Sorry, I tried doing a search and got impatient sifting through all the threads. I'm going quail hunting next week on a buddies ranch. He said my Stevens single shot 12 gauge wasn't going to be enough. So I went to Walmart & picked up an 870 express with a "28 vent rib barrel for $277.00. I always wondered what the vent rib was for.
vent rib, It's function?
- Thread starter rayman
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Ben Shepherd
Member
Cuts down on heat mirage coming off the barrel and interfering with your sight picture when you shoot long strings.
sbarkowski
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Single shot 12ga not enough? Follow up shots might be a problem but other than that I dont see any reason it wouldnt do. Unless of course you just want another gun, nothing wrong with that either. What did he recommed you use? why?
oneounceload
member
heat dissipation and minimize mirage
Milkmaster
Member
I don't know why your 12 gal single would not be enough other than you would only get one shot on a cubby rise. Maybe is just wasn't enough for HIM! So anyways now you have a 12 ga pump that will allow a second or third shot if you are quick enough. Don't just take for granted that you will be able to pump it and get off your second shot without thinking. A bit of practice is necessary of you have not tried a pump in that way before. Quail rise fast and get away quick! Take out that 870 and practice shooting through a second shot before hunting. It will help you become familiar with it. Shoot clays if you got 'em!
To answer your question about the rib...All I know is the rib helps to keep your eye looking straight down the plain of the barrel. That helps your accuracy!
Enjoy your quail hunting experience. There is nothing quite like it. Be sure to watch for each other and insist on safety margins that keep fellow hunters from getting peppered with lead!
To answer your question about the rib...All I know is the rib helps to keep your eye looking straight down the plain of the barrel. That helps your accuracy!
Enjoy your quail hunting experience. There is nothing quite like it. Be sure to watch for each other and insist on safety margins that keep fellow hunters from getting peppered with lead!
earlthegoat2
Member
Im honestly not too keen on the vent rib barrel for hunting. For clays, where a great deal of shooting is done it could be theoretically better.
Maybe a solution to problem that never existed.
It is here to stay though so I can live with it. I am more a fan of the raised bead that was put on most A5s, Model 11s and some 1100s. I know they put it on others as well but these are the ones from my experience.
Maybe a solution to problem that never existed.
It is here to stay though so I can live with it. I am more a fan of the raised bead that was put on most A5s, Model 11s and some 1100s. I know they put it on others as well but these are the ones from my experience.
Gordon
Member
Definitely guides your eye straight down barrel by giving a flat plane at sighting level which aids in reducing canting also.
RetiredLawman
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I have killed many a quail, pheasants, and other critters with a single barrel long before I could afford anything else. It makes you do more precision shooting. When you've only got one shot, you make it count.
I hope your friend wasn't being conceited about your using a single barrel. I attribute what little ability to hit flying and running animals with using that old single barrel. I recommend that everyone start off with a single and when they have developed their skills, graduate to a pump, or whatever turns you on. You learn to control recoil as these light guns do have a bit of kick.
IMHO, I think that shooters that started out with a single become better shooters. Especially when they are too poor to own anything else as a young'un, like me.
That is what I think. What do you think?
I hope your friend wasn't being conceited about your using a single barrel. I attribute what little ability to hit flying and running animals with using that old single barrel. I recommend that everyone start off with a single and when they have developed their skills, graduate to a pump, or whatever turns you on. You learn to control recoil as these light guns do have a bit of kick.
IMHO, I think that shooters that started out with a single become better shooters. Especially when they are too poor to own anything else as a young'un, like me.
That is what I think. What do you think?
MCgunner
Member
That's what it does for me, focuses your eye as you look. Some guns don't need one, but my new single shot (plenty enough for me) 10 gauge NEF has a curvature to the barrel I've had to get used to. A rib on that gun would be nice. As is, I have a tendency to point low, but I've gotten used to it.
If you're hunting with a single shot, you gotta make that shot count. It keeps rounds fired down and tends to help my birds per shot average. I like single shots. Hunting quail, well, you won't get a double. LOL But, on geese with my 10 gauge, I can slam a round in the gun fast enough that if the birds are set and low, they aren't quite out of range on a second shot. I just hold the second round in my off hand, pop the gun open and load, slam it shut. I can do that on geese, but a flushing quail will be out of range a whole lot quicker. I ain't THAT fast, LOL. Another thing about the single shot, if it's fixed full or mod choke, it really ain't optimum for shooting quail.
A guy needs more'n one gun, though. Congrats on the 870. It should serve you well for about anything you'll hunt. I've got 6 shotguns and counting. Two are single shots, one's a pump, one's an auto and two are side by side doubles (I love side by sides).
huntsman
Member
It's a way for gun companies to charge more per gun, it’s a target shooters gimmick and has no use on a field gun.
Snarlingiron
Member
In Peter Blakeley's excellent book, "Successful Shotgunning: How to Build Skill in the Field and Take More Birds in Competition", he refers to the practice of some folks of rubbing chalk, either white or yellow on the sides of the vent rib. This presents a sight picture of 2 converging lines with the bead in the center.
