Opinions on shotgun sights.... bead or ghostring?

R

River runner

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Hello CGN crew! This is my first real inquiry. (be gentle!...lol)
Sooo.... I'm in the market for a tactical shotty and can't decide if I want a bead or a ghost ring sight. I'm looking at the Mossberg 590a1's, and see all these options. Whats are the advantages and disadvantages of ghost versus bead?
Has this topic been brought up before?... any links to previous threads? I searched but came up short....
My main intended use will be a personal protection weapon from wildlife while fishing in remote parts of BC.....
Thanks for your input!
 
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personally i can quire a target much faster with a beadsight and if you want it for defence faster target aquisistion is good. however ghost ring sights are supposed to be more accurate, but i've never noticed much of a difference between he two myself. i'd say get whichever you perfer and then preactice practice practice until you feel you could run the gun with your hands tied behind your back. then practice some more.

Also I'd recomend an 870 over the mossberg but perhaps that is just me.
 
I shoot quite a bit of shotgun and three gun. For those games I prefer open sights...traditional post and leaf sights...I just find I can pick up multiple targets faster with them. I hunt deer with ghost ring sights on my a Ruger. 44 magnum. They are accurate, and make it easy to pick op single targets in the bush. For your application, I have no qualms about suggesting ghost rings, but you should try them out yourself first before you might actually need them.
 
7.62mm said:
I shoot quite a bit of shotgun and three gun. For those games I prefer open sights...traditional post and leaf sights...I just find I can pick up multiple targets faster with them. I hunt deer with ghost ring sights on my a Ruger. 44 magnum. They are accurate, and make it easy to pick op single targets in the bush. For your application, I have no qualms about suggesting ghost rings, but you should try them out yourself first before you might actually need them.
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To piggy back on this, I think the best sights on shotguns are... rifle sights! Of course this can vary.. if you have a shotgun with a shorty barrel that is cylinder bore and intend to use it for close shots, I think bead would be best as it is the fastest to acquire and will be accurate enough for this purpose. I think ghost rings are the best for any sort of long shots (slugs). But I think rifle sights are best of both worlds offering faster acquisition than ghost rings but also better accuracy for long distance shots than simple bead. I have ghost rings on my main shotgun now and I like them plenty but if I could, I would change to rifle sights
 
My last three 870's have all had ghost ring sights on them. My next one will have just a bead. I find the bead much faster to acquire and it's as accurate for me.
 
River runner said:
Hello CGN crew! This is my first real inquiry. (be gentle!...lol)
Sooo.... I'm in the market for a tactical shotty and can't decide if I want a bead or a ghost ring sight. I'm looking at the Mossberg 590a1's, and see all these options. Whats are the advantages and disadvantages of ghost versus bead?
Has this topic been brought up before?... any links to previous threads? I searched but came up short....
My main intended use will be a personal protection weapon from wildlife while fishing in remote parts of BC.....
Thanks for your input!
Click to expand...

Bead is the way to go ...

Its all good cuz it wont snag in the great outdoors and you can still defend against flying squirrels.

Personally I would use a trueglo front sight cause its much brighter than a bead.

Can buy these at CanTire or ProBass cheep.
 
IMHO, a ghost ring and post is the best sight combination for either a rifle or a shotgun. Have you ever seen a bead site on a rifle, of course not, because they are a poor choice when you are shooting a single projectile. Yet a ghost ring and post cost little, if any, time with target acquisition when you are firing shot loads, the more you shoot the faster you get. The reason for this is that all there is to line up is the front sight and the target, where as with open sights you have to align front and rear sight and then put that on the target to acquire your sight picture. A rectangular front sight provides several advantage over a bead sight as well. First it provides easier focus, a round front sight always has a fuzzy appearance where the rectangular sight quickly jumps into focus. The rectangular sight provides an index of elevation that is lacking with a bead, and finally it allows the shooter to instantly see if he is canting his rifle or shotgun.

Now consider that the majority of bead sighted shotgun barrels have those beads improperly mounted. The receiver of a repeating shotgun is almost always higher than the barrel, the barrels are most often tapered towards the muzzle, yet the beads most often are mounted directly on the top of the barrel with no pedestal to bring their height into line with the receiver. The result is that you shoot high every time and attempting to hold low is slower than putting the rectangular post on the target and firing. The bead is easily damaged or knocked off if the gun sees hard use, then try shooting effectively while guessing where the proper height of the bead was. Possible, but not so simple. For speed, simplicity, and resilience, use a ghost ring and post.
 
My vote goes to bead. I hate the ghost rings because it hinders my field of view i don't like that at all.

Edit: Hell I'd prefer iron sights on any shotgun or rifle rather than the ghost rings.
 
Sights

Depends on the application.

The bead sight is by far the quickest and most instinctive.

The ghost ring is inherently more accurate but target aquisition is longer.

Being the old school in preference I like the rifle sights for most applications although the Grizzly 12.5 is fine with a bead.
 
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Ghost rings for me, no doubt. Good reference, easy to aim, easy to find target, especially moving targets and better long range capability for slug use. I love ghost ring sights, would never buy anything less.

Works great in Shotgun competitions, in the field hunting, shooting skeet and at the range doing "tactical" stuff.
 
A lot depends on what you are used to. I shot all my life with bead sights and regular style stock. I have a shotgun with ghost rings and don't do as well with it as I do with the bead. As far as target aquisition, I've shot a hell of a lot of ducks in my time and don't feel like I'm at a disadvantage with a bead in any way, you just pull the gun up and the bead is right there.
 
Thank you everyone for your input. I really appreciate it! I wound up at a few local retailers today and purchased a Mossberg 590 A1 20" barrel with a bead sight. For me the bead seemed like the best option. Very sleek and snag free. I may play with the idea of a red dot as the mounting screws are already there from the factory.
This is my very first firearm and I'm still in a little bit of shock!...LOL!
Now I have to get out and put a few rounds down range.
Thanks again everybody!
 
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