I'm in my mid-40s, and have been wearing glasses since third grade. I just bought a $107 .22 lr, and was thinking about attending a few appleseed project events.
Should I even try it without a scope? The website for appleseed and the wiki page both give the impression that the goal is to shoot with iron sites, but I doubt I'll be able to see anything. If I DO try it with iron sights, should I try it with factory sites, or the aftermarket iron sites that tech sights makes.
I don't know if there's a dovetail built into the receiver or if you need to add one, but I'd use that to mount a proper receiver rear peep sight at a bare minimum. It doesn't look like the easiest rifle to mount custom sights on, but a decent micro-adjustable rear peep would be a huge improvement over the stock rear sight. Check Brownell's for compatible Williams or Lyman pieces (bearing in mind that the latter will cost as much as the rifle).
I think the preferred iron sites for appleseed are Tech Sights, and yes, the company does make one for the 702. It is $70.
I'm just wondering if I will be able to shoot with one, or if that will be $70 down the drain when I find out that my old man eyes need a low power scope.
I'm sure the rifle is set up for some type of scope mount. I don't think any new rifle is sold that isn't already set up for one.
I suggest you take it to the range and try it out as it is. Zero it at 25m with the iron sights and see what you can do. Eye glasses are not the limiting factor for iron sights. Presbiopia is. That's where you can't focus up close anymore and need bifocals or reading glasses. How bad is you presbiopia? If you can't see the sights clearly with your regular glasses, then you'll be wanting a scope, certainly. However, if you can see the sights, then the factory sights will be quite adequate for the Appleseed. Download a practice target. You basically need to shoot about 4 or 5 MOA, well within the range of any modern iron sight rifle or military rifle sight in the past 150 years or so. And if you can't see the stock iron sights, then the peep sight may be a slight improvement, but not like shooting with a scope.
From my reading of SGN, Appleseed shoots want to teach you about the founding of our Country and how to shoot. They don't care if you need a scope to see with or not.
Appleseed said: The training first focuses on the basics at the 25 yard range to uncover and correct any problems the students have before moving on to the longer ranges. Once the students demonstrate their newly learned abilities at 25 yards consistently, longer distance instruction starts. During that process the students learn that all that repetition at 25 yards really does translate into hitting targets at 100, 200, 300 and 400 yards.
Sounds like you'll be fine with open sights. I shot competitively in HS (4-H Shooting Sports) we shot .22 silhouettes, no magnification. Some folks used a 1-x scope set on 1 adjustment taped in place by judges, but I preferred a "peep sight," for the silhouettes. Still effective enough at 100 yards, real world I would want a scope but for the competition and in the spirit of "practicing" for competition I continued with the peep sight on the Marlin .22.
Sight set up similar to this, but on a much, much less cool looking basically stock Marlin 60.
So up to you, if you're eyes are that bad, magnification wouldn't be a bad idea. That little Mossberg won't be that effective much past 100 yards without magnification. It does have a dovetail to mount whatever sight you choose though, so that's a bonus.
Appleseeds used to focus on military centerfire rifles out to 500, but with the current ammo shortage and extreme costs, a lot of it is 22 now with simulations for out further than 25. If you can find any 22. Remember, an Appleseed is not a competition. It's a training event.
Interesting event, I've never heard of this.
I'm still chuckling over the thread title, Learn me: old men...
I don't have the ammo to shoot an appleseed right now, but might be able to next year if my backordered stuff shows up by January.
I only have about 300 rounds of .22 on hand after yesterday's stupidity. (I went to the range without binoculars or screwdrivers, so I was unable to see the POI or adjust the sights. I still fired it a little because I was already at the range.)
So, could you see the sights and the target? Did it group OK? I think 300 is enough for a AS. 22 ammo isn't that hard to come by, you just have to work at it. The bigger places like Academy seem to keep a little in stock behind the front counter around here. Wally World is pretty much MT.
In reply to JoeyM:
Natchezss.com has been getting some .22 in a couple times a month. I've bought a brick of CCI Blazers from them since last year's hysteria started. Prices are still nutty, holy cow, 
I just saw that box of Blazers is $50 plus shipping, I got a box for about $34 to my door a few months ago and I thought that was gouging highway robbery.
Anyway you might find a better deal on other stuff there, looks like the only in-stock right now are some crazy expensive 50/box Lapua for $18 a box. Their shipping works out better if you're buying a lot of stuff from them, so 1 box of ammo can be cost prohibitive shipping wise. They won't ship anything to AL, GA, or TN, because Natchez supplies directly to most of the local gun shops in those states, and made a deal not to compete with them when they started their .com business.
