Project Appleseed

At most, but not all, of the shoots I work there is at least one tube-fed rifle on the line - usually a Marlin 60 but there have been Remington Nylon 66s, Browning SA-22s and others on occasion. I've always wanted to qualify with a Browning BL-22 lever action. You know there is a tube-fed rifle on the line when there's a long pause between the end of the preparation period and the "Load" command.

How can you speed up the loading process? If you have a rifle whose tube fits under the barrel, you can easily speed load it. For years I scavenged soda straws for use as speedloaders. (Chik-fil-A is my favorite.) I put a strip of tape over one end and inserted the rounds, nose first, into the other. They help, but have their limitations: They hold only seven rounds; they are fragile, and they allow the rounds to fall out when transported.

Appleseeder Tube Fed Guy, an IIT based in Virginia, came up with an ingenious solution to the slow-loading problem.  His home-made speedloader is rugged and secure. It's also inexpensive. And it's versatile. You can have one that matches the maximum capacity of your rifle's magazine, or one that holds just the eleven rounds you need for a rapid-fire AQT stage. Attached to this article is a photo of Doug's loader. Here's how to make one.

Parts and materials for Doug's 11-round tube:
•   3/8" PVC plumbing tube 12 5/8" long
•   3/8" hex bolt, short in length
•   Hitch pin 1 1/8" OAL
•   Cord
•   Glue

Construction is simple: Tie one end of the cord around the hex bolt, then glue and screw the hex bolt into one end of the PVC tube. At the other end of the tube, drill a hole ¼" from the end of the tube, sized just large enough for the hitch pin. Tie the other end of the cord around the hitch pin.

Fill your new loader with rounds, and insert the hitch pin to hold everything together.

Loading procedures for tube-fed rifles are formulated to maintain safety while making it easy for the shooter to manipulate the rifle and rounds after the prep period ends. Here is the procedure:

Upon the command Shooters, Your Preparation Has Ended:
•   Place the safety on.
•   Insert your chamber flag.
•   Prep the tube with the appropriate number of rounds. While this can be done while kneeling, it is preferable and safer to sit cross-legged, perpendicular to the target with the muzzle downrange, with the rifle butt under one thigh and the barrel over the other.
•   For the Transition Stages, Stage 2 and Stage 3, the appropriate number of rounds will be 11. After firing 2 rounds, the next 1 will be ejected and firing will continue.
•   Lock the tube plunger.
•   At the LOAD command, remove the flag, insert a round in the chamber, and take the safety off.    

Attached to this article is a MS Word file which contains the loading instructions for tube-fed rifles on the Appleseed line. It is designed to fit the Avery clean edge business card template.

My solutions is to take an arrow and saw of the ends. Then I take a 308 casing and saw off the base and tape it to the arrow tube. The 308 casing will fit perfectly into the rifle tube. Ear foam plugs can be inserted into the ends of the tube and casing to encase the cartridges.

But my favorite solution is to have them borrow one of my 10/22s. It saves them and everyone else a lot of time and they are much happier.

I can improve your solution ever so slightly,  DonD.  I stick with my Model 60 out of pure stubborn cussedness, but one minor difference from your approach smooths the process.

I, too, use cheap arrow shafts.  We cut the fletched end off, filed the rough edges, and cap the end with rubber automotive vacuum caps. I don't remember the original application (make/model) of the ones that worked best,  but we just went to a parts store that caters primarily to pro shops (better selection) and tried them till we found the one that fit.  It think it might be for a Benz. Anyway,  no tape required,  and I pull the cap with my teeth.

Fireman Bob

Unless I misunderstand the instruction on how to construct and use this loader then the 22 rounds in your photo appear to be pointing in the wrong direction.  Is this correct?

Terry

Yes, they are. I was only thinking about demonstrating the length of the tube to fit eleven rounds. The rounds should go in nose-first. When I get a chance, I'll re-shoot the photo.

