Need a new bead

[kt]

this past year while goose hunting my fiber bead that was cracking flew off as i made my first shot at what was a goose double. so i need a new one, not one of those magnet things but a bead that will screw in. i bought one i think its a tru-glo and is about 3/4" long unfortunately when i screw it in tight it goes tight when the length of the bead in perpendicular to the barrel!! i cant figure out how to doctor it. driving me crazy here any favorite brand replacements (beretta 391)
kt

[fabsroman]

kt,

I cannot make heads or tails of what your issue is with your Tru-Glo site, but I use Tru-Glo sites in all my Berettas and Benelli and I haven't had a problem with them. This is what I am using:

http://www.gamaliel.com/cart/product.php?productid=2254&cat=1206&page=1

If you can be a little clearer about the problem you are having, I might be able to help you out with it.

[kt]

fabs, sorry i just read my post it wasnt that clear. the problem is if i lay the barrel on the table facing north and south when i screw in the bead until it is tight, the length of the fiber optic is facing east and west across the barrell instead of north and south along its length. so i am thinking of filing a little off the screw so that it tightens when the bead is straight and not 90 degrees off.
kt

[fabsroman]

Have you tried holding the bead in place while tightening the screw? The bead is probably rotating because the screw is rotating and applying pressure to it. I know I had to hold my beads in place as I tightened down the screw. If you have to, use a pair of pliers to hold the bead in place while you tighten the screw, or start it in a east/west position and hope that it is straight up and down the rib when you are done tightening the screw.

[tjwatty]

Somebody wake skeet up he'll know.
I'm almost positive you have to file off 1/2 a thread to make the rotation stop in line with the barrel but with skeets smithing experience he'll be sure to know.

[kt]

i dont have an immediate need for the gun so i will wait for skeet a bit. been clay busting with the 870 and felt like a kid again. i will say at the end of last season i shot geese with just the screw and not a bead at all,,, man that tiny screw sure does make you get your head down on the stock.

[tjwatty]

kt
Several; years ago, we were sitting around the skeet club and the question came up about what color was the best. I was asked what mine was and I had to go look. I was shooting a Ruger with english straight stock at the time and really had no idea. Imagine my surprise whe I discovered mine had been broken off, I had never noticed and at the time that old Ruger was my one and only upland gun. It wasn't like I wasn't using it, I shot over 100 quail and 40 pheasants that year plus gunning for pointing dog hunt tests along with skeet and sporting clays.
My point is that the front bead is supposed to just be an aid to do just what your screw is doing, make you keep your head down on the stock.
I had an instructor tell me once, "Eye on the bird, head on the stock. And DON'T THINK, just shoot." Works for me..

[fabsroman]

Yep, the bead is really a bunch of BS. These systems with the interchangeable colors and bead sizes are a bunch of BS too. Of course, I have one on every one of my clay guns and my SBE and Beretta 3901. I have never swapped out any of the fiber optic pins for a different color or a different size. They are the exact ones I put on when I installed them 5 or so years ago, and I don't know the color off the top of my mind. I know I had an option of red, yellow, or white. I know I didn't choose the white one, but I have no idea if I chose red or yellow.

I killed my first two pheasants with a Browning Auto-5 that had no bead on the barrel. We shot that thing for years and years without a bead, and we had no problem killing birds with it. I killed two doves with it this past fall, and I have no recollection of whether or not it now has a bead on it.

[M.T. Pockets]

Fabs, sounds like you need another Browning...

[skeet]

The way you fix that problem is very easy..but not well known. There is a little tool that you work on the bottom of the sight with that takes a small amount of metal off so that the sight will screw farther down. Taking it off the threaded portion will work but you'll never get it just right. The tool is available from Brownells. I actually have 4 right now. I just bought a large amount of stuff from a lady in New Jersey...and there were two of the tools in the lot of junk I bought. I've really been busy. Sorry for the slow reply. This traveling has really been tiring. BUT I got about 10 grand worth of reloading thingies and 6 new guns. Got a really nice Rem 1100 28 ga Sporting gun. As new in the box. Love ta keep it ...but..gotta go. Already sold one of the Spolar reloaders. Still have another.

