Appleseed RIFLEMAN clinic

SAGOLA - On Aug. 26-27 the Sagola Township Sportsmens Club and Bullseyes to Badguys, Pistol and Tactics Training, hosted a Project Appleseed RIFLEMAN clinic at the Sagola Township Sportsmens Club, in Channing. Twelve shooters from the local area attended the training to learn the many aspects of rifle shooting. Participants ranged from 13 years old to 75 years old, and from all walks of life. 
Students were instructed in the standing, kneeling, seated and prone positions. Students were also instructed in the numerous steps to firing a shot, steady hold factors, use of the sling and sight adjustments using Minutes Of Angle (MOA). Between segments of rifle instructions, students were taught the lessons of the Revolutionary War. Paul Reveres ride, Lexington and Concord, Battle Road and “The shot heard ‘round the world”, were presented by the four Appleseed instructors throughout the day. Two of the Appleseed instructors came from Wisconsin, one from Detroit, and the last one drove in from Central Iowa. 
On day two of the training the students entered into what is referred to as “The AQT Grind”. After a full day of instruction on Saturday the bulk of the shooting happened on Sunday. The “AQT” stands for the Army Qualification Target. Shooters are challenged to see where they measure up for both accuracy and speed. Only 5% of all attendees pass the AQT with the required 210 (of possible 250) to qualify as a RIFLEMAN. 
The AQT has four stages. In the first stage shooters are given two minutes to engage a 100 yard silhouette with ten shots from the standing position. In stage two participants start standing and unloaded. With only 55 seconds they must drop to either the kneeling or seated position, load, and engage a simulated 200 yard silhouette with 5 shots, reload and engage another target with 5 more rounds. Stage three is similar to two. Using only 65 seconds, the shooter must start standing and unloaded. On the start signal they drop to the prone position, load and engage three simulated 300 yard targets with 8 rounds and then reload to fire the last two. Stage four is given five minutes to complete. In stage four the shooter starts in the prone position with the rifle already loaded. On the start signal the shooter engages four simulated 400 yard targets with ten rounds. 
There were two new RIFLEMEN awarded the coveted RIFLEMAN patch at this weekends event. Both participants did this at their first time attending a Project Appleseed event. Brent Sparks of Kingsford, qualified RIFLEMAN with his modified, magazine fed, Marlin 795. The top shooter of the event was Alexander Erickson of Kingsford. Alexander passed with a 224 score using a custom built Magnum Research 10/22. Both qualifiers participate with the Sagola Township Sportsmens Club Youth Program. Brent assists as a rifle instructor and Alexander is currently the club president and one of the top shooters. 
Many were very close to the 210 score needed to qualify. Vandan Pezzullo turned in a 197 and Carmen Hulce shot a 201 score. It was the first time attending for both of them and both stated they look forward to coming back. 
The Sagola Township Sportsmens Club looks forward to hosting Project Appleseed in 2024 and also looks forward to hosting a Project Appleseed PISTOL event in the near future. For more information about Project Appleseed please go to https://Appleseed info.org. For more information about activities at the Sagola Township Sportsmens Club please go to www.stsportsmen.com.