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Posted: 3/19/2023 7:53:13 PM EDT
Signed up for my first Appleseed in July.
using a rest, I'm a decent shooter. I've killed every deer I aimed to hit. Killed the only turkey I ever was close enough to shoot. Can hit a a pie plate at 200 yards with a 30-06 and scope. Been hunting for 9-10 years now. So far no training at all. Should I practice and risk creating bad habits or just wait and go to the shoot cold? Any and All other tips are also more than welcome. Thanks |
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[Last Edit: 57plymouth]
[#1]
Set up your rifle with a GI sling, and zero your scope or sights at 25 meters. There is a how to prep document with good advice.
Be open to instruction, don't over think it, and be ready to have fun. You'll be just fine with no prior practice. Or, you can plink in practice at 25 meters and be ready to adjust to the instructions. Relax, and have fun. You'll enjoy the class. |
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Living vicariously through myself.
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[#2]
I would go ahead and shoot the Appleseed.
Take it step by step and ask any questions you may have. We here at Project Appleseed are ready to help you shoot better. It's a lot of fun! |
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N.R.A. Master Class Shooter
Rifleman (Appleseed) www.appleseedinfo.org/arfcom https://www.ar15.com/forums/Industry/Project-Appleseed/820/ |
[#3]
I think as long as you have a teachable attitude, you'll be fine.
I'd recommend getting off the rest and practice shooting standing and prone. |
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[#4]
Thanks for the feedback.
Hopefully I either don't create bad habits or they will be correctable. i'll go ahead and begin practicing on my own. |
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[Last Edit: FighterFixer1]
[#5]
I vote for practice.
You'll accomplish a few things: Set a reasonable baseline for what you need to improve upon. Shoot from the various positions rather than off the bench. Anyone can be a marksman with a rest, and some things that you can ignore when shooting from a bench aren't optimal for field positional shooting. More familiarity with your equipment--it sucks when you're not used to where the trigger breaks and it goes off before/after you want it to or you fumble a magazine swap on the clock. (You only have 55 seconds for stage 2) Verify that your rifle/magazine/ammo is reliable enough to shoot an Appleseed. |
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[#6]
Originally Posted By FighterFixer1: I vote for practice. Verify that your rifle/magazine/ammo is reliable enough to shoot an Appleseed. View Quote My opinion is this is most important for an Appleseed. I’ve been to three shoots and I feel like every one of them had at least one guy that was either fussing with their gun, or trying to figure out how to get their scope to work. The instructors do a good job turning people into shooters, but their equipment has to work to do so. |
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Watching the kids shoot Pieeater's 1919 was great. Nothing warms the heart more than seeing a little kid kneeling in a pile of brass and links.-Pthfndr after the Nov 13th NorCal shoot
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[Last Edit: Lomshek]
[#7]
Some practice with your exact rifle mags and ammo to verify that you are dead nuts on at 25 yards and all your stuff is tight is most important.
We see a lot of folks struggle because they put sights or a scope on right before the shoot and didn't have time to shoot it to work the bugs out of make sure the scope is adjusted properly for good eye relief. A loose scope or scope rail will take all your fun away real quick. Tight barrel and action mounting is huge after a good cleaning and lubing. Use blue loc-tite or whatever is spec'ed for your sight & scope fasteners. |
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[#8]
Originally Posted By Lomshek: Some practice with your exact rifle mags and ammo to verify that you are dead nuts on at 25 yards and all your stuff is tight is most important. We see a lot of folks struggle because they put sights or a scope on right before the shoot and didn't have time to shoot it to work the bugs out of make sure the scope is adjusted properly for good eye relief. A loose scope or scope rail will take all your fun away real quick. Tight barrel and action mounting is huge after a good cleaning and lubing. Use blue loc-tite or whatever is spec'ed for your sight & scope fasteners. View Quote great Thanks |
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[#9]
I can't tell you how many times we have to adjust scopes for eye relief.
