiliated group known as the Revolutionary War Veterans Association, who went around the country teaching rifle clinics called Appleseeds. Like the namesake Johnny Appleseed, the goal was planting the seeds of patriotism and the tradition of marksmanship in participants.

Without going into detail, know that every Appleseed event involves telling the three strikes of the match. Each part of the story occurs during breaks in between blocks of marksmanship instruction. The three strikes story involves many real historical figures such as British General Thomas Gage, British Major John Pitcairn, Militia Captain John Parker, Militia Colonel James Barrett, and more colorful figures. The stories track the events of the day from the Lexington green to the North Bridge of Concord, then back to Meriams Corner and the retreat back to Boston.

By the end of the day, the British officers realized they had greatly underestimated the skills and fighting spirit of the colonists, and the Revolution was afoot.

<...