Appleseed shoot stock and parts help

[blackwolfe]

I'm participating in an Appleseed shoot in April. This will be my third, and will be joined by some friends shooting their first which is great. I've been trying to talk some friends into it for some time, unfortunately for me, four of them finally said yes at the same time. I have a 10-22 set up for me, now I need to set up some Ruger 10-22s for the rest of them. I have the 10-22s, but some of them have are older or collectable and have nice walnut stocks that I don't want to get messed up and keep original. I need to get some cheap carbine stocks and at least one youth stock to set up for sling swivels. I plan to make the stocks available to the local AS shoot boss and maybe the rifles themselves for future Appleseeds.

What I need to know is for swivel installation for the for-end should I get the wood screw type, or the machine screw type? What distance from the butt and for-end tip should I mount the studs? I know there are several brands available, any one brand better or preferred over another?

I also need to get some extended mag releases, auto bolt releases, swivels, slings, scope rails, and rings to get the 10-22s set up to be more efficient for Appleseed. Any recommendations for specific parts or other gun preparations I should do? I may set up at least one of the 10-22s with military style peep sights, and the rest with scopes that I have on hand, but I have to see what I have for that. I'm concerned that the scopes I have around are center fire scopes with 100 yard parallax and won't be able to focus well at 25 meters. Should I be concerned about that? I wasn't planning on trying to get this many 10-22s Appleseed ready at once, so I need to keep cost down to get them all prepared. Any changes other than basic rifle modifications to be workable for Appleseed such as trigger, bolt, or barrel work, will have to wait until another time when I can afford it.

The shooters will be two sisters that I have known for many years and the sons of one of the sisters. Their experience ranges from a very little experience and knowledge, to some youth rimfire instruction, to more trigger time with less instruction.

Any recommendations or suggestions you can make would be appreciated. Thank you.

[les snyder]

you can modify the stock bolt catch (B-41 in the exploded diagram)  by grinding the pointed dimple ( located in the cutout) and making it a smooth radius... allows you to drop the bolt by retracting the charging handle... drill and tap the mag release (B-34) for a simple hex headed cap screw to act as a mag release lever... a piece of hardwood epoxied to the base of the factory mags helps with reloads... caution the new shooters not to trust the extractor to remove a live round from the chamber

http://www.ruger1022.com/trigger_diagram.htm

mag release and mag with wood block

[blackwolfe]

Thanks for the tips Les.  I'm going to try the bolt lock modification, but I want to pick up an extra one or two in case I mess it up.

[MikeBjerum]

I have not done the research this morning, but in the past I have found good deals on Midway USA (my favorite because of how the Potterfields have set up their foundation) and Brownells.  If you have a friend with a FFL registered with them, or if you have done so, there is another level of pricing.

Other than those two, or actually first, check with local mom & pops for discounts for this purpose.

[Majer]

Check the Ruger Forum, Lot's of 10-22 stuff sold there, Have to join to put up a WTB ad, but it's a real good forum.
http://www.rugerforum.com/phpBB3/

Sorry Wolfe I forgot you were already a member...

[Sponsor]

[Big Frank]

I bought a bolt catch that was made to work how Les said. For me it was easier to change it out than to modify the original.

As far as sling mounts mine is attached to the barrel band so you don't have to drill any holes for a front sling stud. There are several different kinds available.

The extended mag release I have is plastic and didn't cost much at all. It's very comfortable and works well. And it's easy to change while you have things apart changing the bolt catch.

I have a double mag connector for two standard mags. It inserts easily and you have an extra 10 rounds ready to go by flipping it over. I also have a bunch of high capacity mags but in my experience the originals work better.

[ellis4538]

They also make a 3 way holder for mags, but I'm not sure who.

Richard

[Big Frank]

There's also a 4 magazine holder. Brownells has it. There was one like this that had storage for 50 rounds in the middle. I found a video of the dual mag holder. I epoxied mine together.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrKtoSZMUpM

[scottr]

After 2 Appleseed shoots last year, I wanted to try out the different sight options. I bought Tech Sights and Nodak Spud NDS sights. Both are way better than the stock Ruger sights, but I much prefer the NDS sights. They have a fine front sight post, seem more easily adjusted, and are made in the USA. They are also about $100 a set instead of $70.

All of the auto bolt releases I looked at seemed the same, no matter the price or name.

The cheap plastic Butler Creek style mag releases work well. I used a Tactical Solutions release that is long enough that I could release from a firing grip, so my mag was dropped even before I reached for the next mag. But no big deal, the cheapies work well.

I used Blackhawk 1.25" sling swivels (Made in USA, unlike Uncle Mikes; and Blackhawk was cheaper!) and ordered cotton slings directly from Appleseed.

If you are using scopes, the Ruger stock is (for me) woefully low. I had to build up a cheeckpiece with closed cell foam and tape; my shooting partner made his with foam and leather he hand-stitched himself (he is 14; it looked almost professionally done).

This years rifle has a Boyds Tacticool stock, a Whistlepig barrel, and some small parts from Rimfire Technologies. I need to get the .920 NDS front sight and get the barrel on then go sight it in.

[blackwolfe]

I build up the cheek piece with foam pipe insulation and use 3M Vetrap  to hold it in place.
http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/AnimalCareNA/Home/ProductCatalog/~/3M-VetRap-Bandaging-Tape-4-?N=3294398427+7578309&rt=rud
The stuff is stretchy and sticks to itself.  You can get it inline or at farm supply stores for about $3.00 a roll.  There are other cheaper brands, but the 3M stuff works really well.  I keep the rest of the unused roll in a baggie, because it seems to loose it's self stickiness after the package is open for a while.
You can get the foam pipe insulation in different thicknesses or stack pieces to get the thickness you need.