Shooting off the bench and shooting prone will require a different eye relief. |
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N.R.A. Master Class Shooter
Rifleman (Appleseed) www.appleseedinfo.org/arfcom https://www.ar15.com/forums/Industry/Project-Appleseed/820/ |
[#10]
Originally Posted By XxSLASHERxX: I can't tell you how many times we have to adjust scopes for eye relief. Shooting off the bench and shooting prone will require a different eye relief. View Quote Good to know but since someone is shooting from multiple positions, how to go from pron to another without adjusting the scope? @XxSLASHERxX |
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[#11]
Originally Posted By Deuskid: Good to know but since someone is shooting from multiple positions, how to go from pron to another without adjusting the scope? @XxSLASHERxX View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Originally Posted By Deuskid: Originally Posted By XxSLASHERxX: I can't tell you how many times we have to adjust scopes for eye relief. Shooting off the bench and shooting prone will require a different eye relief. Good to know but since someone is shooting from multiple positions, how to go from pron to another without adjusting the scope? @XxSLASHERxX Generally, it will work fine. We teach nose to charging handle with AR15 type rifles. Which gives the same eye relief. With 10/22's use the same checkweld everytime. Hope this helps. |
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N.R.A. Master Class Shooter
Rifleman (Appleseed) www.appleseedinfo.org/arfcom https://www.ar15.com/forums/Industry/Project-Appleseed/820/ |
[#12]
Originally Posted By Deuskid: Good to know but since someone is shooting from multiple positions, how to go from pron to another without adjusting the scope? @XxSLASHERxX View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Originally Posted By Deuskid: Originally Posted By XxSLASHERxX: I can't tell you how many times we have to adjust scopes for eye relief. Shooting off the bench and shooting prone will require a different eye relief. Good to know but since someone is shooting from multiple positions, how to go from pron to another without adjusting the scope? @XxSLASHERxX The way I teach is to find the best eye relief by moving your scope front to rear and then adjust your body's angle relative to the rifle when changing positions so that your eyeball is always the same distance from the scope. To try this yourself start out with a fully squared up modern tactical position. Your shoulders should be 90 degrees relative to the rifle. Note how far back your eye is from the scope. Gradually "blade" 10 degrees at a time then checking again and noting how your eye gets closer to the scope as you bring your shoulder line closer to 45 degrees of the rifle's line. As long as the stock is a reasonable fit for you and the scope is set for a reasonable amount of forward adjustment (way back never works for this) you should be able to find a working set up. Obviously an adjustable length stock makes it even easier but once you get it dialed in you'll probably find a single setting that can work. If you're using a 10/22 and have the time and inclination a cantilevered pic rail will make setting up the scope for best eye relief much easier. Here's the EGW Ruger 10-22 Picatinny Rail Scope Mount. There's also the Outer Impact Picatinny Rail for Ruger 10/22. I think I've installed the EGW but not the Outer Impact. Volquartsen used to make one but they discontinued it as far as I can tell. On most rifles folks need to move the scope 2" - 3" further forward than the scopes are usually set for bench shooting. The beauty of the forward mount is you can use it perfectly for bench shooting too but a bench shooting adjusted scope does not work well for field positions. |
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[#13]
Originally Posted By Lomshek: The way I teach is to find the best eye relief by moving your scope front to rear and then adjust your body's angle relative to the rifle when changing positions so that your eyeball is always the same distance from the scope. To try this yourself start out with a fully squared up modern tactical position. Your shoulders should be 90 degrees relative to the rifle. Note how far back your eye is from the scope. Gradually "blade" 10 degrees at a time then checking again and noting how your eye gets closer to the scope as you bring your shoulder line closer to 45 degrees of the rifle's line. As long as the stock is a reasonable fit for you and the scope is set for a reasonable amount of forward adjustment (way back never works for this) you should be able to find a working set up. Obviously an adjustable length stock makes it even easier but once you get it dialed in you'll probably find a single setting that can work. If you're using a 10/22 and have the time and inclination a cantilevered pic rail will make setting up the scope for best eye relief much easier. Here's the EGW Ruger 10-22 Picatinny Rail Scope Mount. There's also the Outer Impact Picatinny Rail for Ruger 10/22. I think I've installed the EGW but not the Outer Impact. Volquartsen used to make one but they discontinued it as far as I can tell. On most rifles folks need to move the scope 2" - 3" further forward than the scopes are usually set for bench shooting. The beauty of the forward mount is you can use it perfectly for bench shooting too but a bench shooting adjusted scope does not work well for field positions. View Quote Thanks @Lomshek are these pic simply longer than a typical pic rail? Is it because they are cantilevered [forward I assume] whereas a typical pic rail is not? Thanks |
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[#14]
I have the EGR rail on my Appleseed 10/22 and it moves the scope forward an additional inch or two. It's nice to get more distance for prone position.
