Maryland Project Appleseed 2021 Thread

Looks like we had ONE spot open up at our previously sold out Annapolis one-day rimfire rifle event on December 11. So if you are interested, sign up fast!

AGC AAR Dec 4-5, 2021

10 Shooters were on the line both Sat & Sun, for another great event at AGC in Marriottsville.

On Saturday, all shooters progressed nicely, with TWO making Rifleman and earning Immortal 400 patches.

Sunday saw ALL shooters return (always a good sign in the cold!) and everyone powered through the Rifleman's Grind of AQTs. By days-end THREE more shooters made Rifleman, for a total of 5 out of 10, or 50% success! And we awarded one more Immortal 400 patch!

Thank you to all the students, volunteers, and host club for another outstanding event.

Pics are available on the Maryland Appleseed Facebook page.

December Pistol Clinic Cancelled

Sorry for the bad news, but the Action Pistol bays at AAFG need to be repaired immediately. I am definitely bummed about it and I am sure the participants are as well

We hope to schedule a make-up event early next year for participants and hope to have at least four other Pistol clinics in Maryland next year.

The rimfire rifle range is not impacted by this emergency repair and has been recently upgraded with a new roof! There is still one spot open for this Saturday's clinic if you need an Appleseed fix before year-end. The weather forecast is a high of 67 degrees - so no Winterseed, but wow, what a day for shooting in mid-December!!!!

After Saturday I will post our year-end wrap-up message to close this thread and launch the 2022 thread. Really appreciate everyone who has participated online and in-person this year.

AAFG AAR Dec 11, 2021

Another wonderful event at AAFG led by Agent711! The ground was wet from rain the night before, but weather was perfect on Saturday.

All the shooter's came to learn and worked hard at their tasks of absorbing all the instruction. After a welcome and the safety brief, we got down to the business of sending rounds down range. The morning red coat showed that there was some room for improvement. This would change very soon.

After instructions in steady hold factors, the six steps, some sighting adjustments and stressing importance of NPOA along with practice the groups improved quickly. Everyone including our beginner shooters caught on so quickly that we were able to move on to seated and standing positions before the day was half over.

After BeSwift's telling of the first and second strikes during lunch we were back on the line. We moved efficiently through instructions in making transitions to seated and prone positions. The third strike was delivered by BeSwift in the afternoon and before we knew it we were shooting our first AQT.

Two of our shooters made easy work of it with Brian B scoring a 218. And we were all happy to see Matt G shoot a distinguished score of 247.

We shot a second AQT where Matt again proved his skill shooting a Rifleman score of 230. We were super impressed with everyone's scores. Our youth shooter, Finn, made William Diamond proud. Everyone's scores improved and there is no doubt you will all obtain your own Rifleman qualifications soon with practice.

The day came to a close with a final red coat shot and dramatic improvement was there for everybody to see. Everyone was now competent to at least 200 yards, two at 300 and three at 400. Several folks joined Daniel Morgan's rifleman by hitting his shingle. And Paul G's determination resulted in clearing his red coat earning his very own Maryland Immortal 400 patch.

Thanks again to our host range Anne Arundel Fish and Game (https://aafg.org/)! An outstanding range to start with, we were surprised and impressed with the extension of the cover over their 12-position small bore (rimfire) rifle range.

Many thanks to Liberty Boy keeping everyone safe while calling the line all day long and to BeSwift for telling the three strikes and wrapping up the day sharing some stories of the Dangerous Old Men.

Three cheers to all of our shooters- Huzzah! Huzzah! Huzzah! We hope to see you at another Appleseed event soon and bring a friend, co-worker or family member.

Please checkout Project Appleseed Maryland Facebook for pictures.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.4607554495998944&type=3

2021 Maryland Appleseed in Review

Maryland Appleseed set some high goals after a tough 2021 and absolutely crushed them thanks to all the students, instructors, and volunteers that stepped up to bail the sinking ship! Some statistics to put 2021 in context:

• We held 34 shoots across the region and 29 in Maryland alone, the most in the history of the program!

• Out of those shoots, 24 were sold out or nearly so for a rate of 71% (second only to 2014)!

• We had 309 shooters on the line out of a total capacity of 382 – this 81% blasted past our highest ratio of attendance our highest ratio of attendance by 3%!

• We had 78 new or re-qualified Rifleman for a rate of 30%. This is just phenomenal considering our historical average of 19% and the number of new shooters on the line this year.

