Having just run my new Tech Sights through a weekend of Appleseed shooting, I felt it necessary to review them. And I gotta tell you, they’re really great. If you’re looking to add irons to your Ruger 10/22, look no further. But why would you want to add irons to a gun that already has them from the factory? Well, for starters . . .
The factory irons are terrible. Usable sure, but not nearly good enough for precision work. And certainly harder to train new shooters to use. Tech Sights brings several great features to the 10/22 platform. First among them is a longer sight radius. Where the factory rear sight is mounted forward of the receiver in a dovetail on the barrel, the Tech Sights rear bolts to the receiver adding several inches to the sight radius. This creates much more precision which is always a good thing. Second, the Tech Sights use a peep rear aperture which is much more intuitive to use. And building on that point, they present a similar sight picture to the military standard, meaning you can use them to sharpen up your skills using cheaper (albeit somewhat scarce) .22 LR ammo
This particular set of sights is the TSR 200 model. These differ from the TSR 100 model by providing both windage and elevation adjustment on the rear sight where the TS 100 only allows for windage adjustments. Having shot both, I’d say that for most people, the TS 100 is perfectly adequate unless you envision yourself establishing a 25 yard zero and stepping your .22 out to 50, 75, and 100 yards at which point, a rear adjustable sight might just be the ticket. For my usage, an established 25 yard zero is perfectly fine.
Installation isn’t terribly bad, though it does require a solid barrel vise, a good set of brass punches, a hammer, and a slotted screwdriver. If you don’t have these handy, or worry about marring your baby, a qualified gunsmith can probably get these installed in under 10 minutes. The only “scary” part is driving out the front sight as it is very tight. You can see in the photo above that is appears to be soldered in place. Once you break that joint, a few confident taps will drive it out. The new front sight slips in place without too much fuss. A gentle tap with a block of wood seems to do the trick. Tighten down the set screws with thread locker and move to the rear sight.
The rear sight install is as easy as removing the two screws at the back of the action, and replacing them with the new screws supplied by Tech Sights. Use thread locker, torque them down, and you’re off to the races.
At the range, the TS 200 set works as advertised and helped me shrink my groups from fist sized using the old dovetail to bottlecap sized at 25 yards. This is on part with the accuracy I get out of the gun using a 3-9X scope, but immensely more satisfying to use. I chose to only use the rear sight for windage and the front sight for elevation. Go ahead and invest the money in the Tech Sights tool while you’re buying things as they are impossible to adjust otherwise.
Tech Sights TS 200 Sights for Ruger 10/22
- Type: Military style peep and post
- Platform: Ruger 10/22
- Adjustment: Windage and elevation on the rear. Elevation only on the front
- Price: $79.00 + shipping on Amazon
Ratings (out of five stars):
Fit, Finish, Build Quality * * * * *
These are stoutly built sights that I assume my grandchildren will get to use. The installation instructions are easy to use, and the finish of all parts inspire confidence.
Accuracy * * * * *
I scored Rifleman using these sights as did my other two colleagues using the same sight system. Once set, I never lost zero. They will make a dramatic difference in your ability to use the 10/22 platform effectively.
Overall * * * * *
Shooting well with irons is immensely satisfying and these sights make that process much easier.