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Living vicariously through myself.
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[#15]
Originally Posted By Deuskid: Thanks @Lomshek are these pic simply longer than a typical pic rail? Is it because they are cantilevered [forward I assume] whereas a typical pic rail is not? Thanks View Quote Yes the rails extend an inch or two in front of the receiver to get the scope into the usual sweet spot. |
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[Last Edit: DanielleMorgan]
[#16]
I set the eye relief on all my rifles in prone. Why? Because you can only move your head a little bit on the stock from a prone position, but in standing and seated you can stretch your neck forward fairly easily to obtain the proper sight picture. It's the more versatile of your choices. No additional equipment required, so long as your rail is sufficiently long to get you the right eye relief in prone.
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[#17]
Originally Posted By DanielleMorgan: I set the eye relief on all my rifles in prone. Why? Because you can only move your head a little bit on the stock from a prone position, but in standing and seated you can stretch your neck forward fairly easily to obtain the proper sight picture. It's the more versatile of your choices. No additional equipment required, so long as your rail is sufficiently long to get you the right eye relief in prone. View Quote Same for me. Thanks for saying it better! |
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[Last Edit: Deuskid]
[#18]
Thanks guys,
I have a new pic rail being delivered today and plan on going up to the farm this weekend to set up my AS 10/22. Tonight, after work, I'll break in the sling. The pic rail, prone set up tip and the tip in the sling thread about breaking in a sling [and so many other tips] are much appreciated and very helpful to we who are uninitiated. You guys are the best! |
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[#19]
Happy to oblige. That's what we're here for.
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[Last Edit: intheburbs]
[#20]
Originally Posted By Deuskid: Signed up for my first Appleseed in July. using a rest, I'm a decent shooter. I've killed every deer I aimed to hit. Killed the only turkey I ever was close enough to shoot. Can hit a a pie plate at 200 yards with a 30-06 and scope. Been hunting for 9-10 years now. So far no training at all. Should I practice and risk creating bad habits or just wait and go to the shoot cold? Any and All other tips are also more than welcome. Thanks View Quote @Deuskid I will circle back to the "practice" thing... Some folks have had good success preparing their bodies a few weeks before an event..... How old are you? Do you have physical limitations that will hamper you getting into the seated or prone position? Those of us that are older or more infirmed can benefit from practicing getting into the positions and dry firing in the days leading up to an event. 10-20 minutes a day, nothing crazy. It helps to get your body used to those positions, especially prone. You'll be spending a lot of time in it over those two days. |
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[#21]
Originally Posted By intheburbs: @Deuskid I will circle back to the "practice" thing... Some folks have had good success preparing their bodies a few weeks before an event..... How old are you? Do you have physical limitations that will hamper you getting into the seated or prone position? Those of us that are older or more infirmed can benefit from practicing getting into the positions and dry firing in the days leading up to an event. 10-20 minutes a day, nothing crazy. It helps to get your body used to those positions, especially prone. You'll be spending a lot of time in it over those two days. View Quote @intheburbs Thanks. I'm a young, healthy 68. Your advise is good and I am just getting through a busy time at work and was thinking of beginning a set of exercises and practice positions to get myself ready for the rigors of the shoot. Much appreciate it! |
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[#22]
I recently did my first Appleseed at 50. On day two my right elbow busted open and it was awful! I'd practice your positions and toughen your skin up!
