Curved buttstock placement on the arm/shoulder..........

[oldwood]

Once I was dumb enough to put a south mtn. , kinda pointy ends , but plate , on an ultralight 38" x 7/8 oct. x.50 cal. rifle. It was a gift to my hunting buddy of 50+ years. Since the rifle was sort of a gag gift , as my other hunting buddy uses 3/16" thick sidewall copper pipe from his employment , he made the butt plate, and trig. guard , out of copper. I did the thimbles etc.of sheet copper. The rifle turned out about a hair under 7 lb.. The neighbor noted how light the rifle was , and how pointy the top of the butt return was , but we decided our hunting buddy needed a little pain in his life. Lucky for our 81 yr. old hunting friend , he took the gun to the range for a sight in adventure in cold weather and wore a heavy coat. We got a call when he got home , his new rifle was a good success , and he thanked us , but said us two smart a$$es with the pointy butt plate , will have to hunt with him carrying a fine looking rifle with a piece of pipe insulation duct taped , across the curve of the butt. Should a known he'd figure a fix for the curved butt plate , but dang, he figured it out so quick. Well , tomorrow's a new day , have ta figger some other gag for him..........oldwood

 

[ETipp]

A lot of this reminds me of the story written by Patrick McManis "The Belcher".

 

[RAEDWALD]

Illustration from the frontispiece of a book written in the early 1840's and published shortly thereafter. Showin' how it's done!

Can be viewed and downloaded at:
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id...ce=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

[Absoroka]

Went buffalo hunting with my 58 caliber Hawken. It beat me up sighting the rifle in off of the bench but I never felt the recoil on the hunt. I have found that recoil is just not an issue while hunting - too much concentration on the game.

 

[Uncle Miltie]

Can be viewed and downloaded at:
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id...ce=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

It's a fabulous book!

 

[Tumbledown]

Curved buttstocks are best placed in the garbage I believe the man who invented them should have his fingers repeatedly slammed in a door jamb!

It definitely takes special, out of the norm placement to shoot them right. If you shoot a medium to a heavy load they can be punishing without the absolute proper placement. All the above recommendation are correct, but for me, even using those recommendation, I cuss every time I shoot one.

There was a time it wasn't special, out of the norm placement. It still isn't for some of us.

 

[Bushfire]

Great for Squirrel guns. Out west with big game and heavier loads, a guaranteed recipe for an ouchy bruised shoulder.

Nonsense mate,

I shoot up to 120gn 2F in my larger calibres for hunting with crescent butt plates. Hold it properly and it kicks less than a centrefire.

 

[TDM]

Luckily I have no problem transitioning between the butt stock styles. I just put them were they naturally want to fit.

 

[Bushfire]

Hold it between your shoulder and bicep, and shoot across your body. I've seen photos of guys with cuts and bruises on their shoulder. It's hard to have sympathy, they're created such that holding it incorrectly is uncomfortable without even pulling the trigger.

I use 100gn 2F swiss in my 54 and 120gn swiss in my 50. Photo shows the latter. Big game require it and both loads are comfortable.

 

[chorizo]

Nonsense mate,

I shoot up to 120gn 2F in my larger calibres for hunting with crescent butt plates. Hold it properly and it kicks less than a centrefire.

We will have to agree to disagree. I have shot hundreds of thousands of rounds from high powered unmentionables, express double rifles for dangerous game, 50 BMG bolt rifles and likely more from shotguns.

The bloody crescent does me in every time

 

[Bushfire]

We will have to agree to disagree. I have shot hundreds of thousands of rounds from high powered unmentionables, express double rifles for dangerous game, 50 BMG bolt rifles and likely more from shotguns.

The bloody crescent does me in every time

Geez mate, I've shot a 416 a few times and I'd take a 50 cal with a stout load every day of the week!

 

[chorizo]

Geez mate, I've shot a 416 a few times and I'd take a 50 cal with a stout load every day of the week!

Me too, but not with a crescent buttplate!

A 416 dangerous game load in a 9lb Rizzini Rhino Express is about my limit of stupid, however.

