Shotgun rib sights question.

Ed L.

Ed L.

Well-known member
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I've been having a shooting issue for awhile I can't overcome. I keep raising my head on the shot. I tried a Barska reflex sight but I don't like the bulk and for me in short shooting windows I just can't line up. I was watching a show on TV some time ago where a guy was shooting skeet using what I've found out is a setup for turkey hunting. The setup appears to fiber optic like my bow sight. There is a red optic at the end of the rib (which I have) and then towards the chamber is a set of green optics. The object is to have all three lined up on the target hence helping with keeping your head down in order to line up. Does anyone use a sight setup like this? Seems to me I might concentrate better on keeping my head down with having a visual to help me. Any input would be appreciated.
 
I don't use that system so really can't comment on it specifically. One issue that may be a factor with you is stock fit. If, when you mount your gun, you are not automatically lined up it is likely a stock dimension problem. If you are always lifting your head your stock may be too short - a common problem. A longer stock allows a more natural head-on-the-stock fit IMO. If the stock is the right length but you are always off to one side or the other it is either a cast-on or a cast-off issue. If you have someone locally that can fit you, have them look at the way you mount your gun.

A properly fitting stock makes accurate shooting come naturally. It also almost eliminates the need for barrel beads altogether.
 
I'm not a professional shooter or an instructor by any means but I did shoot a lot of competitive clays at one time.
Good shotgun shooters almost never look at the barrel. Good shooters look at the target.
Move.....mount.....shoot
The eyes and the brain work together to point the gun correctly.
Think of throwing a baseball...you don't aim....you just throw.
Make sure your gun fits properly - we all have different bodies...we all need different gun fits.

Spend a couple hundred dollars on a good instructor and a lesson or two.....money well spent.
 
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As John mentioned do not look at the barrel. As you mount look at the bird, then the head, then the bill. If you can see this you are not looking at the barrel. The stock should be mounted to your face, not your shoulder and put your face to the stock. If you have to adjust your face to the gun, you have a fit problem.
Try going to the local park and watch ducks landing and use your forearm hand and point at birds moving to the bill. See the bird clearly, not your finger. Takes practice...
 
I am going to agree with what's been said, no need to type it all over.

I will add that the fancy sights may help, but practice & getting yourself back into the groove is the only cure.
 
After not shooting a shotgun from about age 18 to 37, when I took up hunting again I literally could not hit the broad side of a barn. I took a half dozen lessons, and learned two things. (1) I have a horrible eye cross dominance problem. I either need to block my left eye or remember to shut it before I start my final swing. (2) The first thing my instructor did was tape over the bead on my shotgun with black electrical tape, and tell me to never look for the bead--just blot out the bird with the barrel,swing ahead, and fire. I'm no expert shot, but I sure shoot better than I did. The tape eventually fell off the gun, but by then I was never looking for the bead anyway.
 
Pete said it all in one sentence,
"A properly fitting stock makes accurate shooting come naturally."
This holds true for bows as well as guns.
 
Try a slip on pad to lengthen your stock. I am of normal size (5' 10") and need one. I would also suggest that you get a good view of the target before mounting the gun. I have a problem of lifting my head if I have loose sight of the target or have trouble finding a second target on doubles.
 
Pete said it all in one sentence,
"A properly fitting stock makes accurate shooting come naturally."
This holds true for bows as well as guns.
Click to expand...


Yup, absolutely true.

Years ago I had a Benelli Nova and I shot it terribly. No adjustment seemed to work and I just couldn't get on the target. I learned that when I mounted the gun with my eyes closed I was looking across the barrel on a diagonal once I opened them. I couldn't find an adjustment that allowed me to mount the gun naturally with my head in the right position. I switched guns and found the problem was solved by a good fit. I will now go to great lengths to ensure a good fit for any gun I shoot.
 
Ed - Have you checked which is your dominate eye recently? I could be way off base, but my shot gun shooting went to hell in hand basket quickly, plus raising my head off the stock. Drove me nuts then I learned I'm now left eye dominate. Very common in Older Folks I was told, not good - parallax. Quick Fix, learn to shut my left eye, easier said than done.
 
Go get your shotgun fit to you by a professional. I did many years ago and the improvement was dramatic. The adjust mroe than just the stock length and if you get a good one, you can count on a couple of hours or so getting it right. Make sure you wear clothes similar to how you will be shooting a majority of the times as this makes a difference in the fitting.

