If you want to have fun shooting, you have to be able to hit something. Tech Sights offer a replacement to the antique fixed sights on the ubiquitous Ruger 10-22 rifle with their modern adjustable aperture sights.   If you want to train your offspring or the extended family to shoot rifles, this combination of quality and affordability in rifle and sights is exactly what you want.

There is nothing better for teaching rifle skills than the .22LR cartridge. The lack of noise and recoil makes it a joy to shoot, letting the new shooter focus on trigger pull and sight picture. If you start a with the 19th-century fixed-sight system on your .22, your new shooter will have less fun and need to learn a new sight picture when they move to modern rifles. My love for Tech Sights started with my exposure to a Liberty training rifle at an Appleseed event.

According to Wikipedia, “Project Appleseed is an apolitical rifle marksmanship training program that focuses on teaching traditional rifle marksmanship from standing, sitting/kneeling, and prone positions over a two-day weekend shooting clinic…while also teaching American heritage and history with the intent of encouraging people to become active civically.”

An Appleseed is a day of WW2 Army Basic Rifle Marksmanship combined with some Revolutionary War traditions. Why WW2-era training? Because after that, the Army abandoned traditional marksmanship for point-and-shoot pop-up targets. This trend is slowly being reversed. I highly recommend any shooter at any level attend an Appleseed. Find one near you here. The shooting is done at 25 yards for the same reason the Army shoots at 25 yards: You can walk out and look at the target a lot more if you are closer to it. The standard is 4 MOA, which is a challenge with many common rifle/ammo combinations.

Participating in an Appleseed (or any serious rifle training) does not require a battle rifle. The “Liberty Training Rifle” is a concept developed over the years by the excellent Appleseed trainers. They start with the common Ruger 10/22 rifle. Low price, accuracy, and availability of aftermarket parts make it ideal. Somebody you know already has one. Add an adjustable U.S. GI-style sling, adjustable Tech Sights, and a magazine quick release, and you can train like it is 1942! The sight picture is similar to the 1903 Springfield, M1 Garand, Springfield M1A, and M4/AR-15 rifles.

The guys at Appleseed know some things about training shooters.  They use Tech Sights because they have the adjustment and accuracy  needed for precision rifle marksmanship.

In the spring of 2004, Larry Nesseth and his son Erik were up in Wisconsin shooting their SKS rifles. Like all communist rifles, the SKS sights were designed to prevent shooters from adjusting them. Father and son both worked in blue collar manufacturing jobs and knew they could build something better—something like the aperture sights on their Army National Guard M-16s.

Being good Americans, they designed, prototyped, and built some sights in their spare time, eventually patenting Tech Sights aperture sights. Karen, the mom, helped build the foundation of the business with the administrative tasks. The American Dream at work. They currently have approximately 20 models of sights for various rifles. Erik and Karen continue to run the company in South Carolina in the absence of Larry, who passed away in August of 2012.

These sights are very well made and provide precise aiming.

Features:

• 8″ longer sighting radius than factory 10/22 sights
• Rear sight base mounts solidly to the rear of the receiver, utilizing the existing tapped scope base holes.
• TSR100 comes standard with dual apertures (.062), and is compatible with M16/AR15 apertures.
• TSR200 allows for additional elevation adjustment at the rear sight.
• Uses incremental windage adjustment with rugged detent locking.
• Front sight tower comes standard with an incremental detent adjustable AR15-type post designed for the AR-15. This gives the shooter a wide variety of post designs.

TSR100 Aperture Sight for Ruger 10/22
$59.00 (includes front and rear sight)

TSR200 Aperture Sight for Ruger 10/22
Comes standard with Extended National Front Post—allowing for shooting at shorter ranges.
$69.00 (includes front and rear sight)

TS220 Elevation Aperture for Ruger 10/22
$19.00 Each

I have trained illiterate teenagers all over the world to shoot rifles. The combination of the Ruger 10/22 and Tech Sights is the best training platform for this task. It is fun for any age and a cheap way to learn the marksmanship and sight adjustment you need in the big leagues without dirty looks from Mom for breaking the bank buying guns and ammo.   Buy your Tech Sights at www.tech-sights.com

(Images courtesy: tech-sights.com)