Wide Rib Vs Narrow rib ?

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haggisbasher

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I'M confussed :confused:
Shotguns that we use for 'Sporting Clays' in general have a wide rib !
Shotguns that we use 'In the field' as 'Field' guns have a narrow rib !
So why do we use a wide rib gun to replace a narrow rib gun when the narrow rib gun is/was used in the field for actual shooting of game ?
 
Interesting question. I don't think there's a real reason why a wide rib is preferable for clays and narrow for field. The only thing a rib is supposed to do is keep your eye aligned with the barrel. I suppose if it's wider it's easier to keep the rib in your peripheral vision while your main focus is on the target.

Browning started this wide rib trend years ago with the Broadway Trap and other manufacturers followed suit. Perhaps the wide rib trend is just another way to get us to buy more and different guns.

My two main target guns have wide, tapered ribs. I've shot other rib configurations and don't think width or taper make a great difference.
 
Wide ribs

Somewhere in the halls of diminishing memory I seem to recall the purpose of the wide ribs was to move heat wave induced mirage away from the line of sight. Probably most noticeable during summer temps and quick strings of shots.
 
stocker said:
Somewhere in the halls of diminishing memory I seem to recall the purpose of the wide ribs was to move heat wave induced mirage away from the line of sight. Probably most noticeable during summer temps and quick strings of shots.
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I've heard that as the justification for higher ribs on trap guns but not on rib width although it's certainly possible.
 
The Browning Broadway over and unders were one of the first to come out with a wider rib. The Broadway trap for example had fixed chokes bottom barrel modified and top barrel full choke. Trapshooters that were shooting in long yardage would switch to their full choke barrel and would learn that they would get mirage from the heat waves after shooting that they would rarely see the target correctly. A wider rib then would then disperse the heat wave away from the line of sight and assist the shooter. Shooting singles using the bottom barrel and shooting doubles did ot seem to be such as issue as shooting long yardages using the top barrel.

As claybuster stated this all changed with the trapguns now having higher ribs and shooting from bottom barrels with the ability to change choke tubes.

Regards,
Sam
 
DT10Sam said:
The Browning Broadway over and unders were one of the first to come out with a wider rib. The Broadway trap for example had fixed chokes bottom barrel modified and top barrel full choke. Trapshooters that were shooting in long yardage would switch to their full choke barrel and would learn that they would get mirage from the heat waves after shooting that they would rarely see the target correctly. A wider rib then would then disperse the heat wave away from the line of sight and assist the shooter. Shooting singles using the bottom barrel and shooting doubles did ot seem to be such as issue as shooting long yardages using the top barrel.

As claybuster stated this all changed with the trapguns now having higher ribs and shooting from bottom barrels with the ability to change choke tubes.

Regards,
Sam
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Makes sense to me BUT, take away the 'Trap' issue and go to the 'Sporting clays' and we have a 'Sporting Clays' gun with a wide rib, shooting clays that simulate 'Birds' mostly waterfowl, and yet, in the field when we are shooting the real thing (waterfowl, not clays) we use a 'Field' gun with a narrow rib:confused: :confused: :confused:
 
i guess we look at how many shots we take while in the field vs. on the shooting range, we go through A LOT less shells when we are going after game, infact my friends do through so little shells while duck hunting they've switched to using bismuth shells. I'm just guessing that because we go through so little amount of shell relative to the clay field, heat and mirages doesn't play a factor but when you are on the clay field maybe it does?
 
hr said:
i guess we look at how many shots we take while in the field vs. on the shooting range, we go through A LOT less shells when we are going after game, infact my friends do through so little shells while duck hunting they've switched to using bismuth shells. I'm just guessing that because we go through so little amount of shell relative to the clay field, heat and mirages doesn't play a factor but when you are on the clay field maybe it does?
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OK, so how many people actually buy a shotgun with & shoot a wide rib Vs a narrow rib , based on this senario:confused: :confused:
 
i've never noticed anyone really caring much whether their gun is wide/narrow rib... I have not made it a considering criteria when i buy my guns...
 
hr said:
i've never noticed anyone really caring much whether their gun is wide/narrow rib... I have not made it a considering criteria when i buy my guns...
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Point taken :)

I have noticed however, that when selling a gun and it is a 'Field gun' with the narrower rib, it appears that people want the gun, but with the wider 'Sporting Clays' rib :confused:

Could we perhaps consider this as 'Marketing' by the manufacturers ;)
 
Some of the toughest shooting games are those shot at the World & Olympic levels, and Live Pigeon Shooting as practiced primarily in Mexico & Europe. Seemingly, none of the really popular high-end live flyer or International target guns have wide ribs, whether they be Fabbris, Piottis, Perazzis or Berettas. A "high" rib was probably first widely-noticed on the then new Perrazi MX-8 at the Mexico City Olympic Games in 1968. It was Materelli's design specifically to avoid target distortion caused by heat waves. The Perazzi Mirage used in 1964 Tokyo Games did not have the high rib, nor did the MT-6 that showed up at the Montreal Olympics in 1976. A wide rib is probably helpful in rapid target acquisition at shorter ranges. A narrower rib allows more precise pointing at more distant targets. Interesting to note that at the Atlanta Games, ( read very hot & humid) a lot of the trap competitors were running cold water, directly from a tap, down their barrels of their Perazzis & Berettas after completing Station 5 at each cycle ( i.e., after a maximum of 10 shots) at the trench before moving to Station 1 again for the next cycle. Seemingly no harm done and the barrels were certainly cooled down.
 
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