what can I do to the bead on a barrel to make it easier to see?

[BHTGdogs]

It's just a metal bead it's hard to see and I assume a paint would flake off.

[Dryball]

You mention metal bead...so, I would assume you are looking for a shotgun sight. There are lots of places to get them. Local gun show, http://www.brownells.com/shotgun-parts/sights/front-sights/shotgun-sight-bead-prod9651.aspx
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/295691/necg-shotgun-front-bead-sight-157-diameter-6-48-thread-175-shank-mammoth-white?cm_vc=ProductFinding to name a few. I prefer ivory as it presents well and doesn't glare like metal. Fiber optic front beads are available as well, if that's your thing. If you are looking for a rifle sight the same options are available.

[BHTGdogs]

Do all beads unscrew ?

[Beef15]

Do all beads unscrew ?
No.
If you state the make/model and approximate year of the firearm the folk here may be able to advise you. If it's in a rib I'd just give it a twist, but I have drills and taps I'm handy with.

[BHTGdogs]

It's a savage model 220A. It's not a vent rib barrel.

[Dryball]

http://www.gunpartscorp.com/Manufacturers/SavageStevensSpringfieldFox-33479/Shotguns-40503/220-41284.htm?results=All Yes, it is a screw-in type

[toallmy]

I have a buddy that paints his frount sights with florescent bright orange finger nail pollish on his hand guns and he did my muselloader . But I would suggest just replacement bead ,thay are cheap , but a lot of styles and sizes .look on midway,or some of the gun parts sights you will get a good understanding of shape ,size ,stake or screw in. Finger nail pollish about a buck .

[Dryball]

Item #39 is what you are looking for

[bruce drake]

For all of us who are approaching middle age...go get an eye appointment made. The one time I dropped out of the Expert classification while I was serving was the year I needed to get bi-focals. Sometimes its not the firearm that goes bad but our own "equipment."

[gnoahhh]

If it's a shotgun bead, the last thing you want is a bead that attracts your eye. When swinging on a moving target you shouldn't be trying to focus on a bead- the target should have your full attention. A good gunner is only vaguely aware of the end of his barrel(s) when tracking a target, be it alive or clay. I lost the ivory bead on one of my sporting clays guns once, and found that my scores suffered not a bit. I never replaced it. Some of my buddies actually remove the beads from all of their shotguns on purpose.

The one thing a newbie can do at our club to get a few snickers from the old pros is to attach a high-viz sight on his gun. Such devices can only hurt a guy's scores in the long run. Their main benefit is to enrich the guys who make them.

I will admit that a highly visible sight is justified on a shotgun if said gun is used for shooting stationary targets such as turkeys, but that's about it.

[bdicki]

If it's a shotgun bead, the last thing you want is a bead that attracts your eye. When swinging on a moving target you shouldn't be trying to focus on a bead- the target should have your full attention. A good gunner is only vaguely aware of the end of his barrel(s) when tracking a target, be it alive or clay. I lost the ivory bead on one of my sporting clays guns once, and found that my scores suffered not a bit. I never replaced it. Some of my buddies actually remove the beads from all of their shotguns on purpose.

The one thing a newbie can do at our club to get a few snickers from the old pros is to attach a high-viz sight on his gun. Such devices can only hurt a guy's scores in the long run. Their main benefit is to enrich the guys who make them.

I will admit that a highly visible sight is justified on a shotgun if said gun is used for shooting stationary targets such as turkeys, but that's about it.
This^^^^^

[BHTGdogs]

Smooth bore slug gun I need the bead

[seaboltm]

if its a dedicated slug gun solder on front and rear sights. Problem very solved.

[KCSO]

Unscrew it and replace with any 3-56 thread bead you like.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

I agree (is there a stronger word than "agree"?) that a conspicuous bead either is a symptom of the wrong kind of shooting, or leads to it, with traditional bird or clay shooting. Perhaps the chicken and the egg came together. For slug shooting it is highly desirable. The trouble comes if you want the gun to be versatile and do both jobs.


For a pure slug gun I would fit a ramp with standard size transverse dovetail, in which you can fit any kind of blade or bead you like, tritium or fibre optic included, and have some windage adjustment by tapping it in the dovetail. Someone (Redfield?) certainly used to have a special shotgun ramp which was short and low, radiused for a large diameter barrel, and wide enough for soft solder to do a secure job.

There are things you can do with the existing bead, which you possibly don't want to make larger for precise slug shooting. You could file it to a flat surface, angled at about 45 degrees to reflect the sky, and that would bring the additional advantage of not shifting its apparent location with changes in the direction of the light. Many years ago someone used to make brightly coloured epoxy to fill an undercut slot in revolver ramp sights, and I think this would be strong enough. I have no idea whether these are available now, or where. (Brownells print catalogue is far better than the website for browsing.) But you can get white epoxy for repairing ceramics, or pigment to mix with clear ones. I bought the usual two-syringe device of white at Ace Hardware in Kuwait city of all places. Another possibility would be to position a disc of meltable plastic on top of the bead, and heat it gently from below with a heat gun. I think there is a good chance it would melt around the bead, enough to be fixed on cooling.

Replacing the bead is actually easiest if it in a rib, because it is likely either threaded in place, or a drive fit in a tapered hole. If it is in a naked single barrel it is likely to be staked from the inside, whether or not it is threaded.

[JSnover]

I lost the ivory bead on one of my sporting clays guns once, and found that my scores suffered not a bit. I never replaced it. Some of my buddies actually remove the beads from all of their shotguns on purpose.

This is true! I found out by accident a long time ago, it isn't hard to bust clays without a front bead. Takes a little getting used to but you will surprise yourself.

[rking22]

For a dedicated slug gun,, look about 1/2 way down this thread.
http://www.shotgunworld.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?f=107&t=302137

[BHTGdogs]

Rking22 that's something I could go for right there.

[rking22]

here's another I had forgotten about, from our own Junior.
http://www.castbullet.com/misc/stevens2.htm

[fryboy]

they make a hi-vis sight for round barrels ( nothing quite as eye catching as dayglo ! )