Fiber-optic bead sights

MK2750 said:
Yeah, that opening comment is confrontational and serves no purpose. I do get annoyed when people trash on other people’s gear and methods when we are all suppose to be in this together. I know fibre optic sights are not for everyone and even the thought of having them on my classic side x sides makes me cringe. But to each their own, I love my Maxus for waterfowl and the barrel, vent rib and fibre optic bead is a big part of that.

I will edit my post and remove the offensive remark.
Click to expand...

People who can run over 50 targets consistently , or those that run a hundred on a regular basis pretty much IMO deserve to comment when some think they need a high viz sight/ bead on a shotgun. When I shot competitively no we are not in it together. Drop 6 birds out of 400 and not even place it is dog eat dog
Like I said for stationary targets fine for moving ones not in your life and if you shoot enough you will see that
When I am on I don't see any barrel just a target as big as a garbage can lid :) turning like it is in slow motion

When I started it was the bradley bead. I must have replaced 25 of them thinking man what junk to finally figure out the experienced shooters at the club were removing it every time I mentioned a bead. Today I am glad they did

Want to stop your gun more and miss more targets add a high viz bead it is as simple as that. Don't care what the internet says over 50 years of shooting shotgun and around the same tells me different

But hey if in your mind you think you shoot better with one fill your boots. Me I focus on proper shotgun fit and lots of rounds fired



Cheers

One of the better explanations IMO

It's all a matter of self discipline. The purpose of the bead is to feed information to your sub-concious mind about muzzle position. This information is fed at the subliminal level while your eyes are focused on the target. Of course if you reference the bead directly your gun speed slows and you generally miss behind. You want a "bead" up there that your eyes can "see" subliminally, but not be inordinately drawn to. Everyone's level of discipline to keep their eyes focused on the target is different but we should all strive to discipline ourselves to stay focused OUT THERE. Once you have trained your brain it's easier. I seldom see my barrel or bead.
 
Last edited:
3macs1 said:
People who can run over 50 targets , or those that run a hundred on a regular basis pretty much IMO deserve to comment when some think they need a sight/ bead on a shotgun Like I said for stationary targets fine for moving ones not in your life and if you shoot enough you will see that
Cheers
Click to expand...

I have read your opinion and the thousands of others you feel compelled to makes. It is just an opinion, nothing more nothing less. It is an opinion that I and thousands of others disagree with and adding “Not on your life” “FULL STOP” and the obnoxious “Cheers” to the end of every comment does nothing to add credibility. You are not trying to justify your opinion, you are trying to belittle someone else’s.

BTW, I too am from “back in the day” and coincidentally from NS. I have been shooting shotguns for fifty year and don’t need you telling me what I am doing successfully is wrong, nor do the vast majority of competition shooters in the world that use fibre optic sights. I, nor anyone else, uses the term “miss balls” and in all the years of sharing blinds and sporting shoots I have never had anyone even suggest that I remove the beads from my shotgun.

Most every major manufacturer includes them with their competition guns. Are they just trying to irritate experts like yourself?

If a person’s focus is entirely on the target than why is cross eye dominance even an issue? Is a cross eye dominant person unable to focus on the target? Surely any right handed shooter could put a patch on their right eye and still see the target clearly enough to break clays right? Not on your life, because the eye has to be positioned perfectly to become part of a sighting system whether you believe it or not. If you are an avid sporting clay shooter, your shotgun fits perfect and you are wearing your usual attire including foot wear, your beads should be irrelevant. If you are the average Joe stepping over a log when a Ruffles takes off or twisted around like a dog loving a football trying to drop a flaring mallard out of a layout blind, take a peek at the beads in your peripheral vision. You are going to kill a lot more birds and “quick and easy” is generally a good thing.
 
Last edited:
stubblejumper said:
I have seen people go as far as to add the accessory hi-viz bars on the ribs of their shotguns for shooting clays, but those people, are not the ones I see shooting the higher scores. I wonder if that is only a coincidence?
Click to expand...

Or they added the sights because they were missing and continued to do so. Don’t tell me they were hitting clays and changed just because. The majority of world class competition shooters use them and the majority of competition shotguns from the big names come with them. I don’t care if you use them or not. Use what works for you but please don’t tell everyone they need do what you like.
 
MK2750 said:
Or they added the sights because they were missing and continued to do so. Don’t tell me they were hitting clays and changed just because. The majority of world class competition shooters use them and the majority of competition shotguns from the big names come with them. I don’t care if you use them or not. Use what works for you but please don’t tell everyone they need do what you like.
Click to expand...

