Just when and why did the Mid Bead show up? Pretty much a standard on trap guns. Gimmick that survived, essential part of target shooting or??

Not essential, at all. But, I like them on my sporting clays comp guns for the simple reason that I shoot competitive sporting with a pre-mount. Part of my routine is to mount the gun, focus my eyes quickly on the rib and check my mount by looking to see that the two beards are perfectly aligned laterally and are "stacked" vertically. Then my focus goes to where I expect to pick up the bird and call "Pull".

For hunting purposes they're basically useless, IMO. A think a nice set of ivory ones, in appropriate sizes, do look good on a graded S X S, tho'.

I have no idea when they started, but they are shown in the October 1894 Remington Arms Co. catalog that introduced the Remington Hammerless Double (aka Model 1894).

Good question Mike.
I don't believe the L.C. Smith Pigeon Gun, introduced in 1893, was offered with a mid-bead.
The "Trap Package" started in 1920

Meriden Fire Arms Single Hammerless Trap Gun, 1912
"Lyman ivory front and rear shotgun sights"



I looked through the Baker SBT ads and catalog listings I have and there was no mention of a mid-rib bead even in 1921.

I had a 1918 (2nd year production) Parker SC with front and mid ivory sights.

1915 Ithaca SBTs no mid-bead



1924 Victory grade with "Front and rear brass sights"

Is the mid bead some assist if the butt stock doesn't fit properly?

Hibbard, Spencer, Bartlett & Co. catalog 1895

Shooters tend to be a copycat type game. Once a couple shooter won with a mid bead others I expect fitted ones to their own guns. That might explain why I’ve seen them at several positions plus or minus a couple inches. I have guns with them and guns without them. I’ve never thought they added enough to warrant adding them to any gun I own which did nit come with one.

bulls eye for stan...

Have only owned one gun with a mid bead. I found it inconsequential, and the gun is long gone. I have always been a low gun man and cannot aide pre-mounting if I did pre mount it may have been of value as earlier described.

I have several sideplate Lefever shotguns that are equipped with a small brass mid-bead. They look to be original. But I have never seen any reference to them in the factory catalogs. One of my Fox Sterlingworth guns has two ivory beads, which identifies it as a Sterlingworth deluxe.


Old pictures and advertisements can sometimes be interesting. But the ad above is no more germane to the subject of mid-beads than this:



Note: I am not selling a Forehand revolver or advocating shooting dogs here. But it would have been handy to have when I delivered papers as a kid, and was bitten by dogs four times that drew blood. I used a Wham-O slingshot to fend off many other dog attacks So if you buy one as a result of this ad, please send $12.00 to Dave Weber...

Take mine off & blackout front bead.

Yes, and no. It's a two-edged sword. A mid-bead can be of some assistance to a shooter, whose gun doesn't fit exactly, by allowing him to get used to how he must adjust himself to get the gun to shoot to POA. However, it can also be a detriment in that, if the mid bead (or the front bead for that matter) causes him to look at it as he swings on the bird or target, he will certainly miss, and he will miss behind.

So again, it may be useful to a pre-mount shooter, or someone getting used to a new gun, but is useless for snap shooting, or low gun.

I will not go so far as to say that the front bead is useless, too. We are never to look AT the bead/barrel/muzzle during the shot process, but IMHO the front bead is a reference point that is in your field of vision and gives a bit more reference to the subconscious as to where the muzzle is. My reasoning for this belief is this: I have been amazed, for many years at sporting clays, at how much precision is necessary to kill a going away target with a shotgun. One would think that, with the pattern spread that a properly choked shotgun has at 25 yards, it would be good enough to just cover the bird with the muzzle(s). But, I have found that is not the case at all. I have missed targets where the trap is directly in front of, and below me, with my muzzle covering the bird, but not precisely centered, many times. So many in fact, that I now make myself take the shot slowly and make sure that front bead is directly on, or in line with, the target. I never look AT the bead, or barrel. My focus is hard on the target. But it pays me big dividends to take a second longer to be sure it's centered, whether bird or clay. There are those few individuals that can shoot from the hip nearly as well as the average shotgunner can from the shoulder. Obviously, the bead is useless to them, doing that. But, most of us mortals are not that person. I need all the help I can get!

