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| Article by
Jamie Mangrum |
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Downloadable Version of Article |
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The SKS has turned out to be the mil-surp rifle collector's
Ruger 10/22. There is now a whole cottage industry of
aftermarket parts manufacturers surrounding the
venerable little carbine. The SKS is the little firearm
we are always trying to improve. Although I have written
several "how-to" articles on mounting
glass optics on an SKS, I
personally think it is a waste of time to do so. I
still believe you can improve the SKS's sights with a middle
ground approach by replacing the rear sight with an
aperture based sight.
Over the past year I
have received several emails from readers asking me what
I knew about a very interesting looking rear sight for the
SKS made by a company named Tech-Sights. Tech-Sight's TS100 receiver mounted
aperture sight for the SKS carbine offers a sight that
attaches to the SKS at the rear of the receiver. The
main thing that intrigued me about the TS100, besides the fact that I am a big fan of
aperture sights, is that it is mounted over ten inches
further to the rear than the original SKS rear sights.
It does not use the rear sight base, but is instead
attached to the rear of the receiver via the takedown
lever hole. This equates to a greatly increased sight radius and
in theory would improve accuracy.
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After receiving the sight in the mail I have got to
say that Tech-Sight wins major
points on the quantity and quality of documentation supplied
with their new TS100 sight. I have never received this quantity of detailed
installation and operational instructions with
any firearm related product that I have purchased (for
that matter a firearm). As you can tell from the
Surplusrifle.com web site - I am a big fan of
instructions! The first document included with the sight is an overall product
description pamphlet, followed by a pamphlet dedicated
to showing you how-to remove the original rear sight of an SKS (which
is not the easiest task in the world), also included
is a
pamphlet on installation of the TS100 rear sight and
finally you will find an excellent set of instructions on adjusting your new rear
sight (and the front sight) once you get to the
range. The TS100 sight itself is very well made and
it is obvious that Tech-Sight put a lot of consideration
and thought into the design as well as the little
details. I mean little and important details like
pre-coating the threads of the brass (non-marring)
set screws with thread locking compound, or supplying a
locking screw (for the cross screw and nut assembly),
and supplying a pin to replace the leaf sight (I
should have used this in the project as you will find
out later) so the flat spring stays securely in
place. The sight is equipped with two flip style apertures.
The first is sighted for ranges of 0 to 200 yards and the
second is for ranges of 300 yards and beyond. The
windage adjustment is very functional and anyone who
trained or carried an M16A1 will experience deja vu
because it is the same detent locking wheel that you
push in and rotate either direction depending on what
direction you wish the aperture to move.
At this time the TS100 is not elevation adjustable. I
have been told by Tech-Sight that they will be releasing
a model TS200 that will be elevation adjustment capable. On most
SKS carbines this feature is not necessary - but merely a
nicety as you can control elevation by raising and
lowering the SKS front sight post. I have been told that
some Chinese Norinco SKS
carbines may not function properly with the TS100.
Here is what Tech-Sight told me:
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We have had a few
instances where the original sighting plane is a little
too high in relation to the position of our sight.
Considering the number of different manufacturers of the
Simonov carbine this is understandable. Although the
number of customers encountering this has been very
small, the issue is still there. This has prompted us to
move the development of the TS200 sight up a notch. This
sight will be adjustable for windage and elevation. The
sight will have the additional adjustability to match
the higher sighting plane found on some SKS. The TS200
will also appeal to the customer that wants the ability
to adjust windage and elevation without adjusting the
front post of the SKS. We will also be offering this
elevation set as an add on to the TS100 sight so that
customers wishing to add elevation adjusting
capabilities to the TS100 can do so. The TS200 sight
will be ready for market in about 3 months. We will
offer both models, the TS100 (windage adjustable only)
and the TS200 (windage and elevation adjustable).
