Bought a 10/22 tonight...

[SchooBaka]

Big 5's got em on sale for 229. The salesman said the floor model was there last one; I get the feeling they try to sell the floor models first so they can put a shiny new one in the rack, but it looked good, not too many paw marks, so I said I'll take it.

Anyways, my primary reason for buying it is to turn it into an LTR and go to some apple seed shoots. I still want to qualify with my Garand, but figured I'd get the 10/22 and learn the fundamentals on the cheap ammo. Hopefully by the time I've got it down, I'll be set up on the Dillon 650 to load my own 30.06 ball rounds. I've got lots of brass ready to go.

Anyone got any pointers on installing the tech sights, sling swivels, brake in, best ammo, etc...?

[RomeoTwoOne]

Ammo: 22LR CCI Blazer worked great for me in many competitions, including Appleseed, Steel Madness, and so on. Very accurate, and very reliable primers. Federal JHP bulk back used to be my go to ammo, but had plenty of duds, and stay away from Winchester bulk pack, which even had more duds. Try a brick of Blazer, and buy a case of 5,000 if it works great for your rifle

Sling: Generally, the Appleseed standard sling is a USGI Cotton Web Sling and Blackhawk QD Sling Swivels of the appropriate size work fine

Sights: What I've heard from fellow instructors about tech sights is that the instructions are printed wrong, and the adjustments are the opposite of what the manual says. Get your rifle zeroed before an appleseed and do buy an M16 front sight adjustment tool before you go

Stock: Since you want to qualify with your M1 Garand later on, why don't you mod a surplus garand stock and install it to your 10/22? I've seen it done on some 22LR forum, but can't find it right now unfortunately.

Mags: Get at least 4 reliable magazines. Those 10 round single stack *banana clip* magazines or similar style works great for reloads, and try some mag couplers or tape to speed up reloads. That technique works great for stage 2 of the AQT

Edit:

http://www.fredsm14stocks.com/rifle.asp?ITEM=2

http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_6_6/224636_10_22_AS_A_COST_AND_AMMO_SAVING_TRAINING_RIFLE.html

Just in case I forgot to add anything:

http://www.appleseedinfo.org/as_prepare.html

Good luck, and I'll see you at Appleseed some time
-Romeo

[SchooBaka]

Thanks Romeo,
The stock idea sounds interesting, gonna look into it.
Wondering which techsights to get, tsr 100, or the tsr 200?

[Socalman]

Get one or two of the Tri-Mag holders from Alan Gaitor (sp?). It allows you to have 30 shots right on the rifle, even though you have to change the mag. With practice the mag change takes about 1 second.

For ammo, I have found the 10/22 takes anything I put through it, though I have had two fail to fires with Remington Golden Bullets. My personal favorite (and that is all it is my favorite, not the best) are the Federal Champions in 525 bulk boxes. Pick them up at Turner's on sale and you are sitting in tall cotton!

[trob]

Get one or two of the Tri-Mag holders from Alan Gaitor (sp?). It allows you to have 30 shots right on the rifle, even though you have to change the mag. With practice the mag change takes about 1 second.

For ammo, I have found the 10/22 takes anything I put through it, though I have had two fail to fires with Remington Golden Bullets. My personal favorite (and that is all it is my favorite, not the best) are the Federal Champions in 525 bulk boxes. Pick them up at Turner's on sale and you are sitting in tall cotton!

There's a Calguns discount on Trimags. The manufacturer is "alangator"

Agreed, for ammo, I would stay from anything that says Remington. Try some cci sv and some wolf mt. To break the gun in, just shoot it. Sling swivels=pilot hole and screw them in...

[RomeoTwoOne]

Thanks Romeo,
The stock idea sounds interesting, gonna look into it.
Wondering which techsights to get, tsr 100, or the tsr 200?

