You may have noticed ribs are machined to have a surface which does not reflect like a shiny blued barrel does. The main function of the rib is to give you a better defined, unchanging sight picture so to speak. Ambient lighting and the angle of lighting makes a round barrel look different in different conditions.
This is not to say that you should actually look at the rib most of the time. You do see it in the periphery, though. That's how you gauge where to point it while focused on the target.
If your old timer was talking about pass shooting he may have been talking about using a pull-a-way method. I can see how that might work, but the few I've talked to about it just use the bead. The little I've tried it didn't go well for me.