I haven't tried this in an Appleseed event, but it works very well filling the tube in my Remington 572, https://ads.midwayusa.com/product/685100/spee-d-loader-spee-d-6-22-caliber-rimfire-tube-magazine-rifle-ammunition-loader-polymer-clear?cm_mmc=pf_ci_google-_-Shooting+-+Range+Accessories-_-Spee-D-Loader-_-685100&gclid=CJvHrP7__NQCFcKKswod_uAMtg.

Each chamber holds up to 15 rounds and if memory serves me there are 8 chambers.

Quote from: dond on July 08, 2017, 05:16:07 PM
My solutions is to take an arrow and saw of the ends. Then I take a 308 casing and saw off the base and tape it to the arrow tube. The 308 casing will fit perfectly into the rifle tube. Ear foam plugs can be inserted into the ends of the tube and casing to encase the cartridges.

My first thought on viewing this was "how the heck can that possibly work..." and then I remembered that since I've only shot archery in the SCA, lots of people don't use wooden arrows...  **)

I have made the same speed loaders for my tube fed, with some small changes.  For the end cap instead of using a (relatively) expensive bolt, I put a zip tie.  Drill a hole in the end of the tube, but the head of the zip tie in the tube, and run the tail through the whole thing.  This also gives a place to tie your hitch pin with a piece of kite string / twine.  I used PEX for mine as I had a role left over from running a new refrigerator line.

We have used all of the above including brake line with a 308 shell glued on the base. These are super strong.

Just make sure you instruct the shooters to put them in the proper way depending on whether it loads up front or from the rear. ;)
Once in the border town of El Paso, we grabbed a hand full of the wide diameter straws and even used those to good effect.
We pinched the bottom of the straw after using a bit of super glue to keep it in place.

My 1965 boyhood Nylon 66 goes small game hunting each year with me and I have a half dozen of these that are pre-loaded that I carry in an old over the shoulder archery quiver.
Thanks for this post!

Quote from: TaosGlock on July 10, 2017, 11:16:04 PM

My 1965 boyhood Nylon 66 goes small game hunting each year with me and I have a half dozen of these that are pre-loaded that I carry in an old over the shoulder archery quiver.
Thanks for this post!

You know, I've kicked around getting a quiver. On the line shooting AQTs I just stick one in my back pocket, along with the rod.

My hubby Mr. Smith still has the nylon 66 he bought for himself at a pawn shop in Shreveport LA for $40 in 1979. He's got a soft spot for that thing, that's for sure!

Hardee's straws with some tape were what we used in the old days. They work, cost nothing, andy ou don't care if someone walks off with one.

5/16" vacuum caps fit about right on the aluminum arrows that I bought.  The arrows are listed as having an outside diameter of 8.73mm (.34"), which is typical of every other aluminum arrow I looked at.  I bought a variety pack of vacuum caps and tried them all.  5/16" fit, but a bit of gun oil made them better.  (I know this is an old thread, but I wanted to share the size).

Quote from: Shue on February 22, 2022, 12:13:50 PM
5/16" vacuum caps fit about right on the aluminum arrows that I bought.  The arrows are listed as having an outside diameter of 8.73mm (.34"), which is typical of every other aluminum arrow I looked at.  I bought a variety pack of vacuum caps and tried them all.  5/16" fit, but a bit of gun oil made them better.  (I know this is an old thread, but I wanted to share the size).

Thanks, Shue!!  I guess that means you won't need to borrow mine  :cool2:

I haven't taken my henry .22 to an appleseed (yet), however I have used it at a number of speed style matches.  I have used a spee-d-loader to great effect at these.  It lets you load multiple tubes ahead of time, and then just dump them down the magazine tube.  When the next stream comes, twist the top, and you can pour down the next tube.  With a little practice, I've found I can reload my henry faster than I can load magazines.  You can get them from a number of places for about $25, here is a link to it on midway.  https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1015314374 (https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1015314374)

Thanks for the link, I have individual tubes that I use, the hardest part is getting the rubber cap off.  That looks much cleaner to use.

 All good thoughts for tube fed riflemen. cheap and easy, better with some good materials & time and just go out and buy it!

When I did events in Maine the line could have 1/3 tube fed participants, so having a few with your loaner 'stuff' ain't a bad idea.