Now that I got one.....

R

rab

New member
thought that I knew what I was doing until I was surfing with the TV on. I inadvertantly listened in on a Shotgun Clinic, and something caught my attention. The instructor was goining over how to track a target and aim using/not using the bead, and different bead replacement sights. OK, now that I got one, how do you shoot it? I wasn't rich enough to get one with rifle sights. The little I might have right is when I through the thing up to my face, I am looking right down the top. It's natural, almost fitted. Where does the bead come in? Look at the bead? Don't look at the bead? If you don't look at the bead, why is it there? Why get flourescent bead replacements from Hi-Viz, just to not look at them either? This sg stuff is strange.
 
Experienced wing shooters are focusing on their lead in front of the target, not the beads. Focusing on the bead is a great way to miss your target and shoot holes in the sky. The purpose of the beads is to verify your mount. Once you're sure that your properly fit gun is mounted correctly, by the orientation of the beads (typically a Figure-8), you don't want your eyes attempting to close focus anymore, you want them looking for targets. During competition, with my old eyes, I try to avoid shifting to close focus. This means my routine loading is done by feel while I keep my eyes set at something at target distance. The Hi-Viz sights favor the folks who shoot their shotguns like rifles. I find them a distraction.
 
Whenever I shoot something moving I just aim down the barrel and track the target. I don't use the sights on something fast moving.
 
Since you used the term... "track" I can assume you mean a moving target... Shotguns with rifle sights do not "track" targets worth a dern... The front bead equipped gun is for "tracking" moving targets... rifle sights are for stationary targets with time to "aim"...

As for clay or winged targets, I am out of the loop... But if you want to send the Ex-wife's cat to fetch a stick... I can send it home on a platter already seasoned... The reason that the shotgun has stood the test of time is that it still is available with a smoothbore and a bead only sight...
Brent
 
Being an old dove hunter you keep your eye on the bird and point the shot gun, or in modern terms track. and in another modern term you delete the bird;) The only time I can think of using a bead on a shot gun was at a turkey shoot
 
I use the bead when bird hunting. I start the swing with the bead behind the bird irrespective of which direction the bird is flying and as the bead passes the head of the bird I tap the trigger and then follow through what would have been the flight path of the bird. The trigger action on a shotgun is different from a rifle. With a rifle you squeeze the trigger smoothly, not necesarily slowly, but smoothly. With a shot gun you tap the trigger just enough to trip the trigger. Just don't forget to follow through. If you don't you'll shoot behind the bird.
 
+1 for zippy13, like he said verify you sight alignment and forget about it. from then on where you're looking is what your hitting. If you stay focused on the front sight you'll put a lot of lead in the air and won't hit a darn thing. Keep both eyes open and focus on the target. Everything moves as a unit.:)
 
Yup, that little ball up there towards the noisy end isn't a whole lot more than a reference point for where the cleaning patch/brush is gonna peek out when I goes to clean it. I used to try to watch it a little, but the blur (almost shaddow) of the rib between the bbl's is what makes it all come together for me.
 
Just to demonstrate how unnecessary the bead is, I recently rented a shotgun for sporting clays because I was considering buying one of the same model. We were at station 7 I believe, which means that I had shot 65 targets or so when I happened to look at the barrel and noticed that there wasn't a front bead.

In short, look at the target, not the bead. You already have the most important part whipped it sounds like, i.e. the gun will point where you look. Go shoot! Have fun!
 
RoscoeC said:
I recently rented a shotgun for sporting clays because I was considering buying one of the same model.
Click to expand...
A smart move -- more buyers should consider doing the same thing.
 
"Head on the stock, eye on the rock" is an old adage - the rock is the target, not your sights. Use your eyes - both of them preferably - then move, mount, shoot.
 
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