I can’t help with the rifle. But I did attend Appleseed. They don’t much like scopes. The do like peep sites (see tech sights in post 31). They do like the cotton rifle sling (also post 31).
There were something like 30 shooters at my first Appleseed. All but a very few were shooting 10/22 rifles. One guy had a bolt action .17 rifle. My daughter had her break action single shot .22 and there was a larger caliber waaay down at the end of the line that I didn’t see what it was.
The program is set up for semi-autos, tech sights, and a sling.
Oh... and take a nice pad to lay down on as it’s nearly all prone position.
Appleseed is a great program. It was raining hard the day that I did it, but it hardly slowed us down. You should enjoy it. I intend to go back again when it is NOT raining... and I’ll take elbow pads.
I do appreciate the advanced info on Appleseed. I have some friends who help run the program and I’m looking forward to getting out there with them.