Sporting clays with sights

N

NateKirk

New member
Hey all, has anyone ever shot sporting clays with both front and rear fiber optic sights? Do you think it's sort of cheating or would you think it was a hindrance?

So I went to shoot sporting clays for the first time at a professional course with a friend of mine who invited me and brought along the old 870, currently my only shotgun. It's set up for turkey season right now with the Truglo Gobble-stop front and rear fiber optic sights that attach to the rib, and I was doing fairly well with the rear sight on there. I was initially worried that it was going to get in the way, however I found it to be somewhat easier than normal to bust clays, as I could lead the target more accurately.

Do you think it would be bad form to leave the sights on for the next time, or does it not matter? I wouldn't want to seem like a noob at the gun club (aside from the fact I'm using an 870 and everyone else is using over unders!)
 
Major hindrance. You need zero sights on a shotgun - your EYES are your sights and they should be focused on the target, not some glowworm stuck on your barrel. This is nothing like shooting rifles or handguns.
 
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I was actually doing fairly well, better than normal to be honest. I was mostly concerned about people complaining that I was using anything besides a straight bead should they take note.
 
Hindrance.

Aerials with shotgun are my weak spot, but I can tell you that a properly fit gun is THE big deal with shooting them. Gimmicks will slow your progression.

I took the sights OFF of my 3Gun shotguns because it was hurting my Sporting Clays and bird hunting skills. I still need the front fiber optic for slugs, but once I took off the rear sights, it only took me a few matches to get back to where I was and the close statics are faster now too.
 
Offended? Not at all; but your success will be seriously hampered trying to shoot moving targets like you are shooting a rifle.

It is physically impossible to have your eyes focus both on near sights and moving far targets.
 
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Of course they are - just not the Space Gun. His regular trap guns are, like Silver Seitz, some of the best made.
 
even those who say they don,t look at the beads on a shotgun, know where the end of the muzzle is in their field of vision. don,t believe it, tape a piece of cardboard on the reciver so you can,t see any part of the barrel and shoot a round of trap, sporting clays or skeet and report back. eastbank.
 
The best shooters remove the beads from their shotguns so they aren't distracted. This is a game of hands and eyes working together as you are locked onto the target. Your natural pointing ability takes over while your mind visualizes the target breaking where you want it to. If you need multiple sights to line up to shoot, your gun doesn't fit and you are trying to fit yourself to the gun instead of the other way around.
 
each to his own, what may work for me,may not work for you. i want to know where the muzzle of my shotgun is in my field of view. i am not aiming the shotgun but looking at the bird, and muzzle is in my perifial vision. i have shot many,many 25-25,s and many 50-50,s. and 74-75,s and 96-97 out of 100. i just plain get tired with long strings, so i,m as good as i,m going to get no matter how i shoot and just enjoy shooting and don,t chase the tom knapp syndrome. i will shoot against any one in the world for a dollar a bird difference at trap and will lose maybe 2-3 dollars a round and maybe i will win a few dollars too. for those who shoot for enjoyment try to be the best you can be, but know we all can,t be the worlds top shots. when you don,t enjoy what you are doing, it becomes work. eastbank.
 
shooting w/o bead alignment only works if the gun is properly fit to you and you know the gun.
buy a gun new off the rack and tape the cardboard to it. dollar to donut, itll take a while to find where its going.
besides. I like beads. especially since they came with the gun and I paid for them~ :D
 
I'm sure your actions will make you look more like a noob (till you aren't) than sights.

I shoot clays with my guns just the same as I do birds in the field. They're practice objects to me. Yes I leave the shell pouch on along with the sling. Even on my Browning Citori.
 
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