Shotgun bead

SamCo89

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
Some may have saw my thread about a couple of Winchester 37 & 37A’s I had gotten from my dad, to try out for turkey this year..

Well got out shooting the 37 this evening & I now remember why I never used it when I was younger-The barrel has been cut,threaded for screw in chokes & a ramp with bead soldered on- The gun shoots about 8-10” low. So just file down the bead,desolder & take the whole ramp off? Or a set of fiber optic sights?


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pattersonj11

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Add something to top of the comb.

They make things where you can buildup a comb. In a pinch, a cut tube sock would probably work. Add layers of something to make the comb higher. That should bring point of impact up.
 

pattersonj11

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
An other solution is to find a tree with a fork down low. Wedge it end and tweak it. Be careful. I would read up on that. If you aren’t careful, you will break wood. May want to take the barrel off. That’s how they fix poi on lots of guns.....even fancy ones.
 

kilerhamilton

Old Mossy Horns
Just out of curiosity that’s aiming flat off the ramp. So bead appears to be sitting flush with the back of the ramp?


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SamCo89

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
Just out of curiosity that’s aiming flat off the ramp. So bead appears to be sitting flush with the back of the ramp?


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I tried that & also getting a “coarse bead”, but I was still having to aim over the head to get the upper half of the shot pattern in the kill zone.


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wturkey01

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
My 11-87 was the same way. It shot 12” low at 30 yds.

You have to think of it as the bead is the front sight but your eye is the rear sight.

I put a “Tri-Viz” sight on it and 2 shots later had it dialed in. The sights stick up about an inch so you just have to be careful that the sights don’t get hung on briars or limbs.
 

Wildlifer

Old Mossy Horns
If I have this right. You want a taller front sight to push the barrel down if it’s high. Like above I have the tri viz on both of my turkey guns. They come with 3 front sight heights to get it dialed in.
 

nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
If it were me I would take it to a smith and have the ramp removed and either have a shorter ramp installed or put in a lathe/jig and have the barrel bent.
 

SamCo89

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
If I have this right. You want a taller front sight to push the barrel down if it’s high. Like above I have the tri viz on both of my turkey guns. They come with 3 front sight heights to get it dialed in.

It’s too high as it is, I’m needing to lower it. A lower sight should cause me to raise the barrel to compensate.


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kilerhamilton

Old Mossy Horns
Rear point of reference needs to be higher than the front,That is tough. If you had a rear attachable sight to look at the front bead you would be awesome. Let me see what I have in the box.
Cheers


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SamCo89

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
If it were me I would take it to a smith and have the ramp removed and either have a shorter ramp installed or put in a lathe/jig and have the barrel bent.

I actually desoldered it, filed down the ramp & also the bead. Now just got to get time to try it out. I’m thinking of simply filing it until I get it, or maybe having a bead drilled & tapped farther up the barrel.


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SamCo89

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
Anyone tried the snap on fiber optic sights? Guess I’ll dig around too & see if I can find a set of universals for a plain barrel.


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nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Anyone tried the snap on fiber optic sights? Guess I’ll dig around too & see if I can find a set of universals for a plain barrel.


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They will work, to you run and gun and hook it on a vine and then get ready to shoot and realize it is gone. Ask me how I know this.

If you drill and tap it for another bead be careful and pay attention of the thread pitch of the bead when you order it and you will most likely have to order a tap also. They will be in gun tap size which is extra fine, not something you can go to your regular hardware stores and get. If you were close I have all of them but you aren't.
 

Winnie 70

Ten Pointer
A Truglo Gobble Dot Magnum will solve your problem....got them on 3 guns...all steel and will not move when attached to the rib. Made in sizes for most ribs so be sure to get right size...can adjust for wind age and elevation .Google it can see pictures...just make sure you get the Mangum which is all steel..no plastic.
 

shurshot

Ten Pointer
If it were me I would take it to a smith and have the ramp removed and either have a shorter ramp installed or put in a lathe/jig and have the barrel bent.
....or to check and see if it’s actually bent! Got a brand new Rem. 1100 3” Mag with a heavy barrel that turned out was bent. Realized it when my shooting partner had been out shooting me. Finally after missing an easy passing scaup at 30 yards and catching hell, I decided to shoot at a crab pot float 40 or so yards away. Shot 2 feet to the right each time! Took it to gunsmith, said barrel was bent 1/8”. Straightened it and ducks started dying again!
 

