You Don't Have to Aim a Shotgun Mythbusting VIDEO

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In the video, none are unaimed, they are all aimed, as the video notes.

The point being to show that a shotgun:

(1) Must be aimed.
(2) Will not put out some sort of hail of lead while being fired Rambo style from the hip.

Even at the longest distance, the pattern is still all on the piece of paper.
 
That's kinda my point. If you want to show the difference between the two, should you not also show the other half of the argument? All I see in the video is a target where I have to assume the shotgun is being aimed, and ending up on paper. Since the video is supposed to debunk a myth of not aiming a shotgun, should we not be able to see the difference between aimed and pointed?
 
Aiming vs pointing... similar but different.
I aim shooting slugs and point for everything else. My shotgun points where I look, so mostly Im looking intently at what I want to hit. Works with birdshot or buckshot, on game, clays or steel plates.

FWIW, with a shotgun, if you are consciously doing mental calculations for lead, on a moving target , you missing ALOT
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+1 field shooting and killing things can expand one's understanding of how to use a shotgun, it's not just a musket redux
 
terms

I understand "aiming" to mean using the sights on the firearm. As far as shotguns are concerned, I understand "pointing" to mean properly mounting a gun that fits me, looking at my prospective target while at the same time pointing the gun at that target. I may not look at the bead at all....especially on a close flushing grouse.
I just finished looking at a series of videos of Pat Flanigan and Ton Knapp shooting exhibitions and hitting everything that they look at.....gun upside down, from the hip, over the head, one handed, etc. They ain't using the sights. They are hitting.
Pete
 
Is it even correct to say that clay shooters, and I suppose wing shooters which is something that I have zero experience with, point instead of aiming? If the gun fits and I mount it correctly it points where I look; meaning I don't even point but just look and if my head is locked on the stock the gun points where I look.
 
"Whether you aim at a flying target or point at it, you will likely miss if you are talking about a target moving laterally to you."

Completely true, no arguing with it. The key words being "at it", with it being the laterally moving target. The gun has to be pointing at where the target will be when the pellets finally get there.

Back to the example of the garden hose. Have a child run across the yard from left to right. Assuming the kid isn't just 10 feet away, if you are pointing or aiming the hose at the child the water will always be behind because the target is moving. You have to aim ahead.
 
This is teetering over The Abyss Of Closedness....
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:D Haven't seen that one before, Dave, that's great!

I think what Amsdorf is getting at is that he's sick of hearing things like,"Get a shotgun, you don't even have to aim" when somebody asks about home defense. If you say you've never seen or heard that you're probably not being truthful. We all know about "pointing" a shotgun for clays. As for me, I'm not very good at it, due to cross-dominance, and inside a house if I have to shoot somebody (God forbid) and I just point it in their direction, I may or may not hit them. No such thing as "Can't miss" in HD distances. My 930 SPX has wonderful sights that excell in this type of instance, and I'll continue to aim until scads of practice and unique to cross-dominance experimentation leads me into the "just point it" club.
 
OP said:
Call it whatever you want, you loveable knuckleheads are missing the point, entirely....

Hollywood has convinced people that a shotgun will work just fine simply by praying and spraying.

Call it what you want, "pointing" or "aiming"

You are missing the forest for the trees, bro
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s.

Yeah, we get it, but we don't think you understand shotgunning. Of course, you have to be sure of your points, but rifles are aimed and shotguns are pointed, simply because on a standard shotgun you don't have a rear sight. The vast majority of shotguns are pointed, and stock fit is everything on a shotgun. If the stock doesn't fit, you're simply not going to be able to hit with it with any consistency.

My patrol shotgun is equipped with rifle sights, my sporting shotguns have only a mid and front bead. Two different arrangements for two different situations.
 

I think what Amsdorf is getting at is that he's sick of hearing things like,"Get a shotgun, you don't even have to aim" when somebody asks about home defense. If you say you've never seen or heard that you're probably not being truthful. We all know about "pointing" a shotgun for clays. As for me, I'm not very good at it, due to cross-dominance, and inside a house if I have to shoot somebody (God forbid) and I just point it in their direction, I may or may not hit them. No such thing as "Can't miss" in HD distances. My 930 SPX has wonderful sights that excell in this type of instance, and I'll continue to aim until scads of practice and unique to cross-dominance experimentation leads me into the "just point it" club.

BINGO!!!!!

The video is about shooting a shotgun for home defense, not shooting at clay pigeons with bird shot loads.
 
