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Old June 25, 2011, 03:17 AM   #1
Slugo
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Hi-Viz shotgun sights - Yea or Nah...



I bought one for one of my Brownings last year. Magnetic mount with 5 different color light pipes. Used it only a couple of times, it became a total distraction. I was looking at its pretty fluorescent green color and missing easy targets. Took my eye right off the bird!

I vote NO!! :barf:
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Old June 25, 2011, 05:23 AM   #2
PJR
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It's a love/hate thing. I love them when they are on a slug/HD gun. Hate them on a gun meant for flying targets.
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Old June 25, 2011, 05:50 AM   #3
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When I went to both eyes open shooting, I found out I was cross eye dominant(right hand shooter-left eye dominant). I tried shooting left handed, but am very uncoordinated on that side. When the gun was mounted, I was seeing the left fourth of the barrel...it looked bent to the left...it was very distracting, and kept me from focusing on the target.

I purchased the Easy Hit sight through Tom Knapp's website; after a few months using it, I was down to just the bead. Can't explain how it helped me, but it did.

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct...tNumber=819365
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Old June 25, 2011, 07:31 AM   #4
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All my shotguns but one have brass bead sights. The mossberg 500 is two sighted with a florescent plastic bead on the muzzle end. On my shottys with the brass beads I painted them red.
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Old June 25, 2011, 08:01 AM   #5
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Not a wing shooter so that isn't an issue for me, I put one on my old Stevens 520 and love it. My old eye balls literally could not see that tiny bead but now I can pick up the sight and get it on target about as fast as I can work the action. Mucho improvement.
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Old June 25, 2011, 08:26 AM   #6
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To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target

LOLOL... great tag line!
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Old June 25, 2011, 12:02 PM   #7
BigJimP
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No, the only reason you need front sight and mid rib bead on a shotgun is to make sure your mount is correct / and the gun is not canted ....
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Old June 25, 2011, 01:43 PM   #8
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For ANY moving targets, a big NAY....one of the more worthless accessories in that regard
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Old June 25, 2011, 05:10 PM   #9
zippy13
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I was looking at its pretty fluorescent green color and missing easy targets. Took my eye right off the bird!
I hear you. I got a new gun that came with two sights: a "glowing" red and a standard white. I shot one round to give the red one (it was already on the gun) a try and was totally distracted. It's hard to keep your eye on the target with a beacon on your barrel.
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Old June 25, 2011, 05:21 PM   #10
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actually, IMO the white glow bead is the best. It's there, but not in your face like a traffic light...
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Old June 25, 2011, 05:50 PM   #11
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IF you are looking at the bird, then no sight is needed
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Old June 25, 2011, 07:03 PM   #12
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the only place I would even consider using one is maybe on the trap field. Especially with a raised rib gun. That would be a slim exception...
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Old June 25, 2011, 08:11 PM   #13
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The only place I MIGHT consider one is on a gun used like a rifle - deer gun or turkey type.................
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Old June 26, 2011, 04:18 AM   #14
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^^^What he said^^^
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Old June 26, 2011, 08:41 AM   #15
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The fiber optic bead is one of the worst ideas to ever hit shotgunning IMO.
Other than a turkey gun they have no place on a shotgun. It promotes every bad wingshooting habit.
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Old June 26, 2011, 09:01 AM   #16
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The problem with these sights ,and that includes the S&W red insert, is that the sight picture is different depending on whether you're in sunlight or shade.
The red insert S&W caused you to pull the barrel down to see the target in sunlight -it glows !.Sight adjustment difference sunlight vs shade ? 2 clicks at 50 yds !! :barf:
My shotgun was similar so it took only on squirrel hunt in shade and sun to make me remove the plastic and replace it with stainless steel insert .Now it's fine !!
It's another popular but terrible feature !
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Old June 27, 2011, 11:43 AM   #17
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Had one just like the OP's picture, on my O/U trap gun. Found that it caused my pattern to be low by a considerable amount and didn't really add anything toward breaking the clays. Proper form is to get your gun shooting to where you are looking and then keep your eye on the target, not the barrel. It's amazing what you can learn in a few shots at a pattern board. Removed the HiViz front sight and my scores improved. Now I can see the "bird" powder as I swing through. The fiber optic was just a distraction.
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Old June 27, 2011, 12:38 PM   #18
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So your yay or nay depends on what you use it for. In my case with ground targets, turkey, deer, rabbit, reactive targets on the ground or SD it's a great aid for tired old peepers. For those who shoot things that fly it seems to be a distraction they can do better without.
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Old June 27, 2011, 12:54 PM   #19
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I'm not a bird hunter, but the green works great on my 500 for slow moving or stationary armadillos in low light conditions.
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Old June 27, 2011, 01:43 PM   #20
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You can legally start shooting at waterfowl 30 min before sunrise. I've found them helpful for the first few minutes of legal shooting time and for turkey hunting in the same lighting conditions.
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Old June 27, 2011, 02:17 PM   #21
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When I first got into shotgunning I focused on the front sight, be it bead or fluorescent worm. I even got a couple of those things with pipe on the front so you can't see the glowing bead with your weak side eye (Easy Hit). The last couple of shotguns I bought have the green worm.

But guess what. After some professional lessons and several thousands of rounds down range I don't see any of them any more. This was really proven to me a while back when I rented a Beretta 686 White Onyx at my favorite club just to try it out. I believe that it was at station 6 that I looked at the front end of the barrels to see what chokes were in it that I noticed that the thing didn't even have a bead at all. This means I had fired ~ 60 or so rounds through the thing and never noticed that there was no bead. I hit about 45 of those birds too.

It really shouldn't matter at all.
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Old June 27, 2011, 05:46 PM   #22
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I'm a duck hunter too. Unless youre shooting birds on the water in low light, that fiber optic probably isnt helping. Focus on the bird and not the end of the barrel.
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