If you find what you want there and it's out of stock, you can set up to be notified when it becomes available. Their system actually works too, unlike Midway USA who emails you 8 to 24 hours after it became available and is already sold out again, Natchez will actually email you in a timely manor.
I've got about a thousand rounds of 9mm from them, a few hundred .40 S&W, two-hundred .223, and one-hundred 5.56, in addition to the .22 and other gun related stuff all in the last year when "no one could find anything." I've been pleased.
Ha! I shot competitively with 4-H in High School too! But I was terrible, just wasn't disciplined enough to really give it the practice necessary to improve.
When I lived in Pittsburgh, I got into high power military competition shooting. Usually borrowed a Garand from the shooting club or an AR-15. I was better with the AR but preferred the Garand. Then I bought a Swiss K31. It was a little difficult at first because of the crappy open sites, but I improved.
I miss that, will need to look into some competitive shooting when I'm in Georgia.
Rig it with a white laser and wear colored lenses so you are the only one that can see the dot :)
I have a scope?
Appleseed wrote: I have a scope?
There's your answer. 
I had to break in my Mossberg .22 for a few hundred rounds before it became reasonably reliable. Seems that the bolt and aluminum receiver need a little time together to run smoothly. Keep it very well lubed and it will run well. Love that thing for how cheap and light it is.
On a really good day, I put a 1.5" group dead center on the paper with a slightly tuned up WW2 Mosin 91/30, with stock sights, at 100 yards. Its all practice if you can still see.
Kenny_McCormic wrote: On a really good day, I put a 1.5" group dead center on the paper with a slightly tuned up WW2 Mosin 91/30, with stock sights, at 100 yards. Its all practice if you can still see.
Maybe I can't see. (We've already had a thread about how I'm scoping my mosin.) I can't do that at 50 yards with my 91/30. Of course, it could be that your mosin is more accurate than mine, too.l
At those ranges the front sight post is about as big as a piece of fax paper. I stoned and polished the hell out of my trigger(did not change ravel or geometry, just clean up), its still long and heavy, but breaks nicely. Also did some shimming of the barrel and action fitment to the stock.
The 702 takes a scope. I wouldn't start with one, I'd try shooting open iron first.
Hold the gun up to your shoulder, can you see the front sight clearly? If yes, then you're good to go. You only hold the front sight in focus. Center it between the fuzz of the rear sight. Sorta like this picture, with the front sight in focus, not the rear sight:
The gun is rather rough out of the box, so don't expect too much. It's worthwhile to spend some time polishing the action and such, but only if you know what you are doing. Otherwise, just shoot it for a bit, to break it in as it were.
As for a scope, a cheap scope is like cheap glasses. Generally not worth the money. If you're going to buy a scope buy a good one. A cheap one is dark to look through, tends to be inconsistent in adjustment, frequently won't hold accuracy, and is just generally miserable to live with. A good scope with a good sized objective lens can be a joy to use.
Beware buying too much scope! Use the least power you actually need. For a 22 rim fire, that's usually down at 3x or below. Sure, you can zoom in on the target with more power, and the target jumps all around too, making it darn hard to actually hit.
Appleseed is interesting, but to make any comment, I'd have to ask why you are interested in them. For they are not simply about marksmanship.
I use my factory Mossberg sights........then again, my Mossberg .22 is older than almost everyone on this board.
I took my m1 carbine for the rapid portions......that was an expensive day.
Dr. Hess wrote: I suggest you take it to the range and try it out as it is.
I did that, and was able to see the sights and the target. I could even do that thing where you focus on the front and let the rear site get fuzzy, but sometimes took a little bit of effort.
Dr. Hess wrote: Zero it at 25m with the iron sights and see what you can do.
I forgot to bring binoculars or screwdrivers, so I wasn't able to site it in. I arrived at the range just as they were about to close, but they let me shoot for 15 min just to see how far off it it is.
Eye glasses are not the limiting factor for iron sights. Presbiopia is. That's where you can't focus up close anymore and need bifocals or reading glasses. How bad is you presbiopia? If you can't see the sights clearly with your regular glasses, then you'll be wanting a scope, certainly. However, if you can see the sights, then the factory sights will be quite adequate for the Appleseed.
I'm not wearing bifocals yet, although the optometrists said I may need them by the next time I get glasses.
From my reading of SGN, Appleseed shoots want to teach you about the founding of our Country and how to shoot. They don't care if you need a scope to see with or not.
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