cheekpiece and head position

[jedin]

My current bugbear is getting a consistent and relaxed head position. My rifle is an EC Universal stock, and the cheekpiece is, in the modern style, basically a right angle piece of metal.
My difficulty is (a) whether to use the wealth of adjustability, or just stick to height and left/right (rather than trying to angle it)
(b) how exactly to rest my head to achieve the same (nicely lined up with rearsight) position each time.

(b) I find particularly problematic. For example, there's a lot of flesh on a cheek (I'm fairly lean, but even so:). What's the best way to direct it? If I lower my head onto the cheekpiece so that the flesh is forced upwards, it pushes up my lower eyelid so much that it interferes the sight picture. If I bring my head in to contact and raise it, forcing the flesh down, it's less than comfortable...

What do people do? And should I think about padding the cheekpiece, or is that only going to make matters worse in terms of repeatability?

[Tim S]

Jedin,

I see more shooters lowering their head into the cheekpiece, allowing the fleshy cheek to sit on the top. Yes, this can squish your lower eyelid, but if you have a fairly lean face I wonder if the cheekpiece position isn't quite right.

Ideally you want to lower your head down until it stops on your cheekbone, with your eye looking through the centre of the aperture. For most people your head will be resting under it's own weight, although some press down. This may require adjustment to the butt, particularly laterally to align the sightline with your eye when your neck is comfortable extended, as well as the cheekpiece itself.

There's a good argument for the edge of the cheekpiece to be parallel to the bore axis (vertically and horizontally) so if you move your head nearer to/further from the sight, the eye is still aligned. Whether the top of the cheekpiece is flat depends on your cheekbones and whether you cant the rifle. Again how much radius the edge has is up to you; I have an tiny tiny radius at the front. Non-slip coverings won't hurt, but I would not use squishy foam. I've seen it used, and thought the users head never seemed to settle to the same depth each time.

[rgibson]

Great info Tim. When I went from Service to Palma this was my problem and it took me a while to get all the adjustments “right,” especially the cheek piece. In Nancy Tompkins book “Prone and Long Range Rifle Shooting” she said if the cheek piece doesn’t fit your face reshape the cheek piece because it is that important. I understand that you are talking about the new sleek trending skeleton sort of cheek piece so it is somewhat of a different animal. Watching everyone with this type of new cheek piece I have observed that the majority of them are “droppers” instead of “sliders,” meaning that during the process they bring their head down compressing cheek. I have seen some athletes that start further back on the cheek piece with the vertical head position they want and then slide the head forward to proper eye relief. Good luck!

[Scott J]

Tim,
What do you think about the offset risers for sights ? I use them on my smallbore rifles and they see to make my head and neck more upright.
Is there any concern with the offset from the bore of the rifle? I haven't noticed any, I was just wondering your opinion?

Scott

[Anschutz]

ScottJ

Right Handed (Prone): I use an offset for both front/rear sights, (4mm to the left), plus a small cant with level on front sight but needed a Centra 10-50 Rear Sight with plenty of windage. Head fairly vertical, Master Class Laminated Wood Stock and Cheekpiece. MY LOP places me at the rear of the cheek piece. Firm but not overbearing on the cheek pressure which is another topic of discussion. Canting the rifle i-n-t-o the cheek, for me anyway, doesn't seem to be as susceptible to overbearing or inconsistent pressure as when I was using a flat cheek piece. But, that's subjective as everyone is different. The Centra is TALL, but needed that anyway as can no longer look "upward" like when I was much younger.

Odie

[Tim S]

Tim,
What do you think about the offset risers for sights ? I use them on my smallbore rifles and they see to make my head and neck more upright.
Is there any concern with the offset from the bore of the rifle? I haven't noticed any, I was just wondering your opinion?

Scott

Scott,

I used Centra raises with a 4mm offset for years rather than canting. There were a few things I noticed: 1) I didn't have a lot of spare windage on the left with one rearsight. I switched to a Centra 10/50 for peace of mind; 2) the PoI moves sideways when changing distance, not a lot, but it's there; 3) mounting telescopic sights was a little harder.

I made changes to my position so I now hold with a tiny bit of cant, vs the 20° I had before, and the sights on the barrel line.

[groverdog1]

The cheekpiece on my UC stock is not at a "right angle" but rather has a curved radius coming downwards. I have not been entirely happy with its shape and have considered modifying it to mirror the old (2213 or 2313)ANS stock - cheek piece (cast aluminum stock-not the precise). It is not quite cut at 90 degrees but may be closer to 75 or 80 degrees. At any rate the 2213 provides a definite transition point or shelf to get an identifiable feel for your head position as opposed to placing your cheek on some part of the radius I described earlier.

I have had an issue getting consistent head position and I'm really unsure as to whether it is the shape of the cheekpiece or something I am doing between shots.

Mark

[Scott J]

Thanks all for the replies,it seems like the risers help , I just need to get my position consistent I believe. Seems like the better the rifle fits , the more position mistakes affect the shot. Little mistakes show more on the bull, if you understand.

Scott