Winchester SXP defender - what do I use for a rear sight?????

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With many shotguns, they have a vented spine along the top of the barrel, and you just line your eye along this spine to shoot.

However, with the Winchester SXP defender, there is no such vented spine. There's that front sight bulb at the muzzle end, and then a "combed" flat part on the top of the receiver. The trouble is, when you line your eye down the combed part, such that the combed part is horizontal, the front sight disappears. You have to angle the combed part slightly so that the tip of the front sight appears over the front edge of the receiver.

So how do I aim this thing?? Is the vertical aim point correct when I can just see the tip of the front sight over the top of the receiver? Or is the vertical aim point correct when I can just see the base of the front sight over the top of the receiver (so the entire front sight is visible)??

The most natural feeling way is when I can see the entire front sight over the top of the receiver, but then it looks like the barrel will be angled upward?

Thanks!!
 
For comparison:
WINCHESTER_SXP_Black_Shadow.jpg


You can see if your eye goes down the vented spine on top of the barrel, you will be able to see the entire front sight. However, if you were to remove this spine like it is on the Defender, it appears that the vertical sight line would be different (since you would now only have the top of the receiver to line up with).
 
With any shotgun the rear sight is your eye . yes the correct sight picture is to able to see the front bead over the receiver . however a shotgun is not aimed but more so pointed at the intended target .
 
The correct sight picture has to do with fit (how you're holding that gun) and the distance you're firing at, among other things. The front bead touching the top might be good for close range up to 25m, and the whole bead over the sight plane better for 50m and trying to hit longer shots with slugs. Take a few sheets of poster board out to the range and see what the pattern is, when you put the bead on an aiming point the way you think it should look, using the shot you like to use, at the distance you intend to shoot, with a particular choke. Only then will you know if you're doing it right.

You can attach a rear sight on the receiver, or a mid sight along the barrel, to help you point better. These will need to be installed and adjusted correctly, or you'll be perfectly aiming at the wrong thing.

If you're hunting, you'll be leading the target anyway, so you're not pasting the bead on the duck. ‘Point in the general direction and let loose’ will mean a lot of missed birds; practice makes perfect.
 
red_bailey said:
The correct sight picture has to do with fit (how you're holding that gun) and the distance you're firing at, among other things. The front bead touching the top might be good for close range up to 25m, and the whole bead over the sight plane better for 50m and trying to hit longer shots with slugs. Take a few sheets of poster board out to the range and see what the pattern is, when you put the bead on an aiming point the way you think it should look, using the shot you like to use, at the distance you intend to shoot, with a particular choke. Only then will you know if you're doing it right.

You can attach a rear sight on the receiver, or a mid sight along the barrel, to help you point better. These will need to be installed and adjusted correctly, or you'll be perfectly aiming at the wrong thing.

If you're hunting, you'll be leading the target anyway, so you're not pasting the bead on the duck. ‘Point in the general direction and let loose’ will mean a lot of missed birds; practice makes perfect.
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Thanks. I think I understand.
 
I can answer that question. You want to look parallel to the top of the receiver. Ignore the bead. For me to shoot my 2200 well, I have to forget the bead, forget the rib, and concentrate HARD on looking along the top of the receiver ONLY. Otherwise I miss.
 
A friend of mine bought a Winchester SXP Defender and I shot it a few months back. Like you, I was confused with what I should do when aiming the gun. The first time I shot it, I was aiming at a target 15 meters away and still managed to shoot half a meter too high. It seems to me that this type of sight wouldn't be very efficient in a situation where you would need to take aim and shoot at a target quickly and accurately. I think the best thing to do would be to install a rail on the receiver and add an optic of some sort. The bead on the Defender sucks.
 
Ignore the bead.
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In aiming a shotgun, you want to concentrate on looking straight over the barrel to the front bead, then practise until it becomes so natural that you can ignore the bead. This is why you pitch clays across the skies and try to knock them down.

Your eye is the rear sight, but the placement of that sight can vary a lot, changing the sight geometry. Many off-the-rack shotguns don't really give you a cheek weld to anchor that rear sight (and you're not likely to fit a fancy custom trap stock to every duck and hiking gun in your safe). Standing around the house and repeatedly shouldering the gun lets you hone your technique. Curtains drawn, people.

SevenDeuce said:
The first time I shot it, I was aiming at a target 15 meters away and still managed to shoot half a meter too high. It seems to me that this type of sight wouldn't be very efficient in a situation where you would need to take aim and shoot at a target quickly and accurately.
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It's the Joe Biden special! Only fires warning shots over their heads!

Yeah, the explosion of home defence / tacticool / zombie blaster marketing in the shotgun world has brought us some less-than-effective designs. (Don't get me wrong; I've got 'em, too.)

Replacing the factory bead with something taller would bring down your point of impact, and make it easier to see. Shouldn't be too hard to get done.
 
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