Not a problem, I'm happy to help out
Not a garand stock, but techniques and know how can easily be applied to a Garand stock

http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=471059

As for the tech sights, get whichever has the smallest aperture you can use, and looks like the TR200 has more elevation adjustment

http://www.tech-sights.com/ruger3.htm

If you do get the M16 style dual aperture, you can get a nut and machine screw, drill a hole of the desired diameter into the screw, and install it onto the 200 meter hole for a custom sized aperture. Works great on AR15 style sights

As for ammunition in terms of reliability based on personal experiences and what I've observed as an ITT at appleseeds, here is what I feel is most to least reliable:

1. CCI brand Ammunition, Blazer, etc *
2. Federal Brand Bulk Ammo
3. Winchester Brand Bulk Ammo
4. Remington Brand "Golden Saber"

*Though I've gone through half a case of Blazer CCI 22LR with zero failures, one of my close friends/ shoot boss said he once had a brick of CCI Blazer that were half duds back during the ammo rush of 2008. My case of ammo was bought earlier this year, 2011, with no problems thus far.

Edit: Try a variety of lubricants on your 10/22 at the range before going to an Appleseed. The Appleseed I scored rifleman at had rainy and cold weather, that caused two 10/22 to go out of action due to its heavy oily lubricant thickening in the cold and grit, causing the action to seize and malfunction. My M&P-15 22LR ran fine in this weather with dry lube, since dry lube does not attract grit, dirt, or cause the action to seize, so do try it.

[SchooBaka]

Thanks all.
Decided on the tsr100 sights. I don't see much advantage to the range adjustment and like the idea of a lower cheek weld. Ordered a sling and sight tool from them too. Hopefully they show up on the door step about the same time I get her out of jail.
I found an m1 carbine stock and like the idea, future upgrade.

[jccam]

1) Would the TSR100 or TSR200 be better for Appleseed and WHY?

2) Has anyone used one of the M1 carbine stocks for the 10/22 at Appleseed, and is its sling arrangement well suited for Appleseed?

[dg29]

There is no "Best Ammo" fro a 10/22. They vary on what they like so I'd suggest trying a few brands. The rifle will tell you what it likes when the group tighten up. Mine have told me that they like Wolf, Federal Auto Match, and Federal 510. This after trying out probably 15 different brands and running it through them. When you find the ammo brand that it likes tag it. You may not remember which one it likes since those things seems to breed and you'll eventually have a few of them. At least that was my case until that boating accident.

[REPR]

Remembered seeing this stock in their shooting catalog

http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/cb/10-22-m1-carbine-conversion-wood-stock.aspx?a=704923

[MrExel17]

Congrats, I agree with CCI and tri-mags are a must!

[pdude]

1) Would the TSR100 or TSR200 be better for Appleseed and WHY?

2) Has anyone used one of the M1 carbine stocks for the 10/22 at Appleseed, and is its sling arrangement well suited for Appleseed?

I'm in the same boat as you as I want something for Appleseed as well as for personal range use. I'm leaning towards the TSR100 from the reviews I've read. For the sling if I don't find more information I may just use a cheapo one I have.

[jccam]

What makes you lean toward the TSR100 versus the 200?

[pdude]

I heard the TSR100 is not as high up on the rifle and several had complained that the tsr200 is a little high. But in the end I went with the TSR200 that I ordered last night. Figured this way I can play with and get familiar with an elevation adjustment on the rear sight.

[BlueDog333]

What ever you do don't forget to use blue Loctite threadlocker on the front sight to keep it in place before you take the rifle out to shoot. I took mine with brand new TSR 200 sights out to the range just once and lost the front sight putting the rifle back into my case. You would think it would be extremely secure with three screws but no, it still comes off very easily if bumped and you'll be the one screwed if you don't use thread locker.
I will say though that the TSR 200 is great for practising 100+ yard iron sights shooting. Appleseeds are just 82 feet though, less then 28 yards. I had to raise the front sight very high and have the rear sight adjusted all the way down to the max for my last Appleseed.