We know of no issues with the Yugo 59/66. The majority
of the problems seem to be with Norincos and not all
Norincos. You are right when you guessed that the
problem arises when the front sight post has to be
lowered so far to zero with the new sight that the sight
picture begins to be blocked by the back side of the
original leaf sight mounting block. One of our customers
merely ground a small radius on the top of the block to
allow a better sight picture. It is a puzzle as to why
there is a variation, but then someone said that China
had over 30 different manufacturers of SKSs. Our new
TS200 windage/elevation adjustable model should take
care of any of the rifles with higher sight plane and
give more adjustability to those who desire it. If you
would like to do an article on the TS100 and make a note
on the possible issues with rifles having a higher
original sight plane that would be great. We want to be
as up front as we can about our product. Unfortunately
there seem to be a few rifles that do not work well with
the TS100 and I believe that TS200 will change that
compatibility issue for those rifles.
Best regards,
Larry Nesseth
Tech-SIGHTS
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Because of this I decided to use a Yugo 59/66 for my
test model. Since the most
abundantly available SKS carbines of late have been of
the Yugo persuasion, I
figured this would be an appropriate model for most of
the readership to see the project based upon. |
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The Project Begins |
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SAFETY! Make sure the SKS carbine is
unloaded and pointed in a safe direction before
continuing with the project.
Unlock the takedown lever
located at the right rear of the receiver. |
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Pull the takedown lever out to
its fullest extent. |
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Project
Components and Where to Buy the Parts |
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TS100
Aperture Sight $45 + S&H |
Tech-SIGHTS
2242 18-3/4 Ave.
Rice Lake, WI 54868
Phone: 715-234-1793 |
Email:
info@Tech-SIGHTS.com
Web Address:
http://www.tech-sights.com/
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Manufacturer Supplied
Marketing Information |
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Tech-SIGHTS
has produced a rugged, precise sighting
solution for the SKS rifle with the
following features:
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Does not require drilling or tapping
to create a solid mount to the
receiver.
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Mounts the sight closer to the
shooter's eye, giving the shooter a
sight picture similar to the M1
Garand and M16 military rifles.
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Increases the sighting radius by 10"
over sights mounted in front of the
receiver.
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Returns to zero after removal.
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Uses incremental windage adjustment
with rugged detent locking.
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Utilizes apertures from the time
proven M16A1 rifle. This gives the
shooter a wide choice of apertures
including National Match, Tritium,
Combat, etc.
- The
sight base is constructed of high
strength aluminum and Hard Coat
Anodized to Military Specifications.
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Uses steel components finished with
Military Specification Manganese
Phosphate.
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Patent pending.
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Remove the receiver cover. |
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Remove the recoil spring
assembly by pulling it out from the rear of the
bolt carrier. Note that the coiled end of the
recoil spring assembly inserts into the rear of
bolt carrier when reassembling. |
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Depress the magazine latch and
open the magazine. |
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Slide the bolt and bolt carrier
to the rear of the receiver. The bolt carrier
rests on top of the bolt and is easily
separated. |
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Remove the bolt and then
set aside. |
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The rear sight of the SKS is
not easy to remove. Most of the time there
are no pins to drive out. If there is a pin then
drive it out with a mallet and punch. At the
front of the sight leaf there are two trunnions
(as shown in the photo to the left) that
the sight pivots on in the
sight base. There is a flat spring that
places upwards pressure on the rear sight leaf
and keeps the trunnions held in a slot at the
front of the sight base. |
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If you press down on
the flat spring you will be able to pull the
sight leaf to the rear and out. There is also a
very interesting method for the rear sight
removal in the supplied instructions. I
did not have time to try it, but it appears that
it would work. The instructions state you should
remove the flat leaf spring or install a
supplied pin to hold the flat spring in place. I chose not to
because it did not obscure the view of the front
sight. I paid for this omission as I will
explain later.