With that said, I also made a custom fiber optic sight for the gun. On the M1, I drilled and tapped a second mounting bracket (same one that came with the gun. I removed the "dot" on the gun and placed a the fiber optic in between the two sights. In normal lighting conditions I don'tuse the sight (at least not deliberately), in low light conditions the sight helps my eye find the end of the barrell where I can put it on the duck. Not explaining it well but I do like having the fiber sight. I made mine especially long, and used high quality fiber to collect more light in low light conditions.

Hope this helps.

Mark w
 
I had that problem and overcame it using a business card............I was at the skeet range and a fellow shoot asked me if I wanted help. He told me I was lifting my head which I did not know I was doing. He took a business card out of his pocket and put it between the stock and my cheek. Every time I lifted my head the card would drop and I would miss the target. If I hit the target the card was stay in place. It was not long before I kept my check on the stock.
 
Ed, read carefully what Pete, John, and Jeff had to say. Some darn good advice there. My Nova fits me like it is an extension of my body.

One day several years ago I was on a hunt and had a great day taking my limit of 6 big ducks. I was sitting in my chair taking out the shells from my gun when I noticed that I had no sight at all. I normally use a magnetic green optic sight instead of a red one because I can see the green easier in the early morning since I'm colorblind. It had fallen off the gun and was in my gun case. That was the first time I realized that I only look at the bird and not my sight when I'm shooting.
Al
 
I shoot competitive clays and shoot all four gauges. At a shoot my buddy noticed I had three different colored fiber site on the guns. They came that way from Browning, I don't see them.
Try ten dollar bills instead of a business cards, your buddies will appreciate it and you'll stop lifting you head...
 
Thanks all,

Some good thoughts here. I have several gun shops locally but not sure of gunsmiths. The couple I have used in the past have moved on. I'll have to do some checking.

When I'm in a gun shop looking at a gun and shoulder it my cheek hits the stock everytime. I think the lifting thing started when I lost my spotter (my dad). Seems that over the years I've lost game when not getting a good look at where it landed and now [font=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica]subconsciously [/font]I'm lifting my head a millisecond before the shot so I get a good bead on where it lands. I think this because generally when I inspect a bird the shot is never in the upper breast of head and many times I see tail feathers when I miss. Maybe it's because I'm not swinging and following through.

I've heard the eye dominance thing about changing with age. I just tried the test where you put your arms out in front of you and cross the thumb and index finger making a small hole, look at an object 15-20 ft away and then close each eye noting if the object moves from sight. It indicates I am right eye dominant and I shoot right handed.

Fit may be a big one. I shoot a 20ga O/U, 12ga. Remington pump and a Beretta semi auto. All three are different. The 20ga being the shortest and the Beretta having the longest stock.
 
Ed - I did the same test and passed, but when I went for extensive testing and new glasses I was told the medical truth. I did not like what I was told.
 
I'll weigh in, not as an expert, but with my experience and frustration with a new auto. With my old pump, I shot well. With the new auto I couldn't hit s...! When I went back to Bryan at Fieldsport where I bought the Beretta he had me bring in my old pump took measurements, looked at my gun and eye alignment when mounted. made shim adjustments, put on shorter stock and I killed the next 12 ducks I pulled the trigger on. I went back a believer in gun fit! I then did a true fitting, plate work, (where you shoot at a steel plate at 10 yards to see where you actually hit when shouldered and shoot), and finally a shooting lesson with a trained shooting instructor. Bryan made a believer out of me. Oh ya, and put away those progressive lenses...they effect you seeing the target clearly. I next took in my daughter, who was completely frustrated shooting at pheasants and ducks. Her fit and mount were never going to work. Many of us buy a gun out of a box and expect great results. Spend the time and money to get a fitting! We spend so much on boats, decoys, trips and gear, but don't do the most important things to ensure a rewarding hunt. My daughter also was gifted to do Fieldsports shooting school with Bryan and Michael McIntosh. And to think I almost did her a shooting disservice by not starting with a proper fit. She just rewarded me with asking if she came home from Virginia for a week on the 31st, if we could go to duck camp for 4 days and hunt pheasants for a day. Maybe she just wants to help me with my new hip, but I know it's probably things like that special time before sunrise, when ducks are talking, or the birds in flight that respond to the call and set their wings over decoys we painted, or marsh scenery that most people wouldn't call beautiful.
Thanks for reading my rant. I just came back from a great hunt with Rick Ligman and I can thank some of that enjoyment to a proper fitting.
One more thing...how many of us practice frequently a proper gun mount. That should be something we practice to ensure a proper cheek/shoulder mount. If that doesn't happen usually everything else after that will lead to a missed target. People who are good at what they do well, practice.!
We're into the migration my friends, be safe and enjoy your hunt.
Louie.
 
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