• There were 9 shooters that qualified Distinguished (12%) but no additional 250s (we did have a 247 at our last shoot…so close!)

• We had two Winterseed events and 6 people earned their special patch!

• We had one Rimfire known-distance event (200-yards) with 4 qualifying Rifleman earning that coveted rocker. We hope to have at least 2 events next year.

• We had our first Pistol Clinic in Maryland with 4 people earning their Pistoleer patches. We also had one of our instructors, Kniwolf, travel to PA to earn his Pistoleer patch. We hope to have 4 or more Pistol events next year!

• 52 cleared Red Coats, once again proving that cleaning that target is harder than making Rifleman. But this year we started awarding the new Maryland Immortal 400 patch as we phased out the Maryland Front Sight Patch. So we saw a lot of shooters motivated to get that patch!

I can’t thank our instructors and volunteers who stepped up to make all of this happen. We had 29 different instructors from 5 states on the line in 2021, which is just great. We also had SEVEN folks step up to become instructors in training (we only had 9 total for the 3 years prior), a new Shoot Boss promoted (Agent 711, who has worked his butt off this year), and a newly promoted Red Hat (kniwolf). This was the first year since 2018 where we reduced our average students per instructor at events and we really appreciate folks stepping up to work!

Special thanks to State Coordinator BeSwift for your great leadership and stewardship of the Maryland program through the past two difficult years. You make us all proud to be a part of it!

However, 2022 will be an even bigger step up in events, ranges, and students planned. We could use more help bailing the ship. If you are interested in volunteering with the program or would like to rejoin the instructor cadre after some time away, WE NEED YOU!

As with past years, it was amazing to see the diversity of students on the line: folks with their first gun, folks who were already superior marksman already but wanted to practice their skills, folks with kids or significant others who wanted their first experience to be positive. All are welcome and encouraged to come out!

Throughout the year we try to provide some other content in addition to our announcements, pictures, and after action reports (all on this thread or our Facebook page) to both promote the program and help folks on their journey to Rifleman and beyond through MDShooters and the Appleseed Forums, some written by instructors, others by students:

10/22 Takedown Backpacker Review at Appleseed

Maryland Immortal 400 Patch

200-Yard Rimfire Appleseed Liberty Training Rifle Challenge!

A huge thank you to all of the ranges that hosted us this year!

• Anne Arundel Fish and Game Conservation Association (AAFG) in Annapolis, MD

• Associated Gun Clubs of Baltimore (AGC) in Mariottsville, MD

• Sanner's Lake Sportmans Club (SLSC) in Lexington Park, MD

• Delmarva Sportsman Association in Sudlersville, MD

• Gunpowder Military Reservation in Baltimore, MD (Milseed with the National Guard)

• Leetown Gun Club in Kearneysville, WV

• York Adams Game and Fish in Abbottstown, PA

These ranges not only offer fantastic facilities for shooters of all kinds, but their support of Project Appleseed reflects their commitment to expand and enhance the community of shooters and actively engaged citizens - we can't thank them and their members enough.

We are always hoping to add new ranges - we are especially interested in finding ranges that would accommodate Patriot Pistol events at 7 yards. If your club is interested in hosting an event, we can make it happen!

We are always looking for new ways to enhance the experience of our students and instructors as well as to bring new people into our community. If you have questions, comments, or feedback, we are absolutely open to suggestions.

If you know anyone who could benefit from Appleseed or a LibertySeed (a history focused event to a church, youth group, etc.), please suggest our program to them – we want to continue to grow the shooting community in Maryland while also helping folks understand the value and perishability of their rights.

I will start the Maryland Project Appleseed 2022 Thread soon, but we have scheduled a good number of our 2022 events (with more to come) so please sign up.

And don't forget to buy those heavily discounted gift certificates.

Hope to see you on the line!

Thanks KYFHO for all you do. Tremendous job and congratulations to you and all the team members for all everyone does

Thanks - it is a very rewarding program to be a part of!

You guys do a great job.. been to a few and got my Rifleman badge.. Are you planning on any Pistol training soon or in 2022?

Yes, we hope to have at least 4 pistol events in Maryland in 2022, one nearby in Southern PA, a few in VA, and maybe more than that. Dates to be posted soon in the new thread once we get host range approvals.

Project Appleseed is a great program. I attended an event with my daughter and learned a ton about American history and marksmanship. Keep up the good work fellas.