Home from Appleseed

Sunday, September 21st, 2008 | Best Of, Guns |

The Appleseed shoot was lots of fun and I learned more than I expected. I met Oleg Volk the first day and picked his brain about cameras. He already has pics up.

I qualified marksman the first day. I had hoped to improve the second day but I was too worn out to raise my score and actually shot a little worse.

One thing I learned at Appleseed was the importance of aiming with your feet instead of your arms. That was a revelation. I couldn’t believe how well it worked in standing or prone. I also got enough control that I could watch the sight dip below the bullseye when I inhaled and dip back up to the bullseye when I exhaled.

Things I’m glad I took: a long sleeve shirt for sun and elbow protection, a staple gun for targets, shades, lots of water and Gatorade.

The only thing I want to add to the Ruger 10/22: an extended magazine release. Any suggestions (EDIT: and especially one that isn’t likely to get hit accidentally)?

Heck, as long as I’m editing this, one more thing I’d consider is an automatic bolt release. That wasn’t a huge issue, but it was occasionally annoying.

Tags: appleseed, ruger, ruger 10/22

10 Comments to Home from Appleseed

SayUncle
September 22, 2008

Davis custom. I have one and dig it.

http://www.gunlocators.com/62.html

And ‘haha, told ya’

SayUncle » Appleseed Shoot
September 22, 2008

[...] Les Jones went. [...]

Les Jones
September 22, 2008

“And ‘haha, told ya’”

Yeah, but I was a little concerned about having one that could eject the mag too easily. The guy two mats down from me kept hitting his extended release and losing his mag. He was left-handed, though, so it may have been the way he had to reach around the gun to work the bolt.

I guess a better question would be, what’s a good mag release that isn’t likely to get hit accidentally?

SayUncle
September 22, 2008

Mine works fine. I’ve never had that problem.

Oleg Volk
September 22, 2008

Davis Custom Firearms seems to be out of business. No phone, emails bounce, shopping card checkout doesn’t work. Other sources?

Pictures and Ruger 10/22 notes from the Manchester, TN Appleseed shoot | Les Jones
September 23, 2008

[...] - Home from Appleseed - Ruger 10/22 buying advice - Ruger 10/22 parts - anything else I [...]

SayUncle
September 23, 2008

Oleg, midway has them too:

http://www.midwayusa.com/Eproductpage.Exe/showproduct?saleitemid=662086

so does brownells:

http://www.brownells.com/aspx/ns/store/ProductDetail.aspx?p=13874&title=RUGER~%2010/22~%20EXTENDED%20MAGAZINE%20RELEASE

Natural point of aim - aiming with your feet instead of your hands | Les Jones
September 24, 2008

[...] - Pictures and Ruger 10/22 notes from the Manchester, TN Appleseed shoot - Home from Appleseed - Ruger 10/22 buying advice - Ruger 10/22 parts - anything else I [...]

FM
September 9, 2009

Les,
Thanks for documenting and sharing your experience so well.
You can modify your stock bolt release to convert it to an automatic release design.
Just remove material from one of the holes, changing its shape a bit, and you’re there.

How to:
http://www.pk-gunsmithing.com/The_Ruger_1022_auto_bolt_stop.pdf

I used a small round file, but a dremel would also work. Took me a few cycles of filing and function test before I got a satisfactory result, but it works perfectly and took 10 minutes.

As has been mentioned, Midway offers many good extended mag release choices. I went with an inexpensive plastic version, and it’s been acceptable.

Finally, I resolved a 20% failure to extract rate problem by replacing the Ruger extractor with a Volquartsen EDM cut extractor. Better tool, and has >99% reliability now.

Your family now has a fine tool for learning the skill of marksmanship. Well done, taking steps to pass along this tradition.

Les Jones
September 9, 2009

Glad you enjoyed it. I may have to try that mod.