What Rifle for an Appleseed Shoot?

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bravo2uniform

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Project Appleseed is an activity of The Revolutionary War Veterans Association..."dedicated to teaching every American our shared heritage and history as well as traditional rifle marksmanship skills." They hold weekend clinics across the country. My wife and I have decided to attend one of the clinics. Our goal is to increase our emergency preparedness skills as well as have some good fun. We will be shooting iron sights out to 300 m - Standing at 100m, sitting at 200m and prone for 300m.

Now for the fun part, selecting our firearms.

My first option is to purchase an additional AR-15 for my wife. The positives include being the same caliber, parts and magazine interchangeability and a well known platform. The downside is forking over $ 1000.00 for another rifle which I really can't afford. The AR is accurate enough to easily shoot 300 m.

My second option is to purchase a Mini 14 (580 Series). The positives are the low price tag and same caliber. The negatives are the expense of spare magazines and the Mini 14's accuracy. The 580 Series Mini 14 sports a heavier barrel and is said to be more accurate. The question is: can it shoot accurately enough at 300 m to qualify?

The final option is to go with a 7.62 x 39 AK clone platform. On the upside, I can field two rifles and ammunition is cheap. Again the question is: can it shoot accurately enough at 300 m to qualify?

The fundamental question would the Mini 14 or 7.62X39 be accurate enough or should I pony up the bucks for another AR? What other positives and negatives spring to mind?
 
Why is a rimfire not a option? You could buy one each for you and the wife, plenty of ammo, and maybe even some cheaper optics for less than one ar
 
An SKS is not a bad way to go for an inexpensive centerfire rifle....see PDF of the "SKS Project", making a Rifleman's SKS attached.
 

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Why is a rimfire not a option?
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That's a good point...you'll most likely be shooting at 25m on Saturday at scaled-down targets..... a couple of .22 rifles would be plenty adequate (and ammo is A LOT cheaper). Depending on the range, you may do KD at longer ranges on Sunday (assuming you qualify at 25m), when you'd use the centerfire rifles.
 
SKS Project

An SKS is not a bad way to go for an inexpensive centerfire rifle....see PDF of the "SKS Project", making a Rifleman's SKS attached
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Good Read. I would assume you could slick up an AK clone as well.
 
Rimfire

The rimfire is a good idea for the 25 meter component. That is what we did in the Army - 25 meter with M-16a1 using the 22 lr conversion.

Thank heavens .22 ammo is still cheap!
 
Rimfires are fine if you are shooting 25 meters, but for 100, 200, & 300 I'd stick to the AR.

The AR would be an excellent choice, I shoot my at 200, 300, 600 & 1000.

I haven't attended any Appleseed shoots but I would be willing to bet, like any other rifle shoots, they would put you on differant relays so you can shoot the same rifle.

I would hold off going the second rifle bit until you can afford to get what you really want. Its a good point about using the same magazines 'n such.
 
One of these days I have to get my vz-58 to an Appleseed, but I can never magage to have time/money/correct days off at the same time. I got three mags and adjustable sights for the bolt action 7.62x39mm CZ 527M, wonder how well I could do with that one? :)
Can I make a suggestion for that rifle selection? Get what SHE is comfortable with. if she likes the Mini, all good. If all she wants is a tricked out 10/22, also all good for Appleseed. If she's happy, awesome.:cool:
 
That's true...you could pickup a couple Marlin 795s and a couple extra mags, put on sling swivel posts with QD swivels, a couple 1-1/4" M1 web slings, and even add TechSights for around $500. And take turns shooting the AR on KD...
 
I know I know nothing, but are you both shooting at the same time? If not why use two guns when one might surfrice?

Jim
 
I know I know nothing, but are you both shooting at the same time? If not why use two guns when one might surfrice?

Jim
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Most of the training is on Saturday, and each student really needs their own rifle. On Sunday, at the Known Distance range (if they have one), you COULD get by with one rifle per shooter, if you had to.
 
Since Appleseed shoots involve a lot of shooting and are often shot entirely at 25Meters, a scoped semi-auto rimfire is probably the ideal choice.
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Depends on your age and your eyeballs....I can still shoot my M1 Garand with peep sights, but I do A LOT better with my .22 rifle and my .17HMR with a scope!
 
the two day appleseed event is conducted primarily on the 25 yard line. Day one is only 25 yards, and there is no time for rifle sharing on the line. The information comes on fast and heavy, and to get the most out of it each shooter needs his own rifle, ear and eye protection, and staple gun. Depending on the range, there may be a known distance component, but that is usually after lunch on sunday, and there is no requirement to shoot it. I would recomend that time and money be spent on a good pair of .22's, G.I. web slings, either a set of tech sights or a williams peep sight, and spare magazines.
 
I used my Saiga conversion for the Appleseed in 2005. It was horrible, couldn't see the sights and the mags got in the way.

IMO the best gun for Appleseed is the 10/22 with TechSights. Next up would be an AR, Garand or M1A.
 
I would recommend a .22 rifle if the Appleseed event you're attending has only 25 meters. The shooting instruction at 25 yards has proven to work effectively out to 1,000 yards. It's the same principles for the most part, besides BDC and Wind Compensation.

Anyway, you'll do a lot of shooting both days so the .22 isn't a bad choice. I have seen a lot of shooters bring in their battle rifles and get so frustrated because they're not used to the recoil while learning the applications of Marksmanship.
.22's are the best training rifles out there, and that's what we teach at Appleseed; Marksmanship. We're not asking out shooters to have the most rigged out assault rifle; rather to be able to shoot that rigged out assault rifle when you're done with the weekend.

After you attend a weekend with a .22, you can go to your home range, and practice with your bigger rifles. If you do all the techniques correctly, you will notice that recoil doesn't affect a stable shooting platform (your body).

So my point is: don't feel like you're under-gunned or the wimp of the pack because you're learning with a .22, because in reality, you're actually the smartest of the bunch (compared to those inexperience starting off with battle rifles/assault rifles) by taking small steps into Rifle Marksmanship.
 
Unless your event is confirmed to have a long range component I'd assume 25 m only. Get a 22lr, semi-auto, 2 magazines that do NOT protrude much (you're shooting prone, Ruger 10/22 with 25 round sticks don't work well) and a sling.
If you're looking into customizing for the Appleseed, get an extended magazine release and an automatic bolt release, saves you a couple seconds in the timed rounds on magazine changes. Investing the extra $20 for a decent scope base might also help.
 
For the .22lr category...
Marlin 795 outfitted with Tech Sights, Sling & Bipod.
The new 25-round mags (Shooter's Ridge) work from Prone...IF you use a bipod.

With that setup, you can shoot Black Death Targets and totally smoke your competition :D
 
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