Originally Posted by
Dagga Boy
On the money so far with this post and my experience. Like golf, I understand clay shooting, just not good at it, and up till recently, didn't care. What generally is going on is that your focus is on the bird, and your eye is the rear sight. Yep, anathema to a defensive shooter. I have been shooting an Aimpoint on a 12 ga. Defensive gun since basically when the Comp M2 came out. For me, the red dot is the shotgun sight. We can make all sorts of various arguments for low power variables and things like ACOG's on rifles (I had ACOG number 687...early adopter on those too) versus the red dot. Valid argument. On the shotgun and sub gun....no argument, it is an Aimpoint world. So, I am very used to using an Aimpoint on a shotgun. Clays will always be nothing but fun to me. Trap will be the preferred discipline, and sporting clays will be a something different to do, no more no less. Basically, because I hate golf, and like guns.....sporting clays. When a rank newbie can go out and slaughter the first 9 out of ten clays thrown at me, there is something there with the S1 on some types of targets. I also did much better with a really good coach basically explaining the bird flight and how to both read and lead the birds on the more difficult stages. When I had someone who knows what they are doing tell me where I needed to be, the S1 let me put the barrel in that exact spot. Again, a benefit. I also don't think a lot of total rookies to the game can call shots. I know where my barrel was on every shot I missed. I think that is also a valuable thing. I would love to go to Aimpoints academy in Sweden to learn this right.
For me, from a practical standpoint, my M2 "50 state do it all long gun" is set up exactly the same sighting and function wise to my 28" barreled Benelli Sport that is a play gun. I think that is a good thing and unlike most, I think my clay shooting with the same sight that is on my defensive gun is a huge benefit because the clays becomes training doing the same thing sight wise and visually, where normally, clays is completely opposite to what we are teaching in the defensive world. I need to spend more time with both guns, but could even see getting a 28" barrel for my M2 with an S1 for my M2 and really use one gun for everything. Right now, the Benelli Sport doesn't offend anyone at the clay ranges (even with the Aimpoint, the pretty wood seems to make it sort of okay). Alternatively, if I really wanted to go low profile, I could cut a 28" Sport barrel down to 18 or 19 inches (the rib would guide the length) with an S1 and no chokes and have a great hotel room defensive shotgun that would completely fly under the radar.
I will be shooting Trap with the thing on Wed. If everything goes right, so we will see what happens with that.