edhackett

I looked through my books last night. The only mention of a center bead was in one sporting clays book that mentioned adding one as an enhancement to a hunting gun to "help with consistent eye placement". Bob Brister says a on a skeet/field gun you should see the front bead and maybe a tiny bit of rib. That's consistent with I see. Stacking the beads into a figure 8 exposes too much rib for me. He also mentioned a trap shooters trick to check comb height by stacking 2-3 quarters on the back of the rib. You should be able to see the top of the front bead over up to three quarters. Two quarters will fully obscure the front bead on a skeet/field gun. Still no concrete answer. So... I called Chuck Dryke, a world renowned shotgun instructor in Sequim, Washington. I'll be retiring to Sequim in three years. I can't wait to be able to shoot here on a regular basis. http://www.sunnydellshootinggrounds.com He said the beads should be "not quite a figure 8". I explained that on my guns that the top of the rear bead is right in the middle of the front bead, he said that was exactly right. He said to use the beads to develop a consistent mount, but never look at them when shooting. The front bead should be in your peripheral vision, and you should be aware of it on a "subconscious" level. His best advice was to take a hammer and knock both of them off of the gun. Ed

Mine don't look like an 8. More like a snowman with his middle sitting in front of his bottom. The center bead is superimposed on the front bead, not centered, like you would a peep sight, but the bottoms on nearly the same plane. Hold a drinking glass horizontal, looking in the open end, then slide a smaller diameter one inside. That's what I see. I'll take a look at the "Art and Science" book tonight and see if center bead alignment is mentioned. Ed

OK, I did a quick Google search on the stacked bead issue. It was mentioned several times, including by what I consider a credible source. I'll take a look in my books tonight and see if I can find something authoritative. None of my guns come up with the beads stacked, even my custom fit sporting clays gun. They all come up for me with the center bead sitting inside, at the bottom of the front bead. Ed

Probably on the internet. If you were to stack the front bead on top of the rear bead, the gun would shoot high. Maybe somebody advocating that for shooting trap with a field gun? You might get away with that given the limited range of movement in trap. There's no way you can check bead alignment and stay up with a target in skeet, sporting clays, or in the field. Best to learn where your gun shoots. Trying to force a certain alignment is counter-productive. Ed

The beads are best only used to check the fit of the gun. Shoulder the gun and see where they line up. If the gun fits perfectly, the small bead should be directly in front of the rear bead, not above or below. You can use the beads to check your mount if you are shooting from a pre-mounted position. When actually shooting, you shouldn't be looking at either bead. Your eyes should be locked on the target only, the front bead only serving as a bit of contrast and a reference point to the center of your barell. Trying to aim with the beads is a guaranteed miss. A properly fitting gun will shoot where you point. The trick is pointing to the exact spot that will result in the shot intercepting the bird. That's where the art come in. I highly recommend this book: http://www.amazon.com/Orvis-Wingshooting...1085&sr=1-6 It's for wing shooting, but he author does talk about the difference from the pre-mounted position. The chapters on gun fit and basic shooting techniques are invaluable. This is also a very good book: http://www.amazon.com/Shotgunning-Scienc...1230&sr=1-3 Ed

Shooting sporting clays can mess up your trap score and shooting trap can mess up your sporting clays and skeet too. The "timing" of trap is very different than the other shotgun sports. I concentrated on sporting clays for quite a while and got asked to fill in on a trap team one night. Oh my! It's usually not a problem if you move between sports all the time, but for me, I'm better of sticking with similar disciplines. I've settled on sporting clays as my primary way of depleting the checking account. I hit the wall on my scores for trap. You can't miss in trap. You're supposed to miss some in sporting clays. If someone can run the course, the course isn't set up properly. I like the missing part. I do it well. Ed

One of Sig's best guns. Grab one. It's a single stack version of the original 226. I have one that I bought in 1993. $600 bucks back then! I have rather small hands, and this pistol fit my hands perfectly. I can close my eyes, bring up the gun, and the sights are aligned perfectly. It's never malfunctioned. I've tried to fool it by loading 8 different loads including 115, 124, and 147 grain loads in the same magazine. A couple of attempts included rounds that had already jammed in a friends Glock, and a few green ones I picked up off the range. I briefly entertained trading it for one of the newer, slightly smaller, set up for CCW guns. The dealer got this funny look on his face and explained in rather colorful language, that I was crazy to even think of getting rid of a 225 for one of their newer guns. Mine had a rather rough trigger from the factory. I sent it back to them after about 10 years of living with it. They said it met specifications for pull(which it did), so no warranty. They did offer to do a full action job which included polishing the extractor and feed ramp for $80. The action job did the trick. I also replaced the stock sights with a set of Truglo's. Much better for my aging eyes. The 225 was issued to the West German police. It's been out of the catalog for a while. I saw it back in the catalog a few years ago, but understand that getting one was impossible. The limited run was all being sent to the Canadian Air Force and our Special Forces(not sure on that one). If you can get extra magazines with it do so. Nobody stocks them. They can be easily ordered from Sig directly or by a dealer, but cost a bit more than the more common ones due to economy of scale. Buy Sig only, no aftermarket. Ed

