I've been to one Appleseed and I saw a great variance in choices of rifles. Bolts and Semis. Which was your first rifle and why'd you choose it. Mine was a bolt with a heavy barrel. It was the only one I had and it offered greater accuracy. I found that I could shoot as fast and more accurate than most of the semis on the line. I'd be glad to hear your first AS rifle choice and I'm sure the others would too. 
Bolt Gunner
Great question Bolt Gunner,
I believe you directed this towards the younger shooters. so I will answer from the perspective of my 3 sons...
My Oldest son (Wetfoot) was 11 at his first Appleseed and he used a Ruger 10/22 with a scope. He had several issues with the rifle, mainly ammo issues. You see his 1st Appleseed was also my first Appleseed, and most of my .22lr triggertime was just plinking so I always bought the "bulk packed" .22lr ammo. Well to say the least, he was very aggravated at the first couple of Appleseeds (the first was pouring rain the whole time!) Then the Shoot Boss at one of his first shoots (The Guy) got us straightened out on ammo, and that problem was solved (ammo does not have to be expensive, just reliable and consistant in your rifle!). Then his next issue... THE SCOPE!!! Just like Wheeler44 said, my son also started using the scope as a spotter between shots. This would mess him all up. He would throw one shot out of the scoring ring, then get frustrated and shoot poorly for the rest of the AQT. That added at least two more Appleseeds to his Path to Rifleman. He is now using a 10/22 with tech-sights so that he can acheive Rifleman with "iron sights" as well. When he does that he will get a chance to shoot an AQT with an AR 15. Here he is at his 2nd or 3rd Appleseed... Boy did "The Guy" harrass him when he saw this picture!! He wasn't wrapped in the sling!!


My second son (M1) was a bit younger at his first Appleseed. He was 9 yrs old and for the first few Appleseeds he used an old single shot Stevens bolt-action. While he couldn't load fast enough for stages 1 & 2, he did manage to get 10 shots into the target during stages 1 & 4. Now that he has the fundamental skills down pat, he has moved up to the Ruger 10/22 w/scope that his older brother used. He is not quite strong enough to shoot standing yet, but from a supported position his best is a 209!! Next year we will work on the positions a bit more. here he is at at first Appleseed 9/09 Chillicothe IL

My third Son (M2) was only five at his first shoot in Chillicothe Illinois. So he needed a much smaller rifle than his older brothers, so he shot a Henry Mini-Bolt single shot bolt action. He is working on the fundamentals for now, and when he has a good target, he gets to shoot the Ruger 10/22 for a bit. BUT! He is still young and does not conserve ammo well with the 10/22. Which is why we call him "M2", which is the "Automatic" version of the M1 Carbine

He first Appleseed was also at Chilli in 09....
