Hi All. I'm new here. My 14 y/o son and I attended our first Appleseed in June and are just starting out in long guns. He is determined to earn a Rifleman patch and wants to practice his NPOA and cadence after school. I won't let him touch a rifle when I'm not there to supervise, and by the time I'm home from work there's too much going on for him to practice.
I'd like to build something similar to the demo rifle used in the Appleseed class with a bore sight laser and trigger group in a stock. He could practice against an AQT all day without any concerns.
My question is, how do I build it? Is there a materials list? Any idea on cost?
He's using a 10/22, so I was thinking another stock. Not sure where to source the plastic trigger group I saw, and how does it connect to the bore sight?
Thanks for all your help! His birthday is in October and I'd love to give this to him then.
Not sure how "Demo" you want to go but here is something that would work for minimal cost:
(1) pull the firing pin from his 10/22 (fairly easy process, push out the roll pin retainer and pull the firing pin and spring)
(2) buy a stock barrel (less than $50 on ebay), plug it with epoxy or a wooden dowel rod, paint it Orange, and install it in his rifle
(3) lock up the barrel and firing pin and let him practice with the actual rifle he will use.
Doing this will allow you and he to learn much about working on the rifle and Ruger claims that dry firing a 10/22 will not hurt it.
My demo rifle is a complete 10/22 Laser-mark with no bolt and a plugged barrel, a plastic "click" trigger rounds it out but I had a bunch of parts laying about from earlier builds. Whatever he uses, tell him you get to Rifleman the same way you get to Carnegie Hall ... Practice, Practice, Practice! ;)
Go to a local gunshop, ask them for a junk stock for your kid to practice with.
For our demo rifle we use an M1 Garand stock with a wood dowel where a barrel would go. Comes equipped with sling swivels.
Make time for the kid to practice with the actual rifle. If you can't, Dracomeister has a reasonable suggestion.
Here's why: using a rifle that doesn't balance properly or have the same trigger is going to mess him up by forming bad habits. You need that additional mass from a real barrel, and you need real sights. Don't screw around with an old stock, fake trigger, and a wooden dowel.
You want dry practice to be as like the real thing as possible. Safety glasses, muffs if you use them, hat, shooting mat…whatever you wear for the real thing, have it there. Get a couple of EMPTY mags and practice reloads for your transitions stages: load, fire, drop the mag and stick the other one in. Practice NPOA shifts and RELAX into the sling.
Another economical option for home practice is the used Daisy 853 from the CMP ($105). You can practice with the loop sling, but it's best for shrinking your standing position groups, IMHO.