Shabazz, I was thinking the same thing when I saw the first post. The early Creedmoor shooters used a few odd positions like that. I think in their case it was due to the rule that no artificial support was allowed, and the fact that the original rules stipulated light weight rifles. The recoil from a .45-110 in a 10 lb rifle is pretty stout.
Now and then I've heard of guys using the old positions in long range black powder target rifle competition, but pretty much everyone has gone to prone position as modern rules allow heavier rifles.
Twotone, some of the shooters moved the tang sight to the back of the butt stock, very odd looking indeed.
Chris.