Going to first Appleseed shoot. Any advice?

I signed up for my first Appleseed shoot today (https://appleseedinfo.org). I'm feeling pretty excited about it.

I ordered a Ruger 10/22, which came in today. I plan to build it up as a Liberty Training Rifle (LTR):

• Tech Sights TSR200 GI style sights
• USGI (cotton) sling, 1-1/4
• Uncle Mike's sling swivels and studs

An official specification of the LTR can be downloaded as a PDF document here: https://appleseedinfo.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/LTR.pdf

Before I order the necessary parts to finish my LTR build, I thought I would solicit your experience with Appleseed shoots. How did you setup your rifles? Did you follow the LTR specs provided by the Appleseed Project, or did you do something else? Did you shoot with irons, or did you use a scope? What other gear did you bring? Was there any gear that you didn't bring, that you wish you had?

P.S. You're welcome to join me if you're an established member of this forum. The shoot I'll be attending will be in Pennsylvania during the spring. Just send me a PM and I'll give you the time and location.

 

I just found this article on M1911, where the author relates his experience attending an Appleseed shoot:

https://ezine.m1911.org/showthread.php?253-M1911-ORG-Does-Project-Appleseed


It's well written. Two points stood out to me:

1. Optics. If you choose to use optics, make sure that you can adjust the parallax of your scope to 25 yards (meters). Not all scopes allow you to do this! (I feel like I should have known that already, but it is new to me.)
2. If you're between the age of 17 and 45, legally, you belong to the class of unorganized militia. In other words, if you're between 17 and 45, you had better get off your ass and earn that Rifleman badge

The author also pointed out the difficulty he had, at his advanced age, transitioning between standing, kneeling, and sitting. (@Scaramouche also alluded to this.)

 

I'm definitely thinking of getting the AR out for the Known Distance (KD) shoot. That's where you get to apply the fundamentals you learned at the (introductory) Appleseed shoot to hit targets out to 400 yards.

 

I finished setting up my Liberty Training Rifle. Just need to sight it in. My inner child is loving this new "toy."



Some advice for anyone looking to put sling swivels on a Ruger 10/22: mount the rear swivel at 1-1/2 from the butt plate, not 1 inch. The butt plate screw goes into the butt of the stock about 1-1/4. So, if you follow the LTR build instructions, which say mount the swivel 1 inch from the butt plate, you'll hit the butt plate screw. I learned this lesson the hard way. My fix was to shorten the butt plate screw (I didn't want to drill another hole).

 

I took my LTR (a Ruger 10/22) out to the range today to get the sights zeroed and test it with different ammo.

I found out that my LTR hates Federal Auto Match ammo. I couldn't get through a mag without at least one failure to feed. My rifle does, however, digest CCI Mini Mag ammo. (Both were 40 grain.) The RSO at my range said that my experience was not unusual. He said that the Federal Auto Match tends to work well in pistols, but is known to be problematic for rifles. He thinks it's because of the different nose profiles, and I'm inclined to believe him.

One of the goals of an Appleseed is to help people to be able to consistently shoot 4 moa or better from various shooting positions. I discovered today that 4 moa is right on the threshold of what my eyes can see with enough clarity to use a peep sight. If I'm a little groggy, or the lighting is poor, it's going to be a bad day.

 

I finished the first day of the Appleseed class. The quality of instruction has been excellent so far. I feel like I've learned a lot. It's amazing what a person can do with iron sights.

I went into this not having any formal rifle training. I plinked with 22's as a kid, but I never had any real training. By the end of the day, I was getting good hits on the 400 yard scaled targets. I did have a few embarrassing moments along the way, however. During one of the drills, I lost track of where I was in the shoot sequence, and ended up putting too many rounds on one target, and not enough on some of the others. Apparently, I'm not the first moron to do this. I also buggered up the final drill of the day. I was getting tired and maybe a little overconfident.

I do need to work on my speed. It takes me a very long time (relatively speaking) to get my Natural Point of Aim set up.

My LTR had multiple failures to fire, and one failure to extract. I'm not sure what to make of that. I'm going to give it good cleaning, lube it up good, and hope for the best.

I would estimate about 1/3 to maybe 1/2 of the class had scoped rifles. They all had some issues with eye relief. The problem is that, when you change between shooting positions (prone, sitting, and standing), your head position moves along the stock. The instructors recommended using quick release mounts on scoped rifles, so that a person can adjust the scope position and maintain proper eye relief (and hopefully maintain zero in the process).

One guy decided to try to be fancy, and mount a RDS on his 22 rifle. It's not a bad idea, actually. However, his mistake was mounting the RDS the night before, and not testing it. It turns out that the picatinny rail that he added to the receiver (for mounting the RDS) was so far out of alignment that he couldn't zero the sight. He spent the better part of the morning wrestling with it. In the end, he ended up taking it off and shooting with irons. Apparently, there were also some issues with that as well, but I didn't hear what the details were. Bottom line: test your gear before you go!

One guy had an AR15. I didn't get a chance to talk much with him, as he was on the other end of the firing line. It did become clear, however, that the AR platform can be a little awkward when using the techniques taught by Appleseed. When using a shooting sling, you really want to get that support hand as close to your body as you can. Unfortunately, the magwell on the AR can get in the way of this (for some people anyway). Likewise, extended capacity ruger 10/22 magazines can force your support hand into a sub-optimal position. Also, when shooting prone, the large magazines will generally interfere with the ground.

No girls showed up. I was hoping to meet some gun babes.

I'm exhausted and a little dehydrated. Time to recover for round 2 tomorrow.

EDIT: I said that the techniques taught by the Appleseed don't work well with the AR-15 platform. I should clarify that you most certainly can use what you learn at Appleseed to shoot AR-15's well. You just need to keep in mind that the magwell limits how far back your support hand can come towards your body. For some people, this is a non-issue. For others, such as myself, this is a handicap.

 

Its banned until further notice due to safety concerns. Smith and Wesson currently has a recall notice out on the 15-22.

Appleseed is AR friendly, though.