I am not part of the Appleseed “management,” but I am a Shoot Boss for Appleseed. Shoot Bosses are the people who run the events, who are ultimately responsible for everything that happens at an event. I’d like to address some points from one particular post.
Have any other rifles been "temporarily banned" ever?
The only other rifles ever banned were all semiauto 17 HMRs. And that ban was permanent, in part due to an industry-wide recall on them.
So, in all of the Appleseed events to date, there has never been another reported case or cases of firearms malfunctioning? Not even anecdotally? There have never been any cases of squib loads or ammo issues?
There have been plenty of malfunctions on our lines. Every possible malfunction you can imagine – FTE, FTF, double feeds, duds, etc. Typical round counts at our events are 400-500 rounds in a weekend. We also shoot rain or shine, so the rifles see rain, mud, dirt and dust. This increases the likelihood of malfunctions.
I’ve even had a squib on my line that the shooter didn’t catch. She cleared the malfunction (as a squib usually causes a short stroke), chambered another round, and pulled the trigger. Fortunately, she wasn’t injured, but it scared the heck out of her. It bulged the barrel and receiver, and blew out the mag. It was a Ruger 10/22, she sent it back to Ruger (at their request) and they replaced her rifle at no charge.
But again, in all of these instances, no one was injured.
People are allowed to bring, in some cases, highly modified (perhaps not by a qualified gunsmith) firearms without any kind of review by a qualified person and that's OK? And none of those have ever caused an issue?
Yes, people are allowed to bring any rifles they want, as long as they’re below 8mm caliber. We can’t police every rifle for non-stock parts. Are you aware of any other shooting program that does? Does Mas Ayoob bounce your pistol out of a MAG40 class because it has an aftermarket trigger?
Have modified rifles caused issues? Yes, but not injuries. Personally, on several occasions, I’ve asked a shooter to remove their rifle due to repeated malfunctions/concerns. But I’ve never confiscated them. ;-)
I'll bet that if all issues were accurately reported there have been many, many more issues with some of the rifles that are more popular than the 15-22.
Possibly. But the difference in this situation is that a shooter was injured. Seeing the common thread here? We’ve had tens of thousands of shooters come through our events. We’re proud of our safety record. Safety is absolutely paramount at Appleseed, and in an abundance of caution, the temporary ban was put in place.
If we had another shooter injured by a 15-22, how would that play out regarding lawyers and liability? As I tell my kids, this isn’t the way we’d like the world to be, it’s the way the world is. Every shooter, even observers, has to sign a liability waiver before they can participate. That’s just the way it is with insurance companies and lawyers.
I tend to believe this is a anti black rifle issue.
This is simply preposterous. Appleseed was created under the philosophy of teaching Americans how to shoot milsurp rifles out to 500 yards. We LOVE centerfire rifles on our lines. Heck, at my last event I was excited because over half the rifles on my line were ARs. And we had one shooter using his Garand! But we also realistically acknowledge that centerfire rifles are expensive, and so is the ammo. Using a 22 gets one through the weekend much more economically. Plus, there aren’t a lot of ranges where one can shoot that far, so if we wanted to continue to grow, we had to scale our program down to fit more ranges with shorter distances. And that scaling down made 22 rifles practical substitutes.
There seems to be a misconception that Appleseed is a youth program, or only for new shooters. Are we family-friendly? Yes. Are we a youth program? No. We're an "everybody" program. We teach foundational marksmanship skills, very similar to what is taught by the US Marine Corps. Field-expedient rifle shooting, using nothing but your rifle and a sling. Regardless of skill level, Appleseed will make you a better shooter. I’ve had active-duty Marines attend an event and tell me on Sunday afternoon that they learned more in a weekend with us than they did at Parris Island. Kids especially benefit because they’ll learn good habits that will last them a lifetime. But mom and dad, and even grandma and grandpa will learn something, too.
The organization needs to come up with a reporting and formal process to ensure that all participants, manufacturers, etc. are treated fairly and safely.
We have hundreds of events every year all over the country, and thousands of shooters in attendance. It's not possible to report/track every malfunction. But again, to re-iterate, major safety issues are reported – squibs, OOB, anything that has the potential to cause injury. I believe Appleseed is acting fairly in this instance. S&W was contacted BEFORE the temporary ban was announced. And the AOC is continuing to work with S&W to reach a solution.
I have steered people to check out Appleseed events in the past. Until I hear that this is resolved and changes are made to ensure that all manufacturers are treated fairly, I will no longer do so.
I will also work to insist my local club range do a "temporary ban" on Appleseed events until they have their policies and procedures revised to ensure the safety of all.
Thank you for promoting Appleseed. I'm sorry that you believe we're treating S&W unfairly. But I believe I’ve adequately addressed your concerns. Please feel free to contact me via email if you have any further concerns.
I can be reached via email at M I at appleseedinfo.org (the abbreiviation for Michigan).
