Appleseed Project

This past weekend, my husband signed me up for the Appleseed Project. This is a rifle marksmanship program that is taught by volunteers with the Revolutionary War Veterans Association. My husband is a very good shot even at 500 yards. I on the other hand could not hit the broad side of a barn. My husband has tried to teach me, but my arms get tired before I really learn much. And I grew impatient because I wasn't able to hit the targets. I didn't really know what to expect during this weekend, but I was willing to go because I knew it would mean a lot to my husband.

I was very frustrated the first half of the first day. We were doing everything in the prone position so my arms weren't getting tired, but I couldn't align myself properly with the rifle. They gave me a loaner and that made all the difference. I started making progress right away. In the final set of targets that I did, I shot the 100 yard size silhouette 4/10 times from standing in 2 minutes. Now that might not seem great (and it isn't), but you have to take into account that I didn't hit the paper AT ALL the first time we did it. I also hit all 4 of the 400 yard size silhouettes the proper number of times in less than 5 minutes during the final round.

So if you have any interest in learning a little more about our history (during the lunch breaks) and learning to shoot a .22 rifle better, I recommend signing up for an Appleseed near you. Ladies and kids are free (though there were range fees where I was). The age of the kids allowed depends on the range rules. At our range, the kids had to be at least 12.