Project Appleseed

What would be the cheapest, decent, reliable (better than Tasco) sighting system to put on loaner rifles (Savage and Marlin air rifle type tip off mounts)?

I'm at about 6 MOA with Marlin factory sights, and would rather hand out a loaner that I can make Rifleman with even with my less than perfect eyes.  Haven't tried the tech sights yet, but they cost more than the rifles I've been putting together do.  Any suggestions would be appreciated.  The current thought is to take a tiny washer and silver solder it to the factory sight to see if that's a viable solution.  Not near the eye, but similar concepts seem to work for the AK / SKS folks.

you said it your self...a set of solid steel tech sights

think of it not as a set of sights that cost more than the gun, but a set of solid sights that will far out last and out perform any equally priced scope, especially when combined with the abuses that appleseed loaner rifles must endure

the first time i shot rifleman i used a bone stock 10/22 with tech sights

get em, you'll be glad you did

Yep, I'd rather pay $50 for the rifle and $200 on the sights then the other way around. You can find decent fixed power scopes for $30, got 2 Bushnell's fixed 4X that have held up well on loaners....O.L.

Echoing the sentiment that you won't go wrong with Tech Sites. If you want to go the cheaper route for optics, these are folks to buy from... I've had good luck with the cheap Bushnell Sportsman, Simmons 4x Blazer, and the cheaper rimfire specific scopes.. (see pages 5-9)..   Having a loaner rifle with optics vs irons is a handy thing, especially when you run across shooters with vision issues... The downside is everyone's eye relief is different.. Good Luck.   BeSwift

http://www.natchezss.com/catalog.cfm?catalogid=29f05822

I know not cheap by any means but i recently dug out an older 2x Aimpoint that i put on my 10/22...it made a great loaner scoped rifle as it has unlimited eye relief as well as being parallax free...
the 2x makes the dot far more accurate than a regular red dot

"The downside is everyone's eye relief is different.."

Yep, that as often as not is stock length. I set loaners with the scopes as far forward as I can on the 10-22's and err to the short side on the stocks with ladies and kids.  When I see folks "backing up", I'll slap on a 1" rubber butt pad...O.L.

Thanks all!

Looks like the best scenario is save up for tech sights for the loaners and watch the auctions for good scopes in air rifle mounts (mounts with stop screws).