Chicken Wing Question

Do You "Chicken Wing It"

  • Yes I Like The Chicken Wing

    Votes: 25 41.7%

  • No Wings For Me

    Votes: 35 58.3%
  • Total voters
    60
00Buck

00Buck

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When using a powerful bolt action rifle do you use the Chicken Wing stance with your body bladed, support arm tucked in, and trigger arm with the elbow sticking out to the side?

Some claim that the Chicken Wing helps with rifles that have very strong recoil.

Or do you keep your arms tucked in?
 
From an anatomical standpoint, "chicken winging" may help absorb recoil, but it puts your shoulder joint at a greater risk of injury. By elevating your arm you are increasing the separation at the gleno-humeral joint (the humerus and the shoulder). You are also stretching out your pectoralis major and deltoid muscles, which are the muscles that the buttpad rests upon. This means less padding in front of an exposed more vulnerable shoulder joint. By lowering your arm the pec muscles contract and give a firmer base to shoot from. all the "chicken wing" does is allow your arm to flop more easily so that your scope can smack you in the face.
You can feel this for yourself. Stand holding your gun in the "chicken wing" position, then bring your am in to the body. You'll be able to feel the pec muscle contract and push the butttpad out.
As a Kinesiology student I have actually considered doing a masters on the biomechanics involved with shooting, it may be fun but it puts a lot of uneven stresses on the upper body and lower back
 
That's a very well thought out answer on the chicken wing and human anatomy. There are many opinions on the why's and how's of the chicken wing. I'm mostly interested in how popular it is.

I'm also wondering if the chicken wing is used mostly by older shooters. It seems it was taught extensively in the military for use with bolt actions and battle rifles. It seems with the carbine the chicken wing has faded in popularity.
 
I keep my elbows down. Guns like the 378, 460 and 510 will let you know if its too high. If its something small like a 338 then I could see it.
 
If I shoot with pistol grip stock thenI keep my arm down, standard stock up. I go for what feels natural and gives the best support for that rifle. Never thought about shoulder damage before but I'll keep that in mind for when I stop working out and loose some of my "natural padding". :p
 
00Buck said:
Good answer. A .338 WM bolt action is the exact gun I was wondering about. Thanks for the info.
Click to expand...

Unless its really light then try it both ways and see what you like. I find i get less bruises and sore muscles keeping the elbow down. I hate shooting off the bench cuz it gets the elbow up.
 
I find that if the length of pull is too short then the elbow comes up because the stock is squished into the shoulder, but if the length of pull is correct, then the arm feels more natural to be down
 
No wings for me either. Can`t hardly get the rifle up to the shoulder right now anyway. I`m waiting for shoulder surgery and in the home of medicare the wait can be verrrrrry long.
 
I used to wing it, but changed my positioning similar to Magpul's tactical carbine stances. Felt a bit awkward at first, but I've noticed that it has improved my standing shooting. I think this would feel much less awkward with a pistol grip but it still works none-the-less..
 
I will sometimes use the "chicken wing" to help make sure that the stock ends up where it's supposed to be to properly absorb recoil but usually end up letting my trigger arm down to roughly 45 degrees once the gun is properly shouldered.
 
A lot of people don't realize that the angle of the elbow is based on the grip of the gun, more specifically the range of motion alotted from your wrist.

With a full 'English' rifle or shotgun stock, it is VERY difficult and uncomfortable to bring your elbow in.

With a full pistol grip, it's natural to keep the elbow closer to the body. Bringing your elbow up torques your wrist, making it difficult if not painful to chicken wing.
 
In the modern "tactical" world, chickenwing is frowned on becasue when someone is moving, the stuck up elbows will jam into obstacles and other people. Tugging in the elbows is not for stability, it is for ease of movement. In this kind of shooting, the body is general much more squared towards the target.

However, for target shooting and stability, chickenwing is the way to go. See all the old training materials, they all promote chickenwings back in the time when fire and movement were not important. In this case, the body is usually bladed 90 deg to the target as well.
 
When I started shooting big bores (.375 and up), I quickly started making sure the elbow on the trigger arm was tucked in. Much more comfortable for me.

Dean
 
The tactical and CQB guys do not like the chicken wing at all. However, this is for a hunting application with a more powerful bolt action. Full pistol grips feel much more natural with the elbows down. I'm thinking of a traditional bolt action. For those who have not seen the chicken wing this is what it looks like:

images


So far it seems about 1/3 of people like the wing.
 
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