Not advocating this, but it points up the function of the rib to direct the eye to the bead.
Not advocating this, but it points up the function of the rib to direct the eye to the bead.
Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow
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Mirage mostly, as has been said. But also, on a trap type gun, it changes the height and angle to what works best, so you can see more of the target as you're getting on it.
MCgunner
Member
My Mossberg has a vent rib and double beads and I've shimmed it for perfect fit. It just seems to point itself. I do like the set up better than the old plain barrels I've hunted with in the past. My Winchester has the rib, but no mid bead, but I seem to shoot it just as well as the Mossberg, so the mid bead may be a little worthless, but I do like a rib to focus my eye. I mean, it may not be necessary, but it seems to help me. I'd rather have a rib than not, personally.
cochise9424221
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sell shotguns and collect weeds which if damp cause rust. Also makes it harder to clean which sooner or later sell yet more shotguns. That said I like them and they look good, just not on a side by side.
A double barrel shotgun has a top rib whose primary purpose is to join the barrels. But that rib also gives a good sighting plane, leading the eye to the front bead.
A rib on a single barrel gun does the same thing, providing a better sighting plane than the curved top of the barrel. Originally, those ribs were solid, and some still are, but venting the rib minimizes and breaks up heat waves off the barrel that could interfere with the sight picture.
Jim
A rib on a single barrel gun does the same thing, providing a better sighting plane than the curved top of the barrel. Originally, those ribs were solid, and some still are, but venting the rib minimizes and breaks up heat waves off the barrel that could interfere with the sight picture.
Jim
MCgunner
Member
I think that heat wave thing is mainly for clays shooters. I've rarely had a barrel hot enough in the field to worry about that, but then, I've never been to Argentina. 
Scoupe
Member
Developed for competition. Sold to the masses.
As for the better "sighting plane" argument, I disagree, even though I'm guilty of making that claim myself in the past. If a shotgun is "pointed, not aimed" one isn't peering down the rib anyway.
As for the better "sighting plane" argument, I disagree, even though I'm guilty of making that claim myself in the past. If a shotgun is "pointed, not aimed" one isn't peering down the rib anyway.
Fred Fuller
Moderator Emeritus
Most folks have trouble taking more than one quail at the time- and plenty have trouble doing even that . Don't try to kill 'em all with the same shot- pick out one bird, focus on it, and shoot at it and it alone.
Then you can worry about the next one, if there are any still in sight of course.
Be careful, be careful, be careful. When I used to quail hunt a lot, we always limited it to two shooters per point. The shooter on the left got 90 degrees to cover on the left, same for the shooter on the right, and no one broke 180 if there were more than two in the hunting party. You wouldn't think a little ol' quail could give a grown man a roaring case of buck fever, but they can.
Think safety first, safety last, safety always. And of course there is the dog or the dogs out in front of you to worry about as well. Quail on a rise, either coveys or singles, are apt to go anywhere, and very fast at that- down low among the dogs, right back over your shoulder, no telling where. You're never gonna kill them all, so there's no need to even try. And no need to ruin the trip- or the season, or the year, or the rest of someone's life- by shooting a dog or another person.
Notice I haven't said much about hardware here? That's cause quail hunting is one of the bigger shotgun 'software' problems I have experienced, and the hardware doesn't really matter all that much IMHO.
Enjoy yourself, enjoy watching the dogs at work- that's the high point of a quail hunt, good dog work- put a little plain jerky in your pocket to treat the dogs when they do good, don't worry if you never even ruffle a feather, just have a good time and Be Safe.
lpl
. Don't try to kill 'em all with the same shot- pick out one bird, focus on it, and shoot at it and it alone.Then you can worry about the next one, if there are any still in sight of course.
Be careful, be careful, be careful. When I used to quail hunt a lot, we always limited it to two shooters per point. The shooter on the left got 90 degrees to cover on the left, same for the shooter on the right, and no one broke 180 if there were more than two in the hunting party. You wouldn't think a little ol' quail could give a grown man a roaring case of buck fever, but they can.
Think safety first, safety last, safety always. And of course there is the dog or the dogs out in front of you to worry about as well. Quail on a rise, either coveys or singles, are apt to go anywhere, and very fast at that- down low among the dogs, right back over your shoulder, no telling where. You're never gonna kill them all, so there's no need to even try. And no need to ruin the trip- or the season, or the year, or the rest of someone's life- by shooting a dog or another person.
Notice I haven't said much about hardware here? That's cause quail hunting is one of the bigger shotgun 'software' problems I have experienced, and the hardware doesn't really matter all that much IMHO.
Enjoy yourself, enjoy watching the dogs at work- that's the high point of a quail hunt, good dog work- put a little plain jerky in your pocket to treat the dogs when they do good, don't worry if you never even ruffle a feather, just have a good time and Be Safe.
lpl
oneounceload
member
Lee - a group I hunted with, (out West), went a little further - we had 1 shooter take a point, and we rotated after each point, shared the birds equally....but everyone behind the shooter had actions open and unloaded....made it as safe as possible
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