Appleseed Shoots

[Nickle]

The trigger on my 10/22 is pretty bad. It is very notchy/gritty.

Regarding the barrel band: you just pull it off?

Well, you can either spend some big bucks for the Clark Assy, or just drop in a Voquartsen hammer.

You can use a Clark, if you're willing to pay more, and buy it from Brownell's (more $$$) or wait until they decide to ship to another source, all the while getting parts that are no better than the Volquartsen, which is easily gotten, cheaper and as good or better.

Or, if you're really good working on rifles, you CAN do your own modification.

About the barrel band. Yup, just pull it off.

Ross, wood warps. When the wood warps enough that your band touches the barrel, your accuracy is going to suffer, giving you flers you can't expailn, and changing zero. Granted, it won't be too awful much, but I can tell you that your skills are high enough, RIGHT NOW, to see the difference.

Then why do you say to order these sling swivel studs as opposed to these? What do you do with the machine screw threaded stud; drill a through hole in the stock under the barrel and secure it with that nut, cutting off the excess?

First, there won't be any excess on a 10/22 Carbine. But, yes, that's what you do. The reason you don't use the second set is that they may (will) loosen up over time, and then the screw is going to wallow. Takes a lot, but ask yourself just how many THOUSAND rounds are you going to shoot through it, and how many rounds does the average owner shoot in his life.

Mikey, you think Fat Teddy ISN'T a Zombie?

Seriously, there's a group of us that do post on the Zombies Shooters forum. Myself, it's just a polite way of saying what isn't polite to say but true.

 

[Mikey]

Sorry guys I didn't know how seriously you took the whole zombie thing.

Seeing as I have not done it before is there detailed instructions on what needs to be done to install a 10/22 sling? I want to make sure I get it right the first time.

 

[dwarven1]

Ross, wood warps. When the wood warps enough that your band touches the barrel, your accuracy is going to suffer, giving you flers you can't expailn, and changing zero. Granted, it won't be too awful much, but I can tell you that your skills are high enough, RIGHT NOW, to see the difference.

*blush* Thanks for the kind words, Rog.

First, there won't be any excess on a 10/22 Carbine. But, yes, that's what you do. The reason you don't use the second set is that they may (will) loosen up over time, and then the screw is going to wallow. Takes a lot, but ask yourself just how many THOUSAND rounds are you going to shoot through it, and how many rounds does the average owner shoot in his life.

OK, thanks for the info, Rog. I was wondering about that.

Seeing as I have not done it before is there detailed instructions on what needs to be done to install a 10/22 sling? I want to make sure I get it right the first time.

I think I can help you out there, Mikey.

 

[matt]

Well, you can either spend some big bucks for the Clark Assy, or just drop in a Voquartsen hammer.

You can use a Clark, if you're willing to pay more, and buy it from Brownell's (more $$$) or wait until they decide to ship to another source, all the while getting parts that are no better than the Volquartsen, which is easily gotten, cheaper and as good or better.

Or, if you're really good working on rifles, you CAN do your own modification.

Um... I think we must be talking about two different things... the one I bought was onl $65... shipped same day.

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=269423

About the barrel band. Yup, just pull it off.

I'll try it both ways this weekend. Thanks.

 

[TonyDedo]

so who's coming for sure Monday night?

 

[Jose]

There's a guy in North Carolina named Wildman who cleaned our clocks with his 1903 shooting stuff 500 yards away with irons. And Rick from Harvard made a strong showing with his 1903 (if not for a little elevation adjustment at our first local appleseed here.

So bring it.

Those who underestimate what an iron sighted, bolt action rifle can do in the hands of a rifleman do so at their peril.

Many an AR shooter in Highpower has found that out when the person next to them uses a bolt action match rifle and outscores them in sitting and prone rapid fire.

 

[DR]

so who's coming for sure Monday night?

I'll be there on Monday.

 

[dwarven1]

I should be there.

 

[TonyDedo]

okay, so once I get to Harvard tonight, where do I go to find you guys?

 

[kevin9]

I've not been able to get there, but I believe these are the directions:
http://www.harvardsportsmensclub.com/directions.html

 

[TonyDedo]

I've not been able to get there, but I believe these are the directions:
http://www.harvardsportsmensclub.com/directions.html

Right, my bad. I mean, where do I go once I get to the club; which range?

 

[dwarven1]

It'll be on your left side, opposite the clubhouse.

 

[Garys]

I can't make it tonight (obviously) but do plan to attend an Appleseed shoot in the future. I've looked over the list of add ons for the 10/22 and have one question. How important are aftermarket sights? Or does that matter how good my eyes are?

IOW, can I get by with the stock sights?

 

[matt]

I looked longingly to my left as I drove past on Rt2... wish I could have made it...