[fabsroman]

MT,

Is your son getting tired of his A-5 yet and you are trying to unload it on me? LOL

You know how I feel about Brownings.

[M.T. Pockets]

Sorry Fabs, I couldn't help it. I remember your sentiments on Brownings.

You couldn't get the A-5 from my boy with a crow bar. He wants to get a Browning sticker for his window. He says when he's older he's going to get a Browing Gold.

[tjwatty]

M.T.
I can get you a real deal on a Gold, my son has one that won't eject 3.5 shells. Been to the smith twice and it's next trip it will change to a Benelli. He loves the gun but when you go on a goose trip to N.D. and all you have is a single shot I think that was the the final straw. (long way between sporting good stores)
I think skeet could elaborate as to why, but the bottom line is I have read where the earlier models had this problem and a trip back to Browning would undoubtably fix it, but this boy has his daddys temper. I am of the belief that if you pay that kind of money that this kind of field testing should have been worked out long before.
My advice is, if you want a Browning Gold make sure it's a newer model.

[fabsroman]

TJ,

That kind of field testing costs money. Do you expect Browning to do something like that? LOL

[kt]

i do agree that plenty of good wingshooting has been done with out a bead. how ever, when i lost the factory bead a number of years back i was one duck and one goose away from a daily limit. when a friend pointed out that my bead was missing it had some mental affect on me that caused me to need 10 more shells for those two birds. so i am a little nervous about not having a bead and having a trophy pintail drake circling.
kt

[fabsroman]

Don't worry KT, if thinking about a missing bead will cause you to miss a pressure shot, I'm sure you will be able to think of something else that will cause you to miss. You'll be thinking about the load being used, the range to the bird, etc. Just wait until the bird gets in real close, and you will have 3 shots to make good on the deal. On the third one though, you will probably be thinking about it being the last shot you have, so you might miss that one too. LOL

[tjwatty]

Let me see now, I think I can remember most of them.

Didn't follow through.

Pulled my head

Didn't get out in front

Gun just doesn't quite fit

It was a quick pull

Those are my top 5 favorites.. LOL

[fabsroman]

Had something in my eye.

My hands were sweaty.

A knat threw me off.

Did you see that snake?

The gun jammed up.

LOL

[Jack]

1) defective shells

2) the wind made it hard to follow through

3) high humidity/precipitation slowed the shot down

4) clothing binding won't let you swing properly

5) it's an optical illusion- that D*** bird is dead and still flying

6) this steel/hevi shot/bismuth (pick what's appropriate) stuff isn't as good as what we used to use in the Good Old Days

[fabsroman]

Yeah, I blamed a couple this year on some new Black Cloud stuff that I was shooting. Won't be buying that stuff again. LOL

[M.T. Pockets]

Fabs, try some Hevi-Steel. It's about $23-$25 a box of 25. I know it's not as heavy as the really good stuff but it is noticably better than any other steel. It's about the same price as Black Cloud. I used it on geese in Canada last year and it killed them dead in the air and I'm used to chasing cripples. I'm used at at home in my duck sloughs and it was much better than the standard steel loads I usually shoot, no more finishing shots on the water.

[fabsroman]

Thanks MT,

I think I'll give Hevi-Steel a try for next season, unless I just up and decide to go the full Hevi-Shot route. I used to only use Hevi-Shot, and then got suckered into this Black Cloud stuff since it was cheaper. I'm always looking for cheaper, but I usually don't like to sacrifice performance for cheaper. Kind of tough to do, but I try.

[kt]

I'm actually really diggin' the black cloud, wasnt at first the first day i used it i tripled on greenheads and had to chase all three. so i figured i would just put one in the chamber while hunting decoying canadas, with number 2 shot i never had a single cripple with the stuff and some passing shots were out to 40yds, i was impressed considering i normally shoot bbb 3" shells
kt

[kt]

so to put this to rest, i decided to dremmel the damn screw a little at a time, the thing is perfect now although i expected the bead to be brighter as my last bead stood out at first light. no biggy, the original metal bead didnt glow at all.