[Al Thompson]

Just wondered - I'm one of those folks that shoots way more rifle/handgun/sluds/buck than true wingshooting. As Dave has mentioned before, it takes a round or two before those passing shots get comfortable.

I'm wondering - has any one tried some skeet/trap/SC with no front sight? (on purpose?) That may be a good way for folks like me to do some better...

[HSMITH]

LOL, I have had beads shoot off before and not known it until it was pointed out to me.

It certainly is not going to hurt anything to take it off, shoot it with some sight black, cover it with some tape etc. Give it a shot.

The only thing I ever shoot with a mounted gun is trap, and I don't look for the bead there either. When I shoot well I just point it and slap the trigger/s, no thought or technique or process taking place conciously at all. "In the zone" I guess you call it. Of course to get to that point there is a lot of practice in tedious detail.

Just shoot the bugger and see what shakes out, most all of us shoot a whole lot better if we can keep our pea brains out of the affair.

[sm]

Bob Brister in his book did this. Took his young neighbor girl, a BB gun with the sights removed and in short order had her hitting ping-pong balls. IIRC the young ladey hadn't shot before, especially a shotgun. HSMITH reiterates a basic premise: shotguns are pointed, not aimed. Exceptions of course for some applications, but for skeet, trap, clays, and flying fowl...not aimed.

I've used Brister's method to teach, done it myself. I've shot without a bead, had the front one fall off at the first of the 3rd box during a tourney. Just went on and shot, actually bugged the rest of the squad to my advantage. Made it to the shoot-off..

[Dave McCracken]

Sarah Sanford, formerly on OLN's show Pull!, and now on ESPN, shoots well sans beads.

I've done w/o a few times, mostly it didn't matter unless I made a big deal of it. Mindset more than material,IMO.

If form and fit are good, it shouldn't be a problem.

[Andrew Wyatt]

on the obverse of this, would a shotgun that was properly fitted and had aperature or rifle sights work as well on trap?

[Tom C.]

I mounted sights on an old Remington Model 11 to use it for slugs and shot for IPSC 3 gun matches. I have used it for sporting clays and think I do better than I would without the sights. But I am a rifle and pistol guy, with very little time with shotguns.

[Dave McCracken]

Andrew, I doubt it. Rifles and shotgunsIWhen used as shotguns) are completely different animals.

I've seen a fair amount of folks try using some sort of sight system at fast moving targets. None have done well.

[HSMITH]

The only thing I have seen that would classify as a real sight that worked on a shotgun was a Bushnell Holosight. It had an aperture (red dot display thing) that was a lot like an anti-aircraft sight, circle in the middle and a larger circle around it. It worked good for known shots with slight angles. Anytime the lead got to be more than the "window" of the aperture you were right back to 1910 and nothing but instinct and knowledge to lean on. NO sight can accomodate even the leads seen in 16 yard trap on hard angles IMO. Sights and clays/wingshooting just don't mix.