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[#23]
Originally Posted By baldbull: I recently did my first Appleseed at 50. On day two my right elbow busted open and it was awful! I'd practice your positions and toughen your skin up! View Quote It's not frowned upon to use elbow pads. You spend a lot of time in prone over the weekend, and skin will blister. Getting good NPOA is all about being relaxed and comfortable. Not very easy if your elbows are raw and bleeding. No need to use actual elbow pads. Just something like a compression sleeve works wonders. I use them in those rare occasions where I'm actually shooting and not instructing. |
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[#24]
I have 3 10/22s ready for appleseed with a M&P 15/22 as a backup.
Shooting CCI stnd velocity but also bring along CCI mini-mags. Is it reasonable to expect that the 10/22s will run ~ 500 rounds without cleaning? 0 Our event is next weekend. It's getting real. |
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[#25]
Originally Posted By Deuskid: Is it reasonable to expect that the 10/22s will run ~ 500 rounds without cleaning? View Quote No, they won't. There's nothing worse than being "in the bubble" on an AQT, only to have a malfunction on stage 2 or 3 kill your score. I always recommend a quick cleaning Saturday night. Doesn't have to be a full detail strip, but hose the chamber with something like CLP and run a boresnake through several times. Then hit the action with some lube like Remoil. |
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[#26]
Boresnake in your pocket.
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Beware of an old man in a profession where men usually die young
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[#27]
Originally Posted By Deuskid: I have 3 10/22s ready for appleseed with a M&P 15/22 as a backup. Shooting CCI stnd velocity but also bring along CCI mini-mags. Is it reasonable to expect that the 10/22s will run ~ 500 rounds without cleaning? 0 Our event is next weekend. It's getting real. View Quote Good luck! I've gotten a few thousand rounds out of 10/22's without cleaning by adding more lube. I like Tri-Flow but some other light oil will probably work OK. Thicker lubes tend to be too viscous for 22LR. Magazines are often the weak spot with the 10/22. Mini-Mags will keep the mags cleaner than SV. |
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[#28]
Are smith 15-22s still not allowed?
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Every citizen should be a soldier. This was the case of the Greeks and Romans and must be that of every free state. -T Jefferson
https://everycitizenasoldier.blogspot.com/ |
[#29]
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[#30]
Originally Posted By intheburbs: No, they won't. There's nothing worse than being "in the bubble" on an AQT, only to have a malfunction on stage 2 or 3 kill your score. I always recommend a quick cleaning Saturday night. Doesn't have to be a full detail strip, but hose the chamber with something like CLP and run a boresnake through several times. Then hit the action with some lube like Remoil. View Quote @intheburbs What, if anything should I do with the trigger assembly? Thanks |
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[Last Edit: intheburbs]
[#31]
Originally Posted By Deuskid: @intheburbs What, if anything should I do with the trigger assembly? Thanks View Quote @Deuskid Most common failures I've seen are 1) carbon/lead fouling of the chamber causing feeding/ejection issues 2) fouling of the firing pin channel on top of the bolt causing light strikes. But the firing pin channel has to be REALLY dirty to cause that. I've seen some frighteningly filthy/caked firing pin channels on a rifle that still functioned flawlessly. I've rarely seen issues with the triggers of the 10/22. And usually it's an aftermarket trigger that's finicky to reset. But since they're so simple to pop out, two pins, if you wanted to pop it out and hose it down, I'm sure it could only help. Really, just hitting the chamber with CLP and running a boresnake through a few times, then hitting the bolt with CLP will eliminate 99% of possible malfunctions. |
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[#32]
Originally Posted By intheburbs: @Deuskid Most common failures I've seen are 1) carbon/lead fouling of the chamber causing feeding/ejection issues 2) fouling of the firing pin channel on top of the bolt causing light strikes. But the firing pin channel has to be REALLY dirty to cause that. I've seen some frighteningly filthy/caked firing pin channels on a rifle that still functioned flawlessly. I've rarely seen issues with the triggers of the 10/22. And usually it's an aftermarket trigger that's finicky to reset. But since they're so simple to pop out, two pins, if you wanted to pop it out and hose it down, I'm sure it could only help. Really, just hitting the chamber with CLP and running a boresnake through a few times, then hitting the bolt with CLP will eliminate 99% of possible malfunctions. View Quote @intheburbs Thanks, stuff like is very helpful for uninitiated folks like me. |
