[Dot_mdb]

Do some shotgunners cut off their front bead? :eek:

That is what a guy with some shotgunning experience told me. He wasn't recommending it just commenting. Ever hear of it?

Bill

[Dave McCracken]

Yup, some do.

Charles Askins, old time gun writer mentions a Southern Sheriff who blew off the muzzle end of his shotgun, cut the barrel square and was still just as deadly on quail as before. Bet his shotgun was a good fit.

Sarah Sanford, formerly on the shotgun show, "Pull!" on OLN, shoots well sans beads. Bet hers fit well also.

Removing the bead can eliminate one source of distraction. We focus on the target, not the bead.

Even your humble Moderator here has shot a round of trap doubles, and not only didn't note when the front bead left during same but had one of his better scores.

For a tyro, the downside would be that it could be harder to tell if you're lined up properly.

HTH....

[Dot_mdb]

Dave,

Thanks for confirming that.

Two weeks ago before I started shooting a shotgun I thought that shotguns were just like rifles except that they had a bigger hole down the barrel.

I shoot revolvers. I've often thought about buying a revolver and taking off the front and rear sight to practice shooting from the 7 yard line. I didn't realize that what I really wanted to do was learn to shoot my revolver like a shotgun. The only difference is that muscle memory has to substitute for fit and the eyeball becomes not just the rear sight but the only sight. And come to think about it isn't the eyeball the only sight when shooting clays with a shotgun?

Bill

[Jim Watson]

The eyeball is the only REAR sight when shooting a shotgun. You still have to have some reference between the gun and the bird. If you can use the whole front of the barrel, fine. I like a big white bead.

Wasn't it Charles Askins who tied a white rag around the muzzle of his shotgun so he could see to ambush Mexicans at night?

[Dave McCracken]

Right, Jim. Askins used his position on the Border Patrol to hone his shooting skills on wetbacks and contrabandistas. That was a Model 11 Remington with a full length mag extension he used.

Good shooter, but a heinous individual.

[Jim Watson]

Yeah, I saw him once at the NRA Convention in Atlanta the year he won the Handgunner of the Year Trophy, 1978 or so. He was walking the hall with the trophy in one arm and a double bourbon in the other hand. Typical of the character.

On the other hand, Bill Jordan was a fine gentleman and a credit to the Patrol.

[PJR]

On the first day of a two day clays getaway shoot that some friends and I put together each year the front bead of my o/u went missing. I noticed it was missing after the end of the first day when I was cleaning my gun.

Not being able to get the thing repaired overnight I soldiered on and didn't notice a significant difference in my scores. I did eventually have the bead replaced. What gives me fits however are the luminescent beads. They take my eyes away from the target and back to the beads and when that happens I miss every time.

My focus on shotgunning has made me a mediocre handgun shooter. In rapid fire my eyes end to go to the target instead of staying on the front sight where they belong.

Paul

[Dave McCracken]

Switching was a problem for me, Paul, but over the years it's gotten easier.

Since no one told me during my "Yute" that one focussed on the target with a shotgun, I kept trying to aim the thing. Results were as one would expect.

Someplace along the line the light dawned and my shell to bird ratio greatly improved.

Agreed on green worm sights. Some folks use them and outshoot me, a minor mystery IMO.

[themic]

PJR, i have the same problem. shoting handguns, i don't look at the sights much, maybe a quick alignment. I don't shoot tight groups, but I always hit the silhouette, even at greater distances. Weird, really. Can shoot alot quicker than many, though. I think I'll never be a great handgun target shooter, but I'm comfortable with being fast and accurate enough.

[sm]

Given a choice I prefer a plain jane front bead and a mid bead of smaller size.

That said I was taught without one , and have taught others without. Usually start 'em with a BB -gun with sights removed.

Gun fit...form...etc. Yea I have lost them and still run straights, felled ducks, and doves.... Didn't realize the darn thing was missing until I cased it up to come home.

Learn the basics, not crutches. Its the devil to be dependent and lose that darn crutch.

[45auto]

I can't figure out the reason for the luminescent bead on a shotgun, but I have never shot one.
I shouldn't comment, however I think it's contrary to the method of shooting moving targets.

I've always assumed it was a pistol shooter's idea who crossed over and tried to "improve" the shotgun.
I remember thinking, "How stupid is that". I believe Browning uses them on their 525s now.

[HSMITH]

If you do a lot of low light and bad weather hunting the light pipe beads and such can help quite a bit, and even more so when the weather is rapidly changing and/or clothing thickness changes daily and even hourly. It is easy to lose reference for where your shotgun is in relation to your eyes, and that happens regardless of how well your shotgun fits. Fit being perfect will only be that perfect in one scenario, add even just 1/2" of clothes and BAM the fit is different!!

I have one on my go-to hunting gun, but it is a very dim model with an inch and a half or so tube that you have to look down to see the light pipe, your eye must be behind it or you cannot see it. It is a VERY valuable tool to perfect the mounting of the shotgun, as well as the bad weather/clothing scenario above.

I am thought to be totally insane for hunting in the conditions I go out it, but when prepared with the right equipment it really is not bad at all. Most of the equipment out there has a use, but some of it is not useful to everyone........

[Dave McCracken]

H, thanks. I hadn't thought of that.

