Holographic Sight on a shotgun?

[NoAlibi]

Speed Bead link please...

Virginian
I am seriously considering a Speed Bead

I've never heard of a Speed Bead and I'd like to know more about it. I would appreciate a link to it if anyone has one.

Thanks -- NoAlibi

 

[Virginian]

Speedbead link-
http://www.burrisoptics.com/speedbead.html

You guys don't get it. If you had a tall enough mount you could shoot the shotgun from the hip with a holographic sight, assuming you had it sighted for your shooting distance. I am not saying you can't cheek weld or do anything else you want to, I am saying all you have to see is the dot.

 

[ArmedBear]

I am saying all you have to see is the dot.

That's obvious. It's a sight.

Hitting a moving target from the hip would require the same use of the full upper body that a cheek weld helps with. One could do this without a cheek weld. Tossing the gun around, however, doesn't work well on moving targets.

See the video of Tim Bradley shooting clays with a .22 AR with a red dot sight. Note that he still uses a cheek weld, not because he needs the weld, but because hitting the target requires the use of his whole upper body.

http://www.timbradley.net/videos/video.html

The same goes for pistol rapid fire. You can't just flap the thing around, even though you obviously can't get a cheek weld with a pistol.

 

[tkopp]

I own a speed bead.

The mount for the 870 is terrible. You cannot use it with a synthetic stock -- it has to be used with a stock with some 'give.' Unlike the Mossberg mount pictured by most vendors (a big steel donut, which is probably stable enough) the 870 mount is two thin wires with small flanges that dip between the stock and the receiver. The sight itself sits on a small platform insulated from the receiver by a foam cushion, and in my experience the mount does not allow the dot to hold a zero worth a darn. I tried sighting it in at 25y with slugs, but the spread was 6" left, then 8" up, then right ... On the fourth shot, when I realized no matter how well I zeroed the sight the process of zeroing changed the position of the mount, I gave up rather than destroy the target holder.

I recently purchased a picatinny mount for the fastfire dot. In that configuration, it's a beautiful red dot. My complaint is entirely with the 870 speedbead mount itself.

Oh, and as an additional kick in the junk, when you order the speedbead you get the fast fire model 1 -- whereas the fast fire model 2 is out everywhere else, and is waterproof.

 

[AcceptableUserName]

How would something you consciously have to use/look for (red-dot, holo) vs. a plain barrel/bead you instinctively POINT like an extension of your eye IMPROVE target acquisition time?

I don't think that's possible no matter how much some people want it to be. It looks real cool, but like I've said in other threads, if I had to use one in a life or death situation against someone who was armed with, say a Glock pistol, I'd probably be a goner. In that kind of situation I'll take all the advantages I can get, and having to fool with a sight (on a SHOTgun nonetheless) is not one of them. If you want to hunt or use this as a dedicated slug gun, I'd say go for it because accuracy is an issue there and getting shot out as quick as possible instinctively to save your life isn't. I can see the merits in having an optic on a gun I'm going to be shooting strictly slugs out of, but if I have buck in the gun, which I probably would at practical ranges, it would hinder me just as the ghost rings I took off one of my 590's did. You decide. Just my two cent's worth.

 

[NoAlibi]

Virginian -- Thanks for the link on the Speed Bead. If the mount for an 870 was the same as pictured in the link and not as described by tkopp, it would seem to be a good choice for a dedicated slug gun because if you had sight/battery failure the sight wouldn't obstuct using the front bead. As you mentioned, it is a bit pricey!

I've had good training and lots of practice shooting conventional sights on SHOTguns that I'm very comfortable with it and I feel that a red dot sight offers me no advantage when using shot on moving targets.

ArmedBear
The same goes for pistol rapid fire. You can't just flap the thing around, even though you obviously can't get a cheek weld with a pistol.

You can get a cheek weld with a pistol and it has made an immense improvement in my action shooting. With the exception of instinctual shooting it's the only way I shoot a handgun now.

How I do it: Your forearm, arm and shoulder become the stock. You must use the weaver stance. Assume the weaver stance and all you have to do is raise your shoulder to meet your jaw and part of your cheek. You will immediately notice a big increase in stability and as you mentioned using the upper body puts it all together - like a shooting platform.

I would hope that you, or anyone else would at least give it a try. If my description is not clear, I'll get one of the range rats to pose for a picture if you would like.

 

[Virginian]

Thanks tkopp, that is very good to know. My biggest issues years ago were with the old Weaver Qwik Point mount. The screws thru the receiver were not a close enough fit to prevent movement, and I did not want it marking my receiver by rocking back and forth. I never shot slugs but it would have been a bit of a problem there, too. And you couldn't tighten down the screws too much or you would deflect the receiver and screw up the gun. I ended up having special fine threaded rods made, and had half nuts welded to the mount, painted the receiver to protect that, and used blue Loctite to keep everything together.
AcceptableUserName, you do not have to consciously look for anything if you have a halfway decent consistent gun mount. When you throw the gun up and look over the shotgun the dot is right there with the target. Until you have tried it it is hard to believe. I had guys at the range laughing at that new "Rube Goldberg" sight, but most of them were willing to try it and they were amazed as how easy it made things. Most of them never believed you could possibly shoot skeet with it, but most of the better shooters were hitting the clays within two or three shots.
I can't believe that after 35 years someone still hasn't come out with a light, effective, easy mounting system for holographic sights. I was hoping the Speedbead was it.