Barrel beads for alignment

[docent]

How do you align your barrel beads before pulling the trigger?

[geedavell]

You don't.
Just point and shoot.
You should be looking at the target, not your gun

[JagerDog]

The only purpose of the beads is to verify your mount. If your mount is correct to the gun, it will shoot where you are looking, which is at the bird.

[lauryfriese]

To fine-tune your alignment and determine the point of impact, consider conducting pattern tests. Set up a paper target at a specific distance, and shoot a few rounds while maintaining your preferred bead alignment. Examine the pattern on the target to see where the majority of the shot is hitting. Adjustments can be made based on the results .

Candy Crush

[hermosabeach]

+1

Flying birds and clays you watch and focus on the flying object.

See the bead, you will miss.

[newbutold]

You don't.
Just point and shoot.
You should be looking at the target, not your gun

In a nutshell.......

[squeeze]

You don't.
Just point and shoot.
You should be looking at the target, not your gun

EXACTLY !!!!!!! Ya don't aim a shotgun.

[Bakerloo]

I check for a "snow man" when I mount it and that's the last time I see them before pulling the trigger. I take use a black sharpie on all of my white beads and hate fiber optics on the front.

[Tarmy]

As others said. The only time I even notice is the mount and even then it is part of the background, just in the (for me) correct area of that background. Do not focus on it.

[W.R.Buchanan]

I must apologize to all of you for saying that I was looking a the Front Sight when shooting like I was told at Front Sight. That idea proved to be unsuccessful, and I had the Scores to prove it!

Since then with the help of Tom Wong and some others I have come up with 4 steps that seem to work more often than what I was doing.

1. Hard Focus on the target adn get teh gun moving as quickly as possible..
2. Keep My Cheek on the gun.
3. Get in Front of the Bird.
4. Pull trigger and keep the gun moving thru the shot.

Stopping the gun = Shooting behind the Bird. Every Time!.

Lifting your Head off the Stock even a little bit = Shooting High. 1/4" off the stock = 2 feet high at the bird. Just Relaxing my Cheek Weld = a Miss Every Time.

Not Hard Focusing on the Bird means you won't lead it correctly and will result in a miss. Picking up the Bird as quickly as possible when it leaves the house is the hardest thing for me to do. Getting the gun moving after I see the Bird is the next hardest thing and I struggle with this.(reaction time) I am behind the bird on virtually every crossing shot on 3,4,5 I usually catch up just after the Center Stake. which is way too late, but only time will tell if I can improve and change that.

I also found that it makes no difference what Ga. Shotgun I use. I shoot my .410 better than my 12Ga. My 12 Ga. Citori CXS weighs about 1 1/2 lbs more than my Citori .410 Both have 32" bbls.

The .410 swings faster so I'm on the bird quicker, which results in more hits.

Haven't got to shoot in almost a year so I still suck. But at least I know why I suck, and can take steps to fix it. It takes me a long time to learn any new discipline, it's always been this way, but at least I know it. Figured it out in High School almost 60 years ago..

My .02

Randy

[Slow]

Depends on what game I’m playing.

Skeet? Hard mount with a bead/rib check, move gun to hold point, move eyes to acquisition point, say pull and never notice the barrel or beads after that - unless I inadvertently mess up in some way.

Sporting? Bump my cheek with the stock to ensure alignment of bead and barrel but lower the gun below my cheek so I can see the clay clearly and match speed. Barrel comes up to the cheek as the match happens. Beads never noticed after the bump. Pre-mounts with solid contact between cheek and comb happen on close, fast target speeds. But the beads aren’t noticed after eyes to go the acquisition point.

International skeet or FITASC: Low mount, no bead checks. Say pull, mount and shoot.

I take the Ronald Reagan approach. Trust your mount, verify with beads. Then get to the business of focusing solely on breaking the target.

[Corbin Dallas]

There?s a front sight on a shotgun???

Wow. TIL my shotgun has a sight.

[Dan_Eastvale]

If it's a rifle sight

[SDM44]

Depends on what you're using it for. Probably not the best for skeet or birds but can still be useful to have as point of reference when you lead the target. You may want to get one of these 'big dots' that sits on top of the bead and is low profile: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07Q4FJC87/

While you shouldn't focus on the front bead/sight, you can still use the top of the receiver to align the height of the bore on a target. The bright orange (or yellow) dot helps keep both eyes open without needing to focus on that front sight.

[JagerDog]

I must apologize to all of you for saying that I was looking a the Front Sight when shooting like I was told at Front Sight. That idea proved to be unsuccessful, and I had the Scores to prove it!

Since then with the help of Tom Wong and some others I have come up with 4 steps that seem to work more often than what I was doing.

1. Hard Focus on the target adn get teh gun moving as quickly as possible..
2. Keep My Cheek on the gun.
3. Get in Front of the Bird.
4. Pull trigger and keep the gun moving thru the shot.

Stopping the gun = Shooting behind the Bird. Every Time!.

Lifting your Head off the Stock even a little bit = Shooting High. 1/4" off the stock = 2 feet high at the bird. Just Relaxing my Cheek Weld = a Miss Every Time.

Not Hard Focusing on the Bird means you won't lead it correctly and will result in a miss. Picking up the Bird as quickly as possible when it leaves the house is the hardest thing for me to do. Getting the gun moving after I see the Bird is the next hardest thing and I struggle with this.(reaction time) I am behind the bird on virtually every crossing shot on 3,4,5 I usually catch up just after the Center Stake. which is way too late, but only time will tell if I can improve and change that.

I also found that it makes no difference what Ga. Shotgun I use. I shoot my .410 better than my 12Ga. My 12 Ga. Citori CXS weighs about 1 1/2 lbs more than my Citori .410 Both have 32" bbls.

The .410 swings faster so I'm on the bird quicker, which results in more hits.

Haven't got to shoot in almost a year so I still suck. But at least I know why I suck, and can take steps to fix it. It takes me a long time to learn any new discipline, it's always been this way, but at least I know it. Figured it out in High School almost 60 years ago..

My .02

Randy

Good job Randy. I know us wing shooters rode you rather hard on that.

it can be difficult to accept something 180* out of phase with your training which was tactical training. There's a reason bird guns don't have ghost rings, etc.

You can hit birds using a sight. We had a guy at the skeet range using a tactical gun with red dot. He broke some birds. But some can break bird shooting from the hip too. No one would choose either method in a competitive environment.