Lastly, a nice double gun with the front bead missing is like a beautiful woman that smiles at you and you realize she's missing a front tooth. She can still function without it, but she's not all that she could be. It is not my intent to demean anyone but, if a shooter cannot shoot well without removing the front bead he/she needs some coaching in how to focus their vision on the target.

I figure beads on a shotgun barrel is like the parking lot painted lines, use them if you want or just ignore them.....but don't look at them while you drive!

This probably dates the introduction of at least the Lyman Ivory Front and Rear Sights to 1895, which is the date of the Hibbard, Spencer, Bartlett & Co. catalog listing
August 3, 1895 Sporting Life
https://digital.la84.org/digital/collection/p17103coll17/id/48503/rec/1



I haven't found an advertisement or catalog listing for another maker of ivory front and rear sights until Marble's c. 1930



I have a collection of advice for Live Bird and Inanimate Target shooters here, from 1893 to 1925
Several observe the importance of practice mounting and being sure to look straight down the rib, but no one mentions use of a center bead
https://docs.google.com/document/d/17__6nT2u4mP22we08yCBThQ_a-VtmOueW5CisK3c2To/edit

I suspect it became more popular with the transition from the Live Bird "ready" position to Inanimate Target pre-mounted position.

but doc drew, watt duz hit awl mean?

how big or how small should the bead be?

an where on the rib should it be located?

and which is best? ivory, brass, gold or silver?

or perhaps rare polished unicorn horn?

smile...

My 1894 Cashmore pigeon gun has an ivory mid-bead. I’ve wondered if it’s factory original, looks like it might be

while I don't like to pay attention to them while shooting I really like the look of 2 ivory beads on a shotgun. it dresses up the barrels and I would never remove or paint them.

Maybe this will help William
Mike asked when the mid-bead was introduced
The catalog listing from 1895 shows the Lyman front and ivory beads in the lower L corner

A 1903 catalog listing. (Ignoring the fact that looking at the beads and the departing bird doesn't work)



I'm afraid that I can't make the connection between mid-beads and shooting dogs.
Please google "looseness of associations" and the relevant psychiatric disorders.

We've also got a thread going on Trapshooter.com BTW
https://www.trapshooters.com/threads/history-of-the-rear-rib-mid-bead.924695/#post-8988988
Francotte (imported by Von Lengerke & Detmold) and Greener Single Barrel Trap guns were introduced in the U.S. in 1895 and I suspect the ribs had mid-beads.

add another idea to the list

Interesting Daryl. Possibly where Annie got the idea for her Remington Autoloading Shotgun

Mid beads, if found, are usually on better grade guns. Being so, I have one gun with a mid bead and if I remember correctly, the manual said they were to be aligned in a figure eight. I use the gun for trap shooting and turkey hunting and with the stock modified to fit me, the beads do align in an 8. I have a personal policy of never putting a shotgun to my shoulder without first having a "target" to focus on so as not to allow my focus to go to the rib and bead. I do this to avoid diminishing target focus. I know that sounds a bit mental but not focusing on the target is, I think, one of the main problems shooters have. Many want to aim a shotgun as they would a rifle and that is the root of shooting behind the bird. My gun with a mid bead did not fit me and I had to adjust the comb to fix that. Is it just a coincidence the beads align in the 8? Maybe the gun was built correctly and I am built wrong!

1940s Lyman marketing



There does not seem to be a consensus regarding mid-bead placement; Lyman states "well forward". Some advocate exact middle of the barrel but Browning mid-beads are forward of mid-barrel.

The Lyman ads in the 60s finally used the new fangled hammerless illustration



Which could be the breech sculpting of a L.C. Smith

My BEO Remington trap gun has a slot milled in the barrel about 2 1/2" forward of the breech. This looks like great grandpa trap shooter was accessorizing a rear sight maybe a Lyman front sight? We trapshooters didn't start monkeying around the guns just yesterday!! I am seriously thinking about finding a sight to try.

Possibly he took Capt. Lee's (bad) advice Mike
Capt. T.K. Lee, “Rifle Sights for Shotguns”, Outers' Recreation, Nov. 1919
https://books.google.com/books?id=l3s7AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA354&lpg

Another idea for shotgun sights; the Leader Sight

10-1909 Rod & Gun in Canada



1911 Sears catalog with a "heart shaped rear globe sight" that could be positioned on the rib