I bought a used Remington 870 supermag the other day and didn't notice until I got it home the front bead isn't center. I can tell it's a hair off to the right, how bad do you think it will affect pattern? How could it be fixed?

A hair? Forget about it. Or pattern and find out. Stock dimensions will probably be of more concern.

Then again for flying stuff you could take it off and again forget about it.

A bead can have value on a Turkey gun, for flying game it's pretty much a useless addition. In that if you are looking at it, you will miss more than you hit.

Someone else said it, but beads are only vague out of focus reference points when it comes to shooting at game.

Point at a bird flying across the sky with your finger. You need a bead?

Being off center would bug me 2. A gunsmith can re-drill, enlarge, and center a new bead. Your choices will include ivory, gold (brawss), or silver. I found a real ivory (new in packaging) bead and mid-bead from Lyman dated 1947 on Ebay the other day and bought them. I'll leave it to my GS to re-thread and install.


DMc

I agree with the folks above. I lost the mid-rib bead on my Ruger Red Label and replaced with a part supplied by Ruger. I never use either of the beads but the gun just looks better.

After further thought, it would be ironic if someone shortened the barrel, then goofed up re-setting the front sight.

I believe I'd check the muzzle restriction and compare to what's printed on the barrel.

Another alternative would be to simply purchase another barrel. I've seen 870 barrels go for as little as $29 on eBay, which may be less expensive than fixing it.


DMc

I have shot skeet for 20 plus years. If you look at the front bead you will shoot behind the target. I only use the beads to mount the gun and check stock fit and alignment. Once I am convinced that the gun "fits" I ignore the beads and only focus on the target.

There it is!

Take the beads off if your worried. But take Battue's advice, hes spot on as usual.

Wish I could always do what I know to do.
Unfortunatly, it is sometimes hard to not barrel check.

Exactly..

I have a .410 single shot that I modified for beginners at 4-H trap. Beginners start at age 8 if they are capable of being safe and taking direction. One day a beginner told the guy that instructs beginners, "I lost my bubble." So Calvin checks the gun and all is fine and tells the kid to keep shooting, thinking, "What the heck did that mean?" By the end of the day he figured out that the kid meant the bead came off.

I never did get around to replacing the bead. We found that beginners over the years improved faster without that "bubble" to distract them. Conversely I fitted a fiber optic front bead on one of the 1100's that would light up only when you were squarely behind it. (IIRC correctly I got the idea from Brister's book.) Did not help at all. Not even in lining up before calling for the bird.

You may just have a built-in lead on right-flying birds.

Being off center would drive me nuts. That off center bead would drag my eye to the bead and I couldn't hit water if I fell out of the boat at that point. I'd take it off before having it on there offset. The worst score of sporting clays I ever shot was with a borrowed Browning Citori that had a huge triangle shaped fiber optic front sight. It was mesmerizing! I couldn't take my eye off it, over or around it. Freaking terrible...

Mogc,

I just can't believe the fiber optic sights some shotgunners place at the end of a vent rib. A white Bradly bead should be plenty.

LMAO... Dang, I didn't think you EVER looked at a bead!!

Normally, you're correct. But at times some events can lead to shooting in some pretty low-light conditions - in which time a light-gathering front bead can at least give the shooter a bit of orientation.

That said, most of my trap guns have white Bradley beads on 'em.. Just the M85TSS is rigged with a FO front - and even that I can change out in 10 seconds to a white insert if needed..

Like most shotgunners - I only check the beads upon the mount - then it's concentration for the bird and the swing. Nothing else..

Best wishes.

Watched Dan Carlisle shooting under the lights a couple times and he had his whole rib chalked white.

That's so he knows if he is picking his head up, with your face on the stock you shouldn't see any of the rib, if you are you will shoot over top of the birds.

I doubt I would notice if my bead was off center, or even missing.
in fact,I bought a new gun a few weeks ago,couldnt say if it has one or two beads, or what color they would be.
or on the gun I used for a few years before that.