 

[ETipp]

Went buffalo hunting with my 58 caliber Hawken. It beat me up sighting the rifle in off of the bench but I never felt the recoil on the hunt. I have found that recoil is just not an issue while hunting - too much concentration on the game.

I seldom, if ever, notice recoil when firing at a critter. Not even with some big unmentionable magnums I used to own. But sometimes it is noticeable when target shooting.

I hope to find out tomorrow with my new to me .54 Lyman Great Plains Rifle as to the felt recoil. I plan to shoot RB so that shouldn't be too bad.

 

[Rum River]

Luckily I have no problem transitioning between the butt stock styles. I just put them were they naturally want to fit.

I agree with you.

I happen to possess a fair amount of body fat - but have lucked out in that it has taken up residence upon my frame in an area other than my shoulder - meaning I'm able to place a crescent butt plate comfortably. It doesn't work out that way for all shooters but it happens to work for me.

One of my front stuffers is a Lyman Great Plains Hunter in 54. The heaviest charge I've shot is a 400+ grain Maxi-Ball with 120 grs. of FFg. The crescent butt plate wasn't an issue in my case.

 

[French Colonial]

I have many rifles with different styles of butt plates SMR, Plains, Pennsylvania, etc. The few original rifles I own are by far the worse. They have the same crescent you see on repros but they are much smaller from top to bottom, I find it difficult to get them seated on my arm and shoulder without the top or bottom digging into my arm.

This has been my experience as well, never had a problem with a crescent buttplate EXCEPT on a couple of originals there was no way they would fit on my bicep, some of those guys back in the day must of had some skinny arms!

 

[Okie Hog]

Never had a problem shooting curved butt plate muzzleloaders from the shoulder. Been shooting hard recoiling centerfire rifles since the mid 1950s. Early on i had pads sewed into my range shirts.

 

[Kmcmichael]

They a not ideal for bench shooting…yea that’s it, another great excuse for me!
seriously I suppose one could put some extra pad on it for that purpose.

 

[beardedhorse]

For offhand shooting curved buttstocks on smaller (.45 or less) caliber rifles are comfortable and in my humble opinion, more accurate that a flat buttplate shoved against the hollow spot beside the pectoral muscle. Most of the original Southern mountain and poor boy rifles I've seen are smaller than .50 caliber. Deeply curved buttstocks aren't comfortable for bench rest shooting and very frustrating to use from a prone position. I like them for muzzle heavy Schuetzen rifles in off hand matches.
Many shooters I know who load for bear in their (.54 caliber or larger) curved buttstock Lemans and Hawkens complain of bruising. I don't find recoil an issue when using 90 grains or less of 2 or 3 F. Those who complain about their being uncomfortable or inaccurate in lighter calibers should just learn to hold and shoot them correctly. They'd be surprised if they actually used them in a manner for which they were designed.

 

[ETipp]

For offhand shooting curved buttstocks on smaller (.45 or less) caliber rifles are comfortable and in my humble opinion, more accurate that a flat buttplate shoved against the hollow spot beside the pectoral muscle. Most of the original Southern mountain and poor boy rifles I've seen are smaller than .50 caliber. Deeply curved buttstocks aren't comfortable for bench rest shooting and very frustrating to use from a prone position. I like them for muzzle heavy Schuetzen rifles in off hand matches.
Many shooters I know who load for bear in their (.54 caliber or larger) curved buttstock Lemans and Hawkens complain of bruising. I don't find recoil an issue when using 90 grains or less of 2 or 3 F. Those who complain about their being uncomfortable or inaccurate in lighter calibers should just learn to hold and shoot them correctly. They'd be surprised if they actually used them in a manner for which they were designed.

Thanks for the input. I can honestly say (as that is my policy) that just a few minutes ago I was practicing holding up my two new to me curved stock ML using the information some has provided. And it is true, its easy to hold steady offhand when holding the curved buttstock rifles properly.

 

[Paul Nelson]

I was all set to try and explain this but not being a typist my brain shouted YouTube!!!! Quick search I found this.

To me, at my age, it is a steadier hold, allows me to hang on longer, and I actually prefer this stance now.
Robby

This is the best answer on this subject I’ve seen. I like the whole “Black Powder TV “ series.