As for hunting conditions, As a child I thought that all hunting was done under cold, wet weather in leaky waders. Ours was...

[45auto]

Being a fair weather shooter, I hadn't thought of that either!
I see more of them now, so who knows.

Thanks

[Dot_mdb]

The mid bead has been mentioned so we should pick on that one for a while. Do mid beads make any sense for the clay sports? Seems to me the mid bead would be most useful in a shotgun loaded with slugs and used for hunting.

Bill

[Dave McCracken]

Midbeads make sense on shotguns used premounted.
Maybe for turkey, I'm not enough of a turkey fanatic to say for sure.

Years ago, a 20 gauge Flite King with two beads and an open choke was my slug gun. Rottweil Brenekkes were the load, and the setup worked well.

On a field gun used primarily on birds. I'm not so sure the mid bead's a good idea.It may contribute to aiming. Other than that Flite KIng, the field guns I've used most have NOT had midbeads.

[45auto]

The mid-bead is good to pick on.
I don't think they are of much value on clay targets, assuming your stock fits and you know where the gun shoots.

It might be handy in a gunshop to get a "relative" idea of how high or low the gun may shoot, but we know that may not be true in actual shooting. High ribs, low ribs, ribs higher at the breach than the muzzle, adjustable bbl hangers all complicate the relationship between the beads- I think!

No harm in having them though. Although I did(do) have one gun where they installed the mid bead off center. That was odd to look at. I don't see it when I shoot of course, so no problem. I will have it removed when convenient, just so people stop commenting on it or try to adjust their face to line up the beads!

[sm]

Since I tossed this out... Mid beads were designed to prevent canting. In the original game (s) of skeet the gun was "off shoulder" when the shooter called for the bird.

The game changed where one could have gun mounted before calling for bird.

Personally I found other uses for the mid bead.

When I finally admitted I didn't know squat about a shotgun ( duh --how can one miss with so many pellets in the air??) I sought out and rec'd sage advice.

First thing I learned was gun fit. After getting fitted and the pattern board lesson,the front sight was removed and I learned to shoot without one.

I finally was allowed to make a purchase, based on what I had learned. My wise sages, after checking me out with this new to me but used gun...took it away. 3 weeks later I have external chokes and a mid bead :uhoh:

Great, a new wrinkle. See I had NOT been allowed to pre mount the gun in all my lessons, I guess I should be grateful I wasn't made to shoot the OLD skeet load of 1 1/4 ozs, and call the game "round the clock" , as it was originally. I was forced to learn with a pump ( model 12) though.

So with semi-auto, with external chokes and darn mid bead, I was graduated to a new level. I could pre mount the gun.

The mid bead was not for that --not for me anyway:scrutiny:

" Shotgunning is an Art and Science" Just like the title of the book we had you read and quizzed you about." "Good shooters are made not born" As you learned form the required Misseldine reading".

"Now we teach you to use psychology, prepare your brain, and use other shooters against themselves. " Shotguns are the most versatile firearms...you'll use this tool for many jobs."

Mid bead was used for pattern board testing loads, whether it be for changes in powder, wads, primers, or shot weight. One of the rare times allowed to fire at a stationary target. I had better not 'aim' at the pattern board either.

I was taught when using Slugs how to use the mid bead as "Kentucky Elevation".

I was then told I was signed up to shoot a 50 bird tourney--Gulp.

I show up to shoot with people I had never seen before, field grade semi auto, with

knurled external chokes and a gasp mid bead . I had my reloads, but was handed some scrappy , and I mean scrappy reloads , some of the shot was spilling out, others were contained with candle wax and electrical tape.

Straws were pulled, I was short straw. I was to lead off, against these fellows with Perazzis, Remington 3200's and a tricked out beretta 303.

" That darn field gun has a...a mid bead,...did you see those scrappy reloads he used to shoot 2...that is the ugliest shell pouch I've ever seen...well the tyro has to learn somehow...hope he doesn't ruin my timing." Shotgunners can be cruel to a new guy.:(

"73, drop those scrappy shells on the ground , fumble, and look nervous when you load up,with your once fired AA reloads, forget everything except the front edge of every target, shoot faster than you have practiced, oh--we have a twenty riding on you". Great.

PULL...IT, the games have begun, tyro leading off a squad of snobby old boys and high price toys.

One old fart kept griping about the gun...mid bead was driving him nuts. I ran the first box. I and another were straight going to sta 7. He blew low 7...the pressure was on. Don't think about the first 50 straight...don't think, shoot, focus, front edge, one at time...sweaty hands, brow, my back was soaked...

I collected the tattered remains of my hat, I was bought a soda, I was patted on the back, I was accepted by the squad I'd just shot with--finally. I watched as my sage mentors accepted twenty bucks.

I was asked..." hey young feller...gotta get me one of them mid beads it seems..."

I never remember seeing the mid bead, or front bead. All I remember were slivers of orange turning to dust.

Only time I really see the mid or front beads , are when I wipe the gun down...the cloth actually hangs a bit, and I remember they are there.

[HSMITH]

Great story 73, Bravo Zulu my man!!!

[Dave McCracken]

(The sound track has one older man applauding)...

Kudoes, 73. Quite a day....