Newbie question about drop at comb.

[SuperCub]

I'm with Stubblejumper on this on. The pitch of the butt with regards to the sight plane has a major impact on recoil and forcing the gun upwards and not straight back. Could losing weight affect this, yes. The pitch is fit based on not only how thick your chest is, and its musculature, but also your mount. Do you stand straight up or get out over the gun? If you have lost weight especially in your chest area it could have impacted the pitch of your gun.

I could be wrong but based on your description i would put you in a relatively inexperienced shotgun shooting category. If there is someone at your club well versed in mounting a shotgun for skeet/5 stand (yes it is discipline and shotgun stock style specific) have them take a look at your mount and how the stock is interacting with you physically to see if they can improve things.

One of the most common mounting mistakes i see with inexperienced shooters is having a shotgun with sporting or hunting dimensions and standing straight up like they have a high rib & comb trap gun. If you are doing this and the butt pad is not 100% on your chest but a portion resides above your collar bone its a recipe for a cheek slap.

As for the adjustable cheek piece they do help eye alignment with the rib, but they wont help stop the gun recoiling upward into your cheek.

All good points esp the one about my obvious lack of experience in this matter.

There is lots on YT that will help here. I watched a fellow last night that talked about proper gun mount and where that puts your head in relationship to the rib. I think there is a spot I need to look at as well. I was plowing the butt into my shoulder and pressing my head down onto the comb giving me a good look at the back of the receiver. He suggested positioning the head on the comb before the butt goes into place on the shoulder. I tried this a couple times last night and there was a difference.

 

[Mr Bill]

I'm an older shooter Mr. Bill and I've been shooting thousands of 12 gauge shells per year for many years. I'm not saying that we're all the same or that you should even agree with me but I'd suggest that maybe you should have had your gun fitted to you earlier so you could enjoy many more years of pleasant shooting without your face having to back you up your words!

Sir…I appreciate your input and concern for my manly good looking old face. lol
But you got me thinking…I realized that all my shotguns (several dozen) are ‘fitted’ for field shooting live game and not one specifically fitted for trap or skeet. I shoot gun down and stand erect for skeet just because it replicates hunting. My club established in 1882 is loaded with stock makers/fitters and national champions in every discipline. Lively daily debates on all aspects of shooting because nobody agrees with all the theories out there. If you are old and can still break 23/25 on a windy day with an expensive and pretty gun they listen to you. If you shoot a Turkish gun everyone just waits for the gun to break.lol

On a more serious note when you try to mitigate recoil you're looking at a multitude of things. The Vectorial Distribution Forces of recoil on face/shoulder as effected by everything already mentioned by others. I/we/us have entered the world of Magnaporting, forcing cones, Graeco recoil pads, barrel weights, lead and mercury in the stock, reduced loads, optimized slow burning powders, clothing etc etc. Still see shooters with baby powder or Vaseline smeared on their cheek. Question is what percentage of that recoil force do you want to be spread out between your shoulder and face, 50/50…90/10…?????

I have transitioned from being a serious target shooter to a guy that loves to bring out a new toy to the range every week and have serious fun. In my opinion the fun factor goes up as the gages go down.
Check out my latest baby… Benelli 28g Super Sporter Cheers!!

 

[Falconflyer]

I know exactly what your getting at Mr Bill, I've transitioned from serious competitor to recreational fun shooter myself and have target guns in the major gauges and calibers as well. I still take field guns to the range once in a while but find the target guns much more comfortable to shoot higher volumes of rounds through.
As practical as an adjustable comb and Graco pad are on a target gun, a field gun just doesn't look right fitted with them.

On the subject of recoil distribution, my guns are set up to give minimal recoil to the face. I can't put a number on it though, maybe it's 90/10 or 80/20 but I've no way of knowing for sure. All I know is that I don't want any recoil to my face, if I notice it then it's too much. You can teach a boxer not to blink when he gets punched in the face but getting slapped with a chunk of hard wood in the cheek multiple times will eventually break anyone down.
I forgot about vaseline or baby powder on the face, haven't seen anyone do that in years! Sort of a band-aid fix and not really addressing the problem though. Of course these days people are concerned about asbestos in the talcum used in baby powder so I guess that's no bueno.

Nice Benelli by the way!

 

[Londonshooter]

This thread is very relevant to me and my experience with weight loss. I appreciate the responses. Sold a number of guns in the past few years that no longer fit. I was both missing birds/targets and getting beat up. I'm mostly shooting fairly tame 1 oz loads in 12 ga. guns.
A downside of losing weight but overrall am happy not to be carrying that (232-164 = 68) sixty-eight pounds around that I was a few years ago. I definitely had a fat face back before my gun fit problems started.

 

[the spank]

Beretta makes a gel tek cheek protector in 4mm and 6mm thickness, that may be the cheapest way to sort out your problem.
Ammo could also be a problem, I see lots of new shooters show up with 3 dram Handicap loads to shoot trap and skeet. Challenger light loads 1 oz can break any target on a sheet field or Sporting Clays course.

Padded combs are not a "fix" for an ill fitting gun. Cheek slap is caused by improper pitch, poor fit or poor mount. Fix the issue properly by taking and spending the $ to see a fitter and have the stock fitted.

 

[SuperCub]

Cheek slap is often caused by the pitch of the butt plate or recoil pad forcing the comb upwards into your cheek during recoil. Adding a washer under one screw to change the pitch, can really help in that regard.

Thanks for that. I'm going to look into that as well. I'm thinking a washer under the top screw in the pad would cause the gun to recoil downward and thus the comb away from the face. Would one washer be enough?

 

[Falconflyer]

You will just have to experiment with the amount of washers, sometimes a little is a lot with stock fit.

I’ve moved the point of impact on a shotgun several inches to the right with just some sanding on the left side of a stock before. I might have taken less than 1/16 th of an inch off.

 

[SHELL SHUCKER]

I solved me gun fit issues yrs ago by going to the Al Ljutic Spacegun style that caught me eye back in the day. His layout, though a tad quirky
to some folks spurred a big desire in me to have an 870 pump set up like that led me to the Mesa Tactical, high tube recoil stocks that I found
on the GB Tactical site.

I'd been shooting trap for some yrs prior to that using red dot sights on factory stocked guns with decent results at meat shoots but the
AR layout with its straight line stock to bore relation plus the Enidine recoil shock in place of the AR buffer tube really worked great for
me and made my 870 super easy to run long round shoots with comfort & confidence. No cheek slap & recoil reduced to 20 ga target
load levels. Fitted this system to a Win 1200 & Mossberg 835 as well. The Mossy was me favorite for Annie Oakley shoots and shoot-offs
when we'd call "To the beach!" shots. Closest break to the dirt be the game.

Me 870

Me Mossy 835 & Win 1200 units.

 

[the spank]

The best advice I can give is pick up the stockfitters bible and read it from end to end then go find a professional stockfitter who can assess and address your needs for a proper fitting stock.