 

[DR]

I can't make it tonight (obviously) but do plan to attend an Appleseed shoot in the future. I've looked over the list of add ons for the 10/22 and have one question. How important are aftermarket sights? Or does that matter how good my eyes are?

IOW, can I get by with the stock sights?

The stock sights are not that great. I have good eyes and I found them a hindrance. I highly recommend replacing them with a set of Tech-Sights. Those and a cheap web sling will be enough to get you started.

 

[TonyDedo]

I am so PISSED OFF right now!

I had a crappy day at work, and spent the entire day looking forward to a relaxing evening at the range.

And at 4:54, just as I was shutting down my computer, the president of the company walks into my office. "I need you to stick around for a bit - I'm going to need you in 5 minutes, it'll only take about 10." Well, it was 20 minutes before he was ready for me, and it took a half hour. I didn't get out of the office until 10 after six, and by the time I got out to Rt. 2 in Cambridge, it was already 6:40 - there was no way I was making it to Harvard with enough daylight to shoot.

ARGHHHHHHHH!!!!

 

[Garys]

The stock sights are not that great. I have good eyes and I found them a hindrance. I highly recommend replacing them with a set of Tech-Sights. Those and a cheap web sling will be enough to get you started.

Thanks. I see that the Ruger sights are on back order, so I can get the rest of the stuff from Midway and order the sights later on. It's probably going to be the Spring before I get to a shoot anyway, so there's plenty of time.

Gary

 

[dwarven1]

I can't make it tonight (obviously) but do plan to attend an Appleseed shoot in the future. I've looked over the list of add ons for the 10/22 and have one question. How important are aftermarket sights? Or does that matter how good my eyes are?

IOW, can I get by with the stock sights?

Very important. You can get by with the stock sights, but you will be VERY frustrated. Your groups will shrink with better sights.

 

[Garys]

All of the parts I ordered from Midway came in today. I installed the magazine release and sling swivels along with the sling itself. I still have to order the sites, but they're out of stock right now.

The only tricky part was the front sling mount. I did a test run on an old 10/22 stock I had hanging around. Two tries to get it right, but when I did it on my current stock it went well.

On note of caution. When you drill the countersink hole, be very careful. It's easy to overdrill the hole, which I did on the first stock. Other than that, nothing to it.

Gary

 

[Nickle]

Hey, can any of you guys find us a range in Southern NH to hold a Weekend Appleseed (the full deal) at sometime next year?

 

[dwarven1]

The only tricky part was the front sling mount. I did a test run on an old 10/22 stock I had hanging around. Two tries to get it right, but when I did it on my current stock it went well.

On note of caution. When you drill the countersink hole, be very careful. It's easy to overdrill the hole, which I did on the first stock. Other than that, nothing to it.

Thanks for the warning, Gary! I'll be mounting the swivels on my nephew's birthday present tonight, so I'll be sure to be careful. (I'd have done it this morning, but I don't seem to have the drill index I was SURE I'd packed, so when I'm at a friends tonight I'll do it. And use his laser boresighter to align the sights,too. )

I cleaned his rifle, and G-D, was it FILTHY! BTW, brake cleaner is nowhere as good as Gunscrubber is. DAHMIK. I was literally using a pick to get some of the built up crap out of it. Whoever sold it to Yankee Artifacts must not have cleaned it since it came from the factory! But Shooters Choice and a bristle brush (and a pick) prevailed, and it's nice and clean now. If my nephew ever lets it get the way it was when I bought it, I will spank him with his own rifle!!

I'm not sure if his mother knows what he's getting tomorrow, but if not, the look on her face ought to be worth the price of admission. I'll see if I can get someone to photograph HER and not the birthday boy.

Now... got to make sure that he & his fiancee start practicing and plan to make the next Appleseed down in their neck of the woods.

 

[Garys]

Thanks for the warning, Gary! I'll be mounting the swivels on my nephew's birthday present tonight, so I'll be sure to be careful. (I'd have done it this morning, but I don't seem to have the drill index I was SURE I'd packed, so when I'm at a friends tonight I'll do it. And use his laser boresighter to align the sights,too. )

Not that I'm a master gunsmith or anything close, but I also found that using my cheap and old Sears drill stand helped a lot. It's one of the ones that you can put your regular 3/8" drill in to make it into a drill press. I also put the rifle into a Case Gard rifle stand and used a small torpedo level to make sure everything was level. Finally, I used a square to make sure that the hole was midline on the stock.

It took me about 15-20 minutes to get everything squared up and level, but definitely worth the time. I have no doubt that a better craftsman could do it free hand or with less preparation, but I didn't want to ruin the stock.

