Project Appleseed

Late in 2014 I read that many shooters were having some challenges with barrel alignment with the new Ruger 10/22 Contest Rifle.  Have these issues been taken care of by Ruger?  It looks like Ruger is now shipping additional rifles to distributors and I am thinking about getting two, one for each of my two boys.  Recent experiences with this rifle?  I like the idea of getting an Appleseed rifle right from the box.  How close is it to ready from the box?  Those that have them are you happy with them?  Would you buy it again?  Thanks! 

There was certainly a problem with a few of the early production rifles, but I haven't heard of many new ones. Ruger was pretty quick to replace rifles for customers and dealers who contacted them. The Contest rifle is definitely the most comfortable 10/22 I've ever held, and with the different sizes of stock inserts is designed to be a "family rifle" that fits everyone.

I don't remember if it comes with a sling, although it definitely has the swivel studs. If it doesn't have a sling, you can get one here: http://store.rwvaappleseed.com/page13.html

Also see the review of the 50th anniv. rifle in the Appleseed Newsletter:
http://appleseedinfo.org/smf/index.php?topic=43961.0

I purchased mine a couple of months ago.  No issues with barrel alignment but, of course, that is only one data point.

I bought two.  One seems ok and one seems to have the barrel alignment issue.  Both had loose flash hiders.  Overall, I'm pleased with them.

I prefer the CZ 512 over the Ruger 10/22 50th Anniversary.

http://appleseedinfo.org/smf/index.php?topic=44267.0
http://www.rimfireessentials.com/Six-Ways-Your-Rifle-is-Hurting-Your-Scores-Part-1_b_4.html

I just purchased my 50th contest rifle, Did any one else have mag problems with them.
The mag would not fall out when the release was pressed. A little coaxing ( needle nose pliers ) and they would come out.
The guy at my lgs said just keep inserting and removing a mag. You tube said a dremmel tool to the inside of the stock. I decided to split the difference and go with 800 grit sand paper, 10 mins later and is smooth as butter. I wonder why these cam out this was. My takedown and wood stock one for the wife never had this issue. 

Cable Guy: It is not unusual, especially with the polymer stocks, for the magazine fit to be on the tight side. Whoever the Bubba on Youtube was, one doesn't put a dremel near any part of a firearm without expert knowledge of what to do. Sanding the inside of the stock as you did is the standard way to adjust the fit. The magazines should drop freely when you press the release, but they should not fit so loosely as to rock when inserted. As you saw, a little sanding goes a long way.

Quote from: FiremanBob on April 16, 2015, 08:38:23 PM
Cable Guy: It is not unusual, especially with the polymer stocks, for the magazine fit to be on the tight side. Whoever the Bubba on Youtube was, one doesn't put a dremel near any part of a firearm without expert knowledge of what to do. Sanding the inside of the stock as you did is the standard way to adjust the fit. The magazines should drop freely when you press the release, but they should not fit so loosely as to rock when inserted. As you saw, a little sanding goes a long way.

Another easy way is to lightly file the sides and the ends of the magazines (you'll see they definitely aren't flat!) and touch up the corners as well.

RR

Range Rat, that works for that magazine.  If you mod the rifle (gently!), it will work with every magazine.

At Appleseed this weekend I had No problems with the Mags after a little 800 grit sandpaper.
A few stove pipes , but Rambo Granny a bore snake and some CLP fixed that issue. 

My best AQT was 205 so close.  Almost there , More Dry Fire and home and Lord willing I will break through on the next Appleseed.

Quote from: The Wolfhound on April 20, 2015, 10:12:14 AM
Range Rat, that works for that magazine.  If you mod the rifle (gently!), it will work with every magazine.

That might be your experience but mine is otherwise.  I've mod'd well over an ammo can of mags to fix this problem across lots of rifles and yet the only stock I've ever had to touch up was a Christie....

We had half or our shooters at the NRA Whittington Center show up with these rifles for our Patriot's Day shoot.
That was an honor considering it was designed by an Appleseeder!

The poor quality rear sight was a joke and a huge disapointment. 

From what I gathered from the shooters, there were no instructions on rear sight adjustment with the rifle. One shooter, using his i-phone,  downloaded a file apparently from Ruger's webpage and finally somewhere found some instructions.

The shooters got together as a team to correct their problem (we had a small group anyway so little time was lost).
They needed 3 different sized allen screws and a pair of needle nose pliers to twist the rear sight down far enough to get on the squares.
Yeah, I held my breath too as they turned it down pretty far.
Fortunately all the Ruger shooters were somewhat familiar with their rifle before they came.

Elevation/windage were tied together in a very awkward system.
I assume this design is something Ruger came up with and not a Rifleman.