I have yet to see a person break more clays by adding a hi-viz bar to his gun, but I have seen a friend double his score the next round after removing the green bar from his gun. Yet most of the better shooters don't even notice the bead, so it doesn't matter to them. As for the high end clays guns, my Kreighoff came with plain white beads. Digweed uses an orange bead, that coincidentally matches the color of his shooting glasses, so I doubt that he even notices it. In fact most clays guns that have hi-viz beads use a red/orange color, that closely matches the lenses that most shooters wear.
George_Digweed_image2.jpg
 
Last edited:
stubblejumper said:
I have yet to see a person break more clays by adding a hi-viz bar to his gun, but I have seen a friend double his score the next round after removing the bar from his gun. Yet most of the better shooters don't even notice the bead, so it doesn't matter to them. As for the high end clays guns, my Kreighoff came with plain white beads. Digweed uses an orange bead, that coincidentally matches the color of his shooting glasses, so I doubt that he even notices it.
Click to expand...


There's also a brightness difference between a true fiber optic bead that gathers light and a plastic orange or green or whatever colored bead that a lot of manufacturers offer.
 
Falconflyer said:
There's also a brightness difference between a true fiber optic bead that gathers light and a plastic orange or green or whatever colored bead that a lot of manufacturers offer.
Click to expand...

Very true.The bead on my F-3 is a red/orange piece of plastic, as is the bead on my SX-3, yet neither one seems to glow like the hi-viz beads/tubes.
 
MK2750 said:
I have read your opinion and the thousands of others you feel compelled to makes. It is just an opinion, nothing more nothing less. It is an opinion that I and thousands of others disagree with and adding “Not on your life” “FULL STOP” and the obnoxious “Cheers” to the end of every comment does nothing to add credibility. You are not trying to justify your opinion, you are trying to belittle someone else’s.

BTW, I too am from “back in the day” and coincidentally from NS. I have been shooting shotguns for fifty year and don’t need you telling me what I am doing successfully is wrong, nor do the vast majority of competition shooters in the world that use fibre optic sights. I, nor anyone else, uses the term “miss balls” and in all the years of sharing blinds and sporting shoots I have never had anyone even suggest that I remove the beads from my shotgun.

Most every major manufacturer includes them with their competition guns. Are they just trying to irritate experts like yourself?

If a person’s focus is entirely on the target than why is cross eye dominance even an issue? Is a cross eye dominant person unable to focus on the target? Surely any right handed shooter could put a patch on their right eye and still see the target clearly enough to break clays right? Not on your life, because the eye has to be positioned perfectly to become part of a sighting system whether you believe it or not. If you are an avid sporting clay shooter, your shotgun fits perfect and you are wearing your usual attire including foot wear, your beads should be irrelevant. If you are the average Joe stepping over a log when a Ruffles takes off or twisted around like a dog loving a football trying to drop a flaring mallard out of a layout blind, take a peek at the beads in your peripheral vision. You are going to kill a lot more birds and “quick and easy” is generally a good thing.
Click to expand...

I am cross eye dominant. I dont use patches or special glasses or any of that nonsense other people have suggested. My trick is to find a well fitting gun and shoot as much as I can with that gun. When the gun fit is good, you’ll be amazed at how well you can adjust your shooting style to compensate for the cross eye dominance isssue. But that cones with practice.
 
Mine don’t really glow either. I am sure the one on my Maxus is similar to the SX3.

I was reading on another forum that one of the European Olympic teams puts white tape on the barrels for better awareness. A video was posted and the shooters were extraordinary.

My first experience with a plastic bead was with my SKB XL900 that I have been shooting since I was a little kid. My Dad bought it for me new and in spite of doubling my size I have always shot it very well. Once you become use to having something in your sight plain for 40 years it becomes distracting when it’s not there. I foolishly sold that gun but have recently reaquired it. I was so happy to have it back with me that I bought it’s mate in 20 gauge. I spent weeks messing with the shims on my Maxus and finally got it perfect for me. When I reaquired the SKB all measurements matched perfectly.
 
stubblejumper said:
I have yet to see a person break more clays by adding a hi-viz bar to his gun, but I have seen a friend double his score the next round after removing the green bar from his gun. Yet most of the better shooters don't even notice the bead, so it doesn't matter to them. As for the high end clays guns, my Kreighoff came with plain white beads. Digweed uses an orange bead, that coincidentally matches the color of his shooting glasses, so I doubt that he even notices it. In fact most clays guns that have hi-viz beads use a red/orange color, that closely matches the lenses that most shooters wear.
George_Digweed_image2.jpg
Click to expand...

Dig weed is also quoted as saying the fit of the shotgun is over rated. He claims to shoot them as they come out of the box IIRC
 
MK2750 said:
Dig weed is also quoted as saying the fit of the shotgun is over rated. He claims to shoot them as they come out of the box IIRC
Click to expand...

You can be sure that when his shotguns come out of the box, they don't need any fitting, because they are made to measure for him.:p

I often shoot the SX-3 with plastic bead in the morning on geese, my Grulla SXS with tiny bare metal bead on pheasants that afternoon, and the white bead on my K-20 the next day. Since I don't pay attention to the bead, it's not an issue for me.
 
Last edited:
I too think you have to tell us what you are doing with the shogun.