SamCo89

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
They will work, to you run and gun and hook it on a vine and then get ready to shoot and realize it is gone. Ask me how I know this.

If you drill and tap it for another bead be careful and pay attention of the thread pitch of the bead when you order it and you will most likely have to order a tap also. They will be in gun tap size which is extra fine, not something you can go to your regular hardware stores and get. If you were close I have all of them but you aren't.

Thanks, I’m actually looking at getting a gunsmith set of taps, working on another diy scope mount & realized I didn’t have any gun thread taps.


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nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Thanks, I’m actually looking at getting a gunsmith set of taps, working on another diy scope mount & realized I didn’t have any gun thread taps.


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I had a complete set that was my fathers, I have bought many more since then and have turned most of his into bottom taps. I still use them as much or more for cleaning out tapped hole as I have the new ones I have bought.
 

SamCo89

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
So here’s what I’m working with..

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nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Yep, someone didn't think, or shoot it and see what POI was before they put that on there. If you are hitting 8-10" just guessing you are going to have to move it down about the height of that bead. You could easily remove that much material and still have plenty there to tap and put another bead on.

First thing I would to would be remove the bead and shoot it see where POI was. Then keep removing material to you got it correct. Then get a bead and remove enough to install it.
 

SamCo89

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
So the ramp is soldered to the barrel & the bead inserts from the bottom of the ramp. Found that out when I broke out the torch thinking the bead was pressed in. The ramp is pretty soft steel, I’ve already tried filing it, so I should be able to reduce the ramp & bead accordingly.

On a side note, that 655 choke doesn’t play around.. It’s a 2 3/4 chamber so I found some 1 3/8oz pheasant loads & it’s a heck of a pattern. Just low.


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41magnum

Twelve Pointer
I'd remove/file bead off, paint the ramp white or chartreuse and shoot it

If that is not enough i'd straighten the barrel with a standard barrel bender, like the ones we made in gunsmith school, and are for sale at Brownells.

Folks don't realize that nearly 50% of shotgun barrels need bent to shoot where they aim,
 

SamCo89

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
I spent the better part of Saturday tinkering with it- took a dremel mill bit,shaved the ramp down until I could see most of the bead & then filed the bead & shot it until I can now get a “coarse” sight picture, see more of the ramp & bead instead of just the bead, & the POI is good.

Also had to tweak the forearm notch, every time I fired off one of these pheasant loads, the forearm popped off.

As an aside- I had ran across an article on a 37 that had been reworked, & the author had reamed the 2 3/4” chamber out for modern plastic hulls, saying that it originally was designed for 2 3/4” paper hulls. I hadn’t considered that but without a chamber gauge I would not be able to tell, correct? It chambers & ejects everything I’ve shot through it fine.


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41magnum

Twelve Pointer
without a chamber gauge I would not be able to tell, correct?

nope, a set of 6" calipers will work using the tail piece, if you don't own a pr just go to a local machine shop and ask them to measure the chamber depth.
I'd take just the barrel.
 

shurshot

Ten Pointer
Ahhh ....rolled crimp very well could be shorter. But I’d guess that would mean a shotgun of early design to accommodate those shorter length shells only? I stilll reload and shoot a few paper Federal paper hulls but all those are fold crimped similar to the FGM, Top Gun, etc.
 

SamCo89

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
Yeah this 37 isn’t a “redletter” gun, (Pre ‘48) but at least ‘63 or older- No SN.. I’m not that familiar with older shotgun/shell specs, as I said earlier I came across an article where the author mentioned reaming his 37 that was stamped 2 3/4, out to an actual 2 3/4.. A chamber gauge showed no-go for 2 3/4. His was an older “redletter” gun though.

Looking at the empty’s from Saturday, it seems the crimp is deformed compared to the empty’s from my 37A I tried at the same time.


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