After all the adjustment exercise was done, they finally got them zeroed for 25M.
The rifles shot very consistent 3MOA groups when the shooters could do their part and one even shot Rifleman score.

The quick look over I did seemed to reveal decent quality with very good action to stock fit and a well designed stock for optics.
One shooter finally put a scope on his after it was zeroed. Reliability on these was outstanding and accuracy was very good!

But that rear sight...eh gads!

Hmm, I didn't have a problem with the rear sight.  It only takes one size Allen wrench to adjust.  Not hard at all once you learn how it works and what the adjustment values are.  There are instructions in the review I did on the rifle in the Appleseed newsletter.  FYI I came up with 1.25 MOA per quarter turn on the windage screws, and 2.5 MOA elevation per half turn of the aperture.  I had mine zeroed in 3 groups, and shot a Rifleman's score straight away.  The sight may not have been designed by a Rifleman, but it can sure be put to effective use by one if he understands IMC and how to determine the adjustment value of unfamiliar sights.

I will say mine also had to be adjusted awfully low to zero at 25m though.

I have 2 Contest Rifles.  One came with a badly misaligned barrel and the other was not aligned very well either.  The mags were very tight in the mag well and would not drop out freely.  One of the rifles would stove pipe very often (once every 10 to 12 shots) and the other stove piped once every 40 to 50 shots.  I contacted Ruger and sent them both back.  Ruger promptly fixed both for all issues.  They are great rifles now that the issues were addressed.  Ruger's service was prompt and of high quality.  They sent me shipping boxes and prepaid labels.  They sent the rifles back with a new mag for each rifle.  Regarding mags not dropping out I would never sand on a magazine.  The mags should drop out freely.  Ruger slightly adjusted the mag well and everything now works fine as it should.  They replaced barrels on one of the rifles.  With regard to the rear sight I have no issues with mine.  It works fine.  You use one allen wrench to move it left or right.  The rifles I have are great and I am pleased with them.  Ruger did an excellent job addressing any issues.  I view these as fantastic AS rifles.

ARRRGGGGG....that rear sight.  Just so everyone is aware the rear sight is basically the same as used on the Ruger Scout rifle, and I believe the later Mini 14/30.  The thought was to use what was already available. I had a long discussion with Ruger about that sight and what a POS it was.  There were talks with Ruger about using Tech Sights but they couldn't come to cost terms with the Tech Sights people. In the end, it is what it is.

If you can get the rifle to zero the sights (not one of the screwed up ones) then the sights are adequate for the job. I've shot some very small groups with several of mine.   

One suggestion for making the aperture smaller is to drill it out and thread it to take Williams apertures. Another is to fill the hole with Play Doh then use various sized needles to create a small hole. Once the Play Doh dries out it should be good.   Someone on another forum suggested simply turning the sight 90 degree and drilling a smaller hole through it. Someone else suggested replacing the sight with a screw with the same thread size and grinding the side flat and drilling a suitable aperture hole in the side of it. All of those things take effort and in the end it is simply easier to through a scope on it.

Quote from: Cowpens on May 16, 2015, 11:40:00 AMRegarding mags not dropping out I would never sand on a magazine.

Really?

Boy, I sure would. A mag is a cheap, replaceable part. It is nearly always better to work on the cheap replaceable part than an expensive part- especially if it has a serial number or would void a warranty.

But in the case of recent 10/22s, I would make an exception. Sand and polish the inside of the mag well in the stock until they drop free like they should. Had a couple of shooters on the line today with new 10/22s who had to hammer mags into the well with the heels of their hands each time they loaded. That's not the way that's supposed to work.... 

Yep, as my mags worked in all the other rifles , I figured I had to just work on the rifle. 5 mins with 800 grit sand paper and now its smooth as butter.  It was probably 1 min of sanding , but I kept stopping to check fit and blow away the dust.

Quote from: Cable___Guy on April 16, 2015, 07:09:30 PM
I just purchased my 50th contest rifle, Did any one else have mag problems with them.
The mag would not fall out when the release was pressed. A little coaxing ( needle nose pliers ) and they would come out.
The guy at my lgs said just keep inserting and removing a mag. You tube said a dremmel tool to the inside of the stock. I decided to split the difference and go with 800 grit sand paper, 10 mins later and is smooth as butter. I wonder why these cam out this was. My takedown and wood stock one for the wife never had this issue. 

Kind of late to answer your question but wanted to chime in and share, that I had the same problem. I have had three of them and the first two we so tight I could not even remove them with pliers. They were tight front to back not side to side, I took the action out and had the same problems. I had to lock the bolt back and push them out from the top. Did this 150 times on each rifle, no joke... before I gave up and sent them in to Ruger. They fixed em up and got em back to meet in about 3 weeks. The third one I had mags dropped free no problem.