JANUARY 1995
THE TECHNOID TAKES A RIBBING... Question: Which shotgun
feature do most shooters insist on having, yet will not admit to using?
Answer: The rib.
Trying to write something definitive about shotgun ribs is like
analyzing art. You can describe, but you cannot really explain. It is
completely subjective and attempts at explanation usually result in
wallowing in Meaningless Twaddle. However, effusing large doses of
MT is mother's milk to the Technoid, so here goes.
After deep consultation with the pantheon of gun gurus-
Garwood, Brindle and Brister- the only conclusion that can be drawn
from them is that a rib is necessary, but probably functions
subconsciously or peripherally. This hardly imparts a gin-like clarity
to
the muddy waters. Since far abler scribes cannot help us, let the
Technoid lead you once again down the intellectual garden path with his
own convoluted reasoning. Better wrong advice than no advice at all, he
always says.
Technoid Truism #1: You do not need a rib, but you will have
one whether you like it or not. A rib is not a necessity for good
shooting. The 1990 Connecticut State Championship shoot was won
with a Remington 1100 plain barreled gun with a Poly Choke hung on
the end. However, this is the exception. 95% of clays shooters use
over and unders and all the current competition O/Us have top ribs.
You just about cannot buy a gun without one. Thus it does not become
a question of having a rib on your shotgun. It becomes a question of
which rib to have. This all depends on how you feel you use a rib.
Technoid Truism #2: A rib can be used consciously and/or
subconsciously. The shooter who uses a premounted gun (American
rules skeet and trap) consciously uses the rib and the traditional front
and
middle beads to ensure proper placement of the head and alignment of
the gun before calling for the bird. Some trap shooters have gone to an
extremely high rib 1) to lower the bore axis of the barrel to reduce recoil
and 2) to better see a bird rising up from under the barrel. Some of
these ribs reach acrophobic heights. This type of rib, used in this
manner, is a conscious alignment and aiming tool.
The sporting clays shooter has different requirements. We use the
rib subconsciously. Because we do not premount, the rib is brought into
the picture at the last moment in the shooting sequence. Most sporting
shooters follow, or should follow, this sequence in delivering the shot:
1)
see target with gun down; 2) with butt of stock still under arm, move
muzzle into appropriate relationship with target; 3) after muzzle is
moving in relation to target, raise stock to cheek and fire.
(This is the highly popular Move, Mount, Miss
approach.) Note in the above that during steps 1) and 2), the rib can
have no bearing on what is happening. The eyes focus on the target
while the blur of the muzzle is seen in peripheral vision. Only in the
last step 3), when the gun is on the cheek, can the rib play any part.
Even then you must not actually look at the rib. Every shooting
instructor worth his salt will tell you that shifting your focus from the
target back to the rib just before shooting will ensure a miss. So-
if a
top rib on a shotgun is not really necessary, is used only at the last
moment and even then is only used subconsciously, why bother about it?
Technoid Truism #3: Having the right rib is important because
the wrong rib will drive you crazy. A shooter becomes used to a certain
barrel picture the moment before firing and if he does not see that
picture in his peripheral vision, he will hesitate and miss. A good
example of the problem is seen when changing from a low ribbed gun to
one with a high rib.
The Technoid sets his guns up so that he looks right down the rib
when his face is into the stock at 100% pressure- wood hard against the
cheek bone. Actual shooting is done at about 75% face pressure and this
allows a little less than 1/8" of rib to show. If that little bit
of rib is
visible peripherally or subconsciously at the moment of firing, he knows
that his elevation will be as intended.
One time he tried a Citori Sporting Clays gun with an arched rib
that was elevated at the rear and low at the muzzle. It was set up so that
the usual 75% cheek pressure had the shooter looking parallel to the rib
and right down it, seeing just beads and no rib. He found this to be the
wrong subconscious sight picture and was unsettled On the other hand,
the gun's owner shot the arched rib setup quite well and claimed that he
could not get his head down properly on the Technoid's gun. Both guns
shot to the same point of impact, so the only difference was in the sight
picture.
Some people are also fussy as to rib width. If the rib is too
narrow it makes them aim. If too wide, it may does not give them the
precision they require. Visual tricks can come into play here. English
gun designer Churchill used a rib tapering from broad to narrow to give
his short barreled guns the illusion of more length. It worked for some
people.
Remember, all of this rib stuff is purely smoke and mirrors.
There is no real technical right or wrong, but there is something which
is
right or wrong for you. The only way to find what suits you best it to
try different guns. It seems like a lot of effort for something that you
never really look at, but it is important to get it right.
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