I tried both the Hi Viz (BB2005) and then went to the Limbsaver Dead Center (12201)

I found with both I was trying to use them as sights and my misses grew. It seemed my eyes would keep focused on the lite pipes and not on what I was trying to shoot.

Took off these addon sights and now I focus out to where the bird is and use both eyes to follow it and the gun rises and shoot and my rate has increased.
 
MK2750 said:
Dig weed is also quoted as saying the fit of the shotgun is over rated. He claims to shoot them as they come out of the box IIRC
Click to expand...


Digweed is a bit of an exception to the rule as he is arguably the best shot gunner in the world! You could give Tiger Woods some Canadian Tire golf clubs and he'd still outscore the vast majority of other golfers too.
 
MK2750 said:
I have read your opinion and the thousands of others you feel compelled to makes. It is just an opinion, nothing more nothing less. It is an opinion that I and thousands of others disagree with and adding “Not on your life” “FULL STOP” and the obnoxious “Cheers” to the end of every comment does nothing to add credibility. You are not trying to justify your opinion, you are trying to belittle someone else’s.

BTW, I too am from “back in the day” and coincidentally from NS. I have been shooting shotguns for fifty year and don’t need you telling me what I am doing successfully is wrong, nor do the vast majority of competition shooters in the world that use fibre optic sights. I, nor anyone else, uses the term “miss balls” and in all the years of sharing blinds and sporting shoots I have never had anyone even suggest that I remove the beads from my shotgun.

Most every major manufacturer includes them with their competition guns. Are they just trying to irritate experts like yourself?

If a person’s focus is entirely on the target than why is cross eye dominance even an issue? Is a cross eye dominant person unable to focus on the target? Surely any right handed shooter could put a patch on their right eye and still see the target clearly enough to break clays right? Not on your life, because the eye has to be positioned perfectly to become part of a sighting system whether you believe it or not. If you are an avid sporting clay shooter, your shotgun fits perfect and you are wearing your usual attire including foot wear, your beads should be irrelevant. If you are the average Joe stepping over a log when a Ruffles takes off or twisted around like a dog loving a football trying to drop a flaring mallard out of a layout blind, take a peek at the beads in your peripheral vision. You are going to kill a lot more birds and “quick and easy” is generally a good thing.
Click to expand...

I am entitled to my opinion as you are. Difference is mine is based on hundred's of thousands of rounds fired over the years and no I am not an expert
Seems you think you are the expert and have issues with anyone that doesn't agree with your opinion
Funny to talk about eye dominance like it is a simple matter. It is actually quite complicated
Some good reading for you here
ht tps://www.shootinguk.co.uk/answers/eye-dominance-and-your-shooting-13003
See I was a shooter that after almost 20 years of shooting right handed it was determined an issue with eye dominance was allowing me not to be consistent with my scores so I desided to switch and that was after trying all the tricks or coaching available I just could not not get the clear image needed so know a little bit about it
After the switch to left it took me four years and over 50,000 targets to get my scores back and it proved to be worth the work
My hunting guns are fitted to me like target guns so it makes no difference there. In fact many today are the same gun

You fill your boots and like I say if it works for you so be it. It was never an option for me or any of the shooters I shared rounds with but these guys all could run them on a regular basis not something that is your norm is it which is fine

Cheers

OH yes on the "miss me". Wondering where you shot back in the day some old corn field with a hand clay thrower
Some have actually wrote about it

ht tps://www.fieldandstream.com/articles/guns/2008/02/miss-me-bead

Seems others think like I do also

ht tps://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/gun-shots/2012/04/why-shotguns-and-fiber-optics-don%E2%80%99t-mix

Fix the links
 
Last edited:
One of the biggest mistakes I see, club level experts giving advice on is lead. Tell a rookie you are two feet behind next shot he attempts to measure referencing either the barrel or the bead, much more better to only say increase lead etc. club level coaches also stand right behind the student when they should be standing beside never could figure out how advice is given looking at a shooters back.
 
JIMMY 808 said:
One of the biggest mistakes I see, club level experts giving advice on is lead. Tell a rookie you are two feet behind next shot he attempts to measure referencing either the barrel or the bead, much more better to only say increase lead etc. club level coaches also stand right behind the student when they should be standing beside never could figure out how advice is given looking at a shooters back.
Click to expand...

They are watching the shot string which yes can be seen at night under the lights or pending the background. Light has to be right they say
Not something I could do however on a regular basis but some coaches could and never could I see my own when I did see one from others it was rare
Also watching barrel position at time of firing I found coaches stand behind
Cheers
 
Last edited:
3macs1 said:
They are watching the shot string which yes can be seen at night under the lights or pending the background. Light has to be right they say
Not something I could do however on a regular basis but some coaches could and never could I see my own when I did see one from others it was rare
Also watching barrel position at time of firing I found coaches stand behind
Cheers
Click to expand...

Lots of give and take but standing beside you can watch their eyes hand pressure trigger finger barrel bobble bead checks and so on. More damage is done IMO telling beginners exactly where a shot was, as not all missed shots are bad shots.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom