M14 Forum

ppcshooter1

After reading all the Appleseed threads I have decided to attend one. I don't have a .22 other than a very old Browning that belonged to my Grandpa so I am thinking about buying a 10/22. Are there any mods I need to do to it?

Marty

NYCSTRIPES

Not to attend an appleseed event. Just shoot it as it comes and enjoy the training.

ppcshooter1

Huh?

Marty

sam68

He is just saying Ruger 10/22 right out of the box is good to go for an Appleseed, just zero it at 25 yards before going.

NYCSTRIPES

What was there to misunderstand?

ppcshooter1

I had no idea what you meant by "Not to attend an appleseed event."

Marty

sam68

I understood what you meant ;)

RegularGolf

What rifle to bring to your Appleseed Event: http://appleseedinfo.org/smf/index.php?topic=8163.0

Liberty Training Rifle:
http://appleseedinfo.org/smf/index.php?topic=8659.0

I did my first last month (212 on second AQT, thank you) and had my 10/22 set up as an LTR beforehand. I personally feel that doing the training with your LTR set up as recommended in the above referenced thread is much more beneficial. We had guys shooting with scopes and bolt rifles, to each their own, but I want to know I earned my patch shooting irons with a rack grade rifle and rack grade ammo.

My set up: standard Ruger 10/22 carbine with all factory parts, including trigger, Tech-Sights (www.tech-sights.com), an Appleseed cotton M1 sling, and sling swivels and studs (you will have to install yourself, very easy). Also, a second 10/22 magazine for the mag changes. I would recommend, apart from zeroing your sights for 25M, getting a good day of practice in with the web sling. They teach you everything you need to know about it and the positions, but it's still nice to be prepared.

The biggest thing, have fun, understand the purpose of Appleseed, and bring your friends!

IC2(SS)19Z50C5

Excellent recommendations.!!... There was a whole family shooting 10/22's with those Tech-Sights and AS cotton slings at this past weekend’s shoot.

M1A's r BEST

Can you shoot just fine without the mods? Yes, folks have done it for years but it took some of them much longer than a weekend to do it.

What you'll be taught at an Appleseed will allow you to learn faster and improve faster if your rifle is set up to help you take advantage of the methods being taught.

A sling will help you more than you realize so having a rifle with 1&1/4" sling swivels installed on it and a GI web sling (the M1/M14 type, not the M16 silent sling type) will be a benefit. The tech sights give you the same sight picture as GI type sights on an M1, M14, AR15, etc. Another help. Your eyes/mind will work together to naturally/quickly center that front sight post in the rear peep sight/aperature. Your eyes/mind will do this quicker and easier than trying to line up the sights you find on a standard hunting rifle. If you learn on the 10/22 with the Tech sights then you're familiar with the look of the sights if you move up to an AR15 or M1A or M1 Garand later.

Don't forget the extra magazines (3 is a minimum, 4 is better) as you wil use them during the stages that require magazine changes (and you want a back up in case one malfunctions.

Oh yeah, while the 10/22 is a nice rifle (when you get one that works well and is accurate) I read a lot of folks these days are going with the Marlin 795 and reporting less break in problems and just as good if not better accuracy than the 10/22's. And the Marlin's are much cheaper. Almost half the 10/22 price if you catch them on sale at a big sporting goods chain store.

Good luck. Read up on what you need to take with you at the Appleseed web site so you've got what you need to get through the two days of getting up and down, eating/drinking at the range, safety gear, etc. Its tougher to learn when you're miserable.

charlie98

The 10/22 isn't bad, but I'm not really a 10/22 guy. The Marlin is a good choice, but Savage makes a pretty sweet looking autoloader, too. There have been some issues with the current production Marlins since Remington took over; I don't have first hand knowledge of this, but topics are everywhere (at marlinowners.com for example.)

I'll just ditto what the others said... a decent .22LR magazine-fed autoloader. TechSights (or equivalent, there are others;) although I may be biased because I was trained to shoot with peep sights, I believe they are the easiest system to learn. I would stress a QD stud mounted on the forearm with 1.25" sling mount, the QD stud makes getting on and off the rifle 1000X easier, you can sling up before you even go to the line, flop down and hook the sling mount to the stud. GI cotton web sling; for an AS, anything else really won't work. Minimum of 3-4 magazines proven to work. Basic ammunition... you shouldn't need anything special; I would test-fire some of it for function and accuracy to make sure your rifle likes it.

I shot the first day with my so-equipped 10/22 and did well (even though I struggled with the 10/22 in the prone, especially, because of the slippery plastic butt.) You may consider elbow pads and a shooting mat of some sort, I used an old Army shelter half and cheap foam pads from Home Depot. And don't forget a tool(s) to adjust your sights once you get going.

Don't feel intimidated, you aren't 'competing' against anyone except yourself... you don't compare scores with each other, or even keep track.

ppcshooter1

I've got a Midway shooting mat and GI cotton slings so that's taken care of. Buddy of mine has a Marine Corp style shooting jacket he said I can borrow. It's a XXL and I'm an XL guy but a sweatshirt or two should take care of that.

I shouldn't have too hard a problem finding some Uncle Mike's 1 1/4 sling swivels.

Checked the Academy Sports website and almost fell over. Their advertised price for the Marlin 795 is $129 and the Ruger is $190. I found the Ruger at the local Wally World for $217. Figure I can get the Marlin, 3 more mags, sling swivels and the Tech Sights for less than $250. I've also found there are 2 Appleseed events in my area, Mobile, AL on Halloween weekend and Biloxi, MS the next one.

Marty

TexIndian

Unless they've made changes in recent years, the stock trigger on a 10/22 is a real bear. The pull weight on mine was so heavy I kept checking to see if the safety was on - seriously. I had it worked over by Bill Springfield at Triggerwork.com and it's like a new gun. You just send him the trigger group so no issues with shipping - and it's real easy to take out. IIRC, it was something like $40, incl. shipping, and the turnaround was about one week.

And re: the recent quality of Remingtons and Marlins, much has been written lately about the decline in quality. I read somewhere that Remington (who bought Marlin) had been bought itself by some big corporation that is buying up several gun makers. Then they do what makes us all hate big corporations - they try to make every penny of profit they can and run quality companies into the ground in the process. The Rem 700 bolt gun has been pretty much a standard in the precision rifle world and I sure hate to see that get ruined by a bunch of profiteers. I can't tell you how many custom guns are built on the Model 700 action.

tmcfalls

Tec sights, an aftermarket mag release (Ruger's mag release really sucks, especially with the factory mags), bigger sling hardware and a sling would all be nice.

RegularGolf

This especially. The QD stud on the front cuts down on time so you don't have to take the loop sling off of your arm at all. This helps a lot during your prep time, you can focus on getting your position and NPOA right. Just make sure to have a jacket or at least a long sleeve shirt on.

My first Appleseed I used my Army shelter half buttoned around my issued sleeping mat. That's awesome you did the same thing, the orange hats kept asking what it was I've since bought a Creedmor shooting mat that is amazing, I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to buy a "real" shooting mat.

About the 10/22s accuracy, etc., the 10/22 is finicky about ammo. I've only used CCI ammo (Stingers, Mini Mags) in mine and have gotten excellent accuracy without any other mods (aside from Tech-Sights, sling). The Mini Mags are definitely some of the most reliable and accurate 10/22 rounds out there and most 10/22s shoot them well. As mentioned, you do need time to test fire your ammo and figure out what your rifle likes. Also, if you only use factory Ruger 10/22 mags (like every Ruger product) you won't have feeding issues. I've shot 5000-6000 rounds throughout the lifetime of my 10/22 that I got Rifleman with and only have one complaint, the trigger. The triggers are really bad on them and I felt it cost me points because of the light weight of the entire rifle.

The Marlin does sound like a good deal though, I might have to pick one up just to have a "spare" LTR (still need to attend another and shoot Rifleman for my orange hat).

A tip on the AQT; the stage most people save rounds (don't fire all of them in the allotted time) is the standing to sitting stage. Cadence is everything on this stage, and that comes from a good position (NPOA - you will hear it a ton)! Don't rush yourself, but don't doubt yourself either, let em fly!