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[#33]
@deuskid
Did we ever hear back from you on this event? Or did I just miss it? |
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[Last Edit: Deuskid]
[#34]
^
I did not report back. I should have. Work kept me from practicing but I don't regret that because I didn't develop any bad habits that way. I learned how a OEM 10/22 needs to have some polishing to it to make it a better firearm, leading to higher level of success. I loved going to the event and will attend another. I took a 22 yr old, 20 yr old and 19 yr old with me [all males]. None of short rifleman but we all had a great time [I was pretty busy organizing, feeding, transporting, etc]. Thanks for asking @DanielMorgan |
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[#35]
Originally Posted By Deuskid: ^ I did not report back. I should have. Work kept me from practicing but I don't regret that because I didn't develop any bad habits that way. I learned how a OEM 10/22 needs to have some polishing to it to make it a better firearm, leading to higher level of success. I loved going to the event and will attend another. I took a 22 yr old, 20 yr old and 19 yr old with me [all males]. None of short rifleman but we all had a great time [I was pretty busy organizing, feeding, transporting, etc]. Thanks for asking @DanielMorgan View Quote Thanks for all you did! That's great!!! Bringing young people who can learn the importance of protecting our hard fought liberties by being an engaged citizen and why it is our duty to stay engaged is far more important than the patch. The Rifleman patch is very cool though and I bet you and they can get it on at the next one now that you have a good idea of what to expect. |
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[#36]
@Deuskid
no sweat, brother. I'm glad you and your companions had a great weekend. The 10/22 out of the box is adequate, but a couple of inexpensive modifications can make a difference. Even if the ONLY thing you do is upgrade that bolt release, you've potentially made the difference between getting all your shots off during stages 2 and 3, and not. I always tell folks if they're only going to do one thing, do THAT thing. User friendliness makes a world of difference, and the part is like $14 at Volquartsen. |
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[#37]
Originally Posted By DanielleMorgan: @Deuskid no sweat, brother. I'm glad you and your companions had a great weekend. The 10/22 out of the box is adequate, but a couple of inexpensive modifications can make a difference. Even if the ONLY thing you do is upgrade that bolt release, you've potentially made the difference between getting all your shots off during stages 2 and 3, and not. I always tell folks if they're only going to do one thing, do THAT thing. User friendliness makes a world of difference, and the part is like $14 at Volquartsen. View Quote @DanielleMorgan I don't think the rifle made the difference between Rifleman or not for me.... having said that my 10/22 wasn't adequately prepared: ~ 3 of the 5 AQTs I was unable to fire all my shots in stage 2 and/or 3 because I had magazine extraction/insertion problems. ~ I'd guess my trigger pull is 6-8 lbs [which I had no reference point] but on day 2 I tried an instructors loaners [a Kidd and the other a brimstone] and the difference was amazing. The instructor laughed and said 'you should have seen your face when you pulled the trigger' ~ further, I'm age 68 and healthy but out of shape, I made it through the 2 days but it affects how steady and focused I could be ~ additionally, there is a factor of hand/eye coordination: I've never had that gift, some do and it makes a difference ~ finally, there is a skill set instructed that teaches how to shoot. I now have those instructions and will memorize them So: to prepare for my next AppleSeed I'm going to Upgrade my trigger group with a Kidd begin a fitness program overcome the last 2 factors by practice, practice and more practice. I'm glad I was able to take my nephew and 2 grandsons and pleased that having attended I was able to learn how to come back prepared. practice, practice |
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[#38]
Your determination and attitude are admirable, sir. I take my hat off to you, and I look forward to your next report!
;) |
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