Appleseed shoot. What rifle & sling?

[elmerfudd]

I've signed up for the April 5 & 6 Appleseed shoot in Wenatchee and am debating what rifle to bring.

Here's what I've got. I've got enough ammo tucked away for any of these, but I'm a little short on cash right now, so buying an iron sighted 10/22 isn't an option. I've got other rifles as well, but either for ammo expense reasons or because they lack iron sights I don't consider them suitable.

1) PSL. I've got 4 mags, and plenty of cheap surplus ammo, (3000+ rounds), that it shoots about 3 MOA with. It's got a long sight radius and I've got a Krebs peep sight I can swipe off an AK if need be. I'm worried about two things with this rifle however. I'm thinking the recoil might prove to be too much for shooting 200+ rounds with a lot of it from the prone and since the forward sling mount attaches directly to the barrel, I'm worried that shooting from a tight sling will result in poor accuracy. Recoil isn't usually a problem with me, but I don't usually shoot 400+ rounds in a weekend either.

2) Finn M39. Great rifle. Shoots under 2 MOA with the right ammo and about 2.5 with surplus. It's a bolt action and it'll also be a hard kicker for prolonged shooting. I've got good strippers and a shooting sling should work well with it. I'm thinking of using this for a backup to the PSL.

3) Converted Saiga .223. This is a pretty decent rifle, but ammo is a little pricier than the two above, the sight radius is shorter and it will have similar sling issues to the PSL. I do have the ammo, but I'd just as soon not shoot up my Radway green. I also have a SAR3 that shoots just about as well.

4) Unconverted Saiga 7.62x39. I've got the ammo for this rifle, but shooting from a warm barrel it's not as accurate as the ones above and it has the same sling issues.

5) Yugo 59/66 SKS. I'm kind of leaning towards this one if the PSL doesn't work out. I'm not sure how well a shooting sling will work off it, but it ought to work better than with an AK based rifle. Maybe if I could get some Tech sights for it?

6) Yugo 24/47. It's a pretty decent Mauser and I've got a lot of 50's 8mm on stripper clips. This would also make a good backup, but I think the M39 is a better rifle.

So for those of you who have already done an Appleseed, which rifle do you think I should go with and how much of a problem do you think the sling mounting on the AK based rifles will be as far as accuracy goes?

 

[silverlance]

you'd be best off using a semi at an appleseed shoot.

 

[chris in va]

1. Absolutely not. Way too ungainly for the drills.

2. Nope. Need detatchable mags, plus it'll beat the snot out of you. Bolt action.

3. Nah. A guy brought his AK to class and he had problems with the grip getting in the way.

4. Eh, so-so. I used my x39 Saiga but had problems with the sight, plus the standard 'GI sling' wouldn't fit. Probably the best out of your list, but nowhere near the best period.

5. Again, need detatchable mags. Sights suck, so definitely go with the TechSights. Might be do-able. Ok, maybe 50/50 with the Saiga on this one *if* you get the sights. Only if.

6. Gonna beat the tar out of you. NO. Bolt action.

I agree, bring a semiauto. Thing is the class is set up for US style shooting, so up/down mag change drills with GI sling.

The deal is, I blew through 500rds of ammo at the class. For x39, that was $100 alone. Can you borrow a friend's semiauto 22 or something? Know someone with a Ruger?

BTW whatever you do bring, be absolutely sure you have it sighted in for 25 yards already. I mean dead center. First day of my class, we spent 4 freakin hours sighting in on that $&#^ little square. What a waste of ammo.

 

[funfaler]

Be sure to bring a center fire rifle that you can shoot out to 500 yards, you may have access to this at that locaiton.

The SKS, with Tech-sights would be a good option.

Having one rifle for the 25 meter portion of the course, then another for the actual distance should be fine.

Keep in mind that this is not a competition, but a learning clinic. While part of it is timed, you are there to learn and gain skills.

This might be a good time to "invest" in a Ruger 10/22 with Tech-Sights, the cost of 400 rounds of center fire would almost pay for it.

As to your concerns about the sling, try to have this style of sling http://www.ray-vin.com/tech/websling/webslinghelp.htm And it need not be super tight to gain a benefit from it.

Enjoy the shoot.