Give it a rest, Amsdorf. Even Stevie Ray's quote implies that point and shoot is fine for HD if you can use the techique and he will if he can master it with his cross-domonance.

I'll continue to aim until scads of practice and unique to cross-dominance experimentation leads me into the "just point it" club.
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If Dave McC aims there must be a benefit to it for HD purposes, but I suspect he is so well practiced that he is on target instantly regarless of what he does. I am no were that good and admit that if a target presentation is suited for aiming I think I would aim using the bead fron sight on my 870. However, just because a target presents itself in a small room does not mean you have a lot of time to take "aim". In the former situation you could have a BG crouched down behind some furnitue and in the other he is running across a great room towards a family member.
 
I think what Amsdorf is getting at is that he's sick of hearing things like,"Get a shotgun, you don't even have to aim" when somebody asks about home defense. If you say you've never seen or heard that you're probably not being truthful. We all know about "pointing" a shotgun for clays. As for me, I'm not very good at it, due to cross-dominance, and inside a house if I have to shoot somebody (God forbid) and I just point it in their direction, I may or may not hit them. No such thing as "Can't miss" in HD distances. My 930 SPX has wonderful sights that excell in this type of instance, and I'll continue to aim until scads of practice and unique to cross-dominance experimentation leads me into the "just point it" club.

BINGO!!!!!

The video is about shooting a shotgun for home defense, not shooting at clay pigeons with bird shot loads.
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No BINGO, not at all, I can point my HD shotgun just as well for HD as I can my target gun for flying targets as it also has no rear sights except for my eyes........THAT is the point many miss.....and why so many seem to "need" to add all these other sights - my guess is because for most, the only gun they ever fired previously that wasn't part of a video game was the standard issue military rifle

I see it all the time in some of these supposed "training" videos where everyone is scrunched up on the stock like it was a M4 and their stance to firing is the same as someone firing a rifle, NOT someone who knows how to fire a shotgun - we see that especially all the time at the club - someone standing perpendicular to the target line like they would if holding a rifle for hi-power shooting

poor training and poor practice equals poor habits and poor results
 
The Mossberg 590s issued to us had peep sight rear, blade sight front. As instructed, we only used them to aim past 15 yds with slugs.
 
Thanks, Stevie Ray. Be advised I'm cross dominant. It took some time and effort, but I worked through it.

For newer shooters, I advise shooting from the side your dominant eye, not hand, is on.

I'm starting a new thread on pointing vs aiming.....
 
Just a note...

Shooting a shotgun in a home defense situation with 00 Buck is not the same as shooting clay birds with bird shot.

You should, whenever possible, use the sights on your defensive/tactical shotgun, that's why they are there, not simply/only for using to shoot slugs.
 
You should, whenever possible, use the sights on your defensive/tactical shotgun, that's why they are there, not simply/only for using to shoot slugs.
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Thanks, but I'll stick to what works for me. :)
 
Shooting a shotgun in a home defense situation with 00 Buck is not the same as shooting clay birds with bird shot.
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In what ways?

I've shot a lot of shells downrange in clay games, 'poke shooting' at critters in the field, and in range training for HD scenarios. In all of that, I'm not sure that I ever really felt that one required a markedly different behavior than the other. In fact, my opinion has traditionally been that field work is MORE useful for skill building than just about anything else. I'm curious as to your experiences and how they differ between clays, bird, and HD training.

The Mossberg 590s issued to us had peep sight rear, blade sight front. As instructed, we only used them to aim past 15 yds with slugs.
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My walkabout 870's sport 21" rifle sight barrels; they point just fine for wing shooting (I rarely see the front sight anyway) and they give an option for fine sighting when using slugs.

I actually use the RS barrels to verify proper mount and alignment when shouldering the shotgun more than I actually use them to good use in the field. :)
 
Differences between home defense with 00Buck and shooting at clay:

  1. You are shooting at pieces of clay, not people.
  2. You are not under the stress of defending yourself and/or your family.
  3. Nobody is shooting back.
  4. You are shooting birshot, not 00Buck.
  5. You are not in a house where you must put the 00 on target or risk killing somebody else
  6. You are not under high stress where your "instinctive" shooting/pointing skills will be seriously degraded.
  7. You will be shooting far fewer pieces of lead, and they must all be on target, each time, every time.

Those are a few of the differences.
 
Those have nothing to do with pointing versus aiming - if the BG is moving quickly through your house, then pointing will be the way to get your gun on target
 
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