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The only drawback I
found with the sight does not really have
anything to do with the sight itself, but with
my specific SKS. I found from reading the supplied
instructions that you need to remove the
carbine's original takedown lever to install the
new sight. There is a small latch pin that needs
to be removed from the lever prior to it being
removed from the receiver. I was unable to
accomplish this in a non-permanent manner. What
I experienced will not be the case with most
SKS. |
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In most cases you can either
drive the pin out from behind or pull it out. My pin would not come out and I
ended up have to grind it off with a rotary
tool. This is a decision you are going to have
to make for yourself if presented with the same
problem. Will you permanently alter the takedown
lever? The good news is that you can purchase a
replacement part from
Numrich for less than $10. |
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Insert the set screws into the
sight assembly. As I stated before they have a
thread locking coating already applied to them. |
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Tighten the set screws until
they are flush with the front of the sight. |
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Figure 13 shows the front
of the "brass tipped" set screws flush with the
front face of the sight. |
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Insert the bolt. |
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Slide the bolt and bolt carrier
towards the front of receiver. |
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Make sure the coiled end of the
recoil spring assembly is installed into the
rear of the bolt carrier first, leaving the
straight end of the spring exposed. Slide the
recoil spring assembly all the way forward into
rear of the bolt carrier. |
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Reinstall the receiver cover. |
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While holding the receiver
cover, place the TS100 sight on the back of the
receiver. Make certain to align the holes with
the holes in the receiver. |
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Insert the cross screw from the
right side of the sight towards the left side of
the sight. |
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Place the supplied brass washer
over the threaded end of the cross screw. |
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Place the nut over the washer
and onto the threaded end of the cross screw.
Tighten the nut enough so that the sight
assembly is tight against the right side of the
receiver but you can still pivot the sight
assembly up and down on the cross screw. |
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Per the instructions tighten
the lower set screw on the right side of the
sight first. |
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Basically you adjust all four
set screws snuggly against the rear of the
receiver until the horizontal edge of the sight
mounting arm runs parallel to the top of the
receiver as show in figure 23. |
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Once the set screws are tight
you can tighten the cross screw's nut with a
penny or as I chose a very large flat blade
screw driver. Check the sight by pushing
it up and down to make sure it is set in
place. If it moves then continue tightening the
set screws and the cross screw nut. |
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The completed project! |
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I decided a good test would be
to shoot the same Russian made commercial ammo I
always shoot. I see it all over the place for
sale and most of you probably shoot the same
stuff.
I fired off ten cartridges at the target
placed out at 50 yards. The rounds were placing
far to the right and about six inches low. |
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the range, which makes sense because you want to test
the adjustment, then please follow the simple rules:
1) make sure the firearm is unloaded and pointed in a
safe direction, 2) make sure the safety is on,
3) make very small changes and test by firing at
least 3 to 5 cartridges. Most people cannot tell if they
have made an effective adjustment with only one fired
shot. |
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Using the tip of a bullet I
pressed in on the detent and rotated the drum
counter clockwise (as shown in figure 27)
to move the aperture to the left. |
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I had a lot of ammo so I had
some fun. Figure 28 shows the holes in
the target as I dialed in the windage.
Next, I had to adjust the front sight for
elevation.
The front sight of the SKS is a
threaded post that is screwed into a windage
drum. The drum sits in a channel and can be slid
back and forth to adjust for windage.
By turning the front sight post you can adjust
the elevation. |
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By turning the front sight post
clockwise (raising the front sight post)
you will lower the point of impact of the
bullet.
By turning the front sight post counter
clockwise (lowering the front sight post)
you will raise the point of impact of the
bullet.
For detailed instructions on adjusting the
front sight and the tools needed
click here. Since I wanted my bullet
impact to raise I lowered my front sight. |
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Figure 29 shows my
target at 50 yards once I had the elevation and
windage dialed in. With the TS100 set to the
aperture marked "0-2" the sight picture was easy to
attain and I was able to produce similar results
time after time. The only problem I encountered
at the range
was the result of my own stupidity. As I stated earlier I
chose to not remove the flat leaf spring in the
rear sight base or install the supplied pin. The more I shot
the carbine, the
more the spring started to slide on its own, upwards
towards the front of the sight base. Eventually
it completely blocked out the front sight
picture all together. |
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Luckily I had a pair of pliers and
removed it and placed it in my range kit so I
would not lose it.
The lesson is? Follow the supplied
instructions.
The real test came when I pulled
the rear sight off of the receiver and then
replaced it. The instructions state that if
you leave the set screws set in place that you
should be able to return the sight to the
receiver and not have to re-zero. Figure 30 shows my
first target at 50 yards after reinstalling the
sight. The windage had move a tiny bit to the
left but I was able to quickly compensate for
this by rotating the drum on the sight clockwise
a couple clicks.
I have to say that I really like the TS100
and will leave it on the Yugo for good! jlm;) |
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