LOL! I bought a Browning BPS 16 gauge a few years back. The trigger had a 7+ lb. pull from the factory. I planned to send it off to have it worked over. I got out my brass punches and brass mallet. I removed the pins and trigger assembly as easy as my 870. Then I picked up the gun and turned it over. Pieces that I had no idea what they were or where they came from went everywhere. Yes, I had to take it to my "gun broker"(gunsmith at the local shotgun range) who got it back together on the fourth try and in less than five minutes. He said that was a personal record. The trigger is now a nice, 3.5 lb pull. I now have the Radocy takedown guide. More than likely I'll never take that trigger out of there again. Ed

That sounds like a good way to start. Take that J.C. Higgins out too. You can shoot trap, skeet, and sporting clays with it too. The trap gun is the most specialized of the shotguns. These are characterized by the high, straight comb and an accompanying wide, tall, angled rib. This combination is designed to shoot high. In American trap the bird is thrown at the same speed and elevation. You are always shooting at a rising bird. Trap guns have a built in lead to the rise. This allows you to see the bird above the barrel. They are not quick handling. They are optimized for smoothness and consistency within the rather narrow left-right range encountered in trap. This configuration does not work at all for field, skeet, or sporting clays. A true trap gun is as useless as a screen door on a submarine anywhere but the trap field. Skeet and Sporting clays guns are essentially field guns, or very slight variations of a field gun. These guns all shoot to the point of aim. This is essential for the varying shots you get in hunting, skeet and sporting clays. In these disciplines you have hard left, hard right, rising(sometimes straight up) dropping, and shots that come straight at you or overhead from behind. The "rabbit" in sporting clays rolls along the ground. You need a gun that shoots to point of aim and swings quickly. Most of us started out out with ill fitting, poorly designed, light field guns. These kicked the snot out of us. It was a revelation to shoot a properly designed competition grade gun for the first time. A friend has a cheap, Spanish made over and under that a single light target load will leave you literally bruised and bleeding. On the other hand, my Beretta sporting clays O/U with it's full "field" stock geometry(typically 1.5 inch drop at the comb, 2.5" drop at the heel) shoots as soft as any trap gun I've shot. Proper stock dimensions all around, back-bored barrels, shallow forcing cones, and a decent weight all contribute to its pleasant shooting characteristics. You can shoot trap with a "field" gun just fine. The the disadvantage is that depending on where you take the shot, the bird will be partially or fully obscured by the barrel(s). That situation won't be ideal for shooting at the competition level. I've shot 50/50 with an entry level field O/U, and have broken 46-48/50 with a 28 gauge from the 16 yard line. I've been through pumps, autos, and O/U. I've settled on O/U for sporting disciplines. I got tired of pinching my thumb in the loading gate of the pumps and autos. I also like the shorter overall length of the O/U and more "connected" feel of firing a fixed breach gun over an autoloader. The O/U is also the easiest gun to safe on the range. If it's open it's safe, shells in or out, and those around you can clearly see that it is safe. I like O/U and Pumps for hunting. My dentist sponsors a pump only sporting clays shoot every year. It's a blast as a few stations throw three birds at a time. No fancy specialized guns, just a bunch of guys and gals having a blast with their chukar and duck guns. If I were limited to one shotgun to do every thing from bringing home dinner to shooting trap league, it would be a standard weight, O/U, 28" barreled, entry level field gun with interchangeable chokes. Better yet, an entry level sporting clays gun. It would be a Beretta, Browning, Weatherby, or other quality maker, which ever fit me best. That's my story. You may find a different path. Most good gun clubs will have rental or loaner guns so you can get a good feel for what you like and what fits. Ed

G-MAN, Are you interested in just trap or do you want to try sporting clays and skeet also? Do you see yourself shooting at a level higher than "just for fun" in the future? There is no such thing as a universal gun for all shotgun sports, but some types are more universal than others. The high, straight comb guns that are being talked about are specialized trap guns. A properly designed an proper fitting "field" stock is comfortable to shoot. I'll go into more detail once I have an idea of what you have in mind. I've been shooting shotguns for a bit over 40 years, starting with hunting as a kid, shooting trap in college, night leagues over the years, then sporting clays, including local leagues, and being the captain of a first place winning team here at work. Don't think the above means I'm a good shot. ;-) My brain wiring(concentration) prevents me progressing past the just for fun stage. I've "been there, done that" so hopefully can offer G-MAN a bit of what I've learned over the years. Ed