I cleaned his rifle, and G-D, was it FILTHY! BTW, brake cleaner is nowhere as good as Gunscrubber is.

I know some people who rarely clean their .22s, but I generally strip my 10/22 down and clean it after every 100 or so rounds. Might be overkill, but when I'm at the range I want to shoot, not deal with jams.

Gary

 

[dwarven1]

Trust me, the former owner NEVER cleaned it. I mean, we're talking revolting here. It's a testimony to Bill Ruger's design that that gun fired flawlessly, and with cheap, standard velocity ammo, when I test fired it.

 

[matt]

I did the swivels and studs last week in my 10/22, peace of cake. Just drill slowly.

I'm thinking of free floating the barrel... mostly for the experience of bedding the barrel and action. I intend to upgrade it to a green mountain bull barrel and new stock after a bit.

 

[Garys]

Resurrecting this thread. My Tech Sight finally arrived today. They apparently had production delays dating back to September. They went on very easily. If you've never used Locktite before it comes out very watery and you should pierce the end of the tip with a pin, not cut it off!

The 10/22 is now ready. I need to order a few more magazines, but that's no big deal.

I hope to make an Appleseed shoot in the Spring.

After that, my SKS is going to get a new firing pin (with spring) and Tech Sights too. By then hopefully I'll be a good enough shot that I won't be wasting what has become very expensive ammunition.

Gary

 

[tele_mark]

I'm very interested in what the Tech Sights do your you SKS's accuracy. I know what they did for my 10/22, and am considering the SKS version.

 

[Garys]

I'm very interested in what the Tech Sights do your you SKS's accuracy. I know what they did for my 10/22, and am considering the SKS version.

It won't be real soon, so I don't know how much help it will be. From reading this thread, the sights are supposed to do wonders for the 10/22, but you'd know better than I.

Gary

 

[Coyote33]

A couple questions:

Why the iron sights instead of scope? Is it for historical purposes? Aesthetics? Other?

Isn't Leominster the (or a) home of Johnny Appleseed? If so, how come there isn't an appleseed shoot there? of Leominster, Massachusetts

Or is it Lancaster? Anyone? What is the Johnny Appleseed Trail all about?


On the 10/22: .22lr or .17HMR? or .22Mag? Or doesn't it matter?

Thanks, and I'm getting a little interested.

 

[Garys]

A couple questions:

Here are my guesses. I just want to see how close I come to the right answer.

Why the iron sights instead of scope? Is it for historical purposes? Aesthetics? Other?

Because military shooters by and large learn on and use iron sights. Appleseed teaches military style shooting. Therefore iron sights are in use.

I remember reading a comment somewhere on scopes. It said something like, "Two weeks after the SHTF, all of the fancy scopes will be busted and everyone will be using iron sights". Makes sense to me.

Isn't Leominster the (or a) home of Johnny Appleseed? If so, how come there isn't an appleseed shoot there?

No one has tried to sponsor one.

On the 10/22: .22lr or .17HMR? or .22Mag? Or doesn't it matter?

Thanks, and I'm getting a little interested.

I'd say .22LR because of cost. Seems like you're going to be throwing a lot of lead downrange and cost might be an issue.

Gary

 

[dwarven1]

Gary, you're pretty spot on on your answers. If someone has a vision issue with iron sights, though, we do encourage him to use a scope - my LTR is currently sporting a Weaver K7 scope for that very reason.

There isn't a shoot in Leominster because we haven't asked (that I know of) the Leominster club. We're having a shoot at Harvard because the facilities are excellent and they'll let us use them. Since we pretty much take over a range for an entire weekend, finding a club that will allow this is a key factor. Riverside, for example, I'm pretty sure would not allow this.

And Harvard is the closest we can get to Concord, geographically, in a club that we can get - and we take our inspiration from Concord & Lexington. We're planning on at least 10 Appleseed Shoots across the country on Patriots' Day weekend this year. The day when marksmanship met history and the tradition of the American Rifleman began.

The reasons we like the 10/22 so much are:
1 - wide availability
2 - low cost
3 - easy to customize and improve the action
4 - you can shot all weekend for about $10. 400 rounds is what you'll go through in an average Appleseed shoot. That's over $100 for most battle rifle calibers! Yet the skills you learn with a .22 translate very well to the more potent rifles - so it makes sense to learn "on the cheap", as it were. And shooting reduced targets at 25 meters is actually harder than shooting at long range, or so I'm told - I haven't done it myself, yet. If you want to use .22 WMR or .17 HMR, go right ahead... but you'll be spending a lot more money for no reason. Heck, the 10/22 is cheap enough that you can have two or three - one in each caliber! (I have two at the moment myself, and I'll be looking for more so I can have rifles to loan out at the shoots.)

Hope that this answers your questions!