Rifle Stock Shapes
W92fan
Member Posts: 92 ✭
I have noticed that the shapes of rifle stocks have changed from the 1800's to the 1900's. In the 19th Century most rifles had "crescent shaped" stocks, while by the early years of the 20th Century most rifles had switched to flat or nearly flat buttplate shapes.
My question is why the change ? It seems to me that, especially for target shooting, the crescent shape would be better. It would be easier to position the rifle in exactly the same position on your shoulder for every shot. Perhaps it is mostly a matter of economics. The flat ( shotgun ) shape must be easier and cheaper to produce. I've also noticed that in the 1800's there was a difference between rifles and carbines of the same model.
Any thoughts or theories about this ? Thanks !
Comments
IMHO, recoil from smokeless powder has a lot to do with your question. A wide flat butt plate disperses recoil more evenly. If you go back even further into the 18th century, you will notice that most long guns had wide flat butt plates.
The bore sizes were greater then and many were smoothbore as well. Black powder in those days had many inconsistencies between various batches and manufacturers. There was still a lot of large game to be taken in the east but as the large game diminished, the larger bore sizes were no longer needed. Smaller bores came into popularity for taking small game and they also conserved on the amount of powder and lead needed. With the small bores a deeply crescent butt plate became desirable for aesthetic reasons (people liked the way they looked) and heavy recoil was not an issue.
'crescent shaped' buttplates are the devil's own devices.
I've shot a lot of small bore rounds through rifles with the 'hooked' butt but that's an entirely different concept.
Much more felt recoil with the crescent in my limited experience
Pretty much agree with all the above, but an unaltered Czech VZ24 with a full power 8mm 196 grain loads can give you pretty good thump also, and it's got a flat buttplate.
In a large caliber rifle, this butt plate will kick ya till yer grandkids ‘hurt’ ,,,,,, 😉
Not a butt stock question but a forend question.
Was/is the shape of the Schnabel forend functional or just aesthetics ?
I have always liked the Schnabel forend, just something classy about them.
You liked it cause you were drinking ‘schnapps’ ,,,,,,,, 🤣
Oh lord NO. Kinda cool to look at but yeah I bet it'd hurt to shoot.
IMHO, the change in butt stock shape to a more "forgiving" flatter profile is two fold
1. The stock cheek weld and cast-off shapes/designs have evolved to better increase accuracy and reduce felt recoil. Cheeks are all different, so the cast off protrusions or even slight angle to the on-side of the butt stock will feel better in different places on different shooters.
2. As I learned over the years, people feel comfortable with a different cheek weld for each person. Differences in eye geometry, cheek bone and face length, etc. Comfort = consistency = confidence = repeatable accuracy. I place my pad higher on the shoulder because I taught myself to shoot with the scope as close to the bore as possible since it has several mechanical advantages. Thus my stock line is right on my cheek bone. In order to do so, the butt is high on my shoulder so that I don't roll my face/head to see through the scope (bad for accuracy). If you have high rings and/ or see through rings, the necessity for a different shoulder placement takes place. Therefore the straighter butt allows for the shifting up/down to accommodate that setup.
YMMV
You can bring a flat butt plate up to your shoulder a lot faster.
And fiery auto crashes
Some will die in hot pursuit
While sifting through my ashes
Some will fall in love with life
And drink it from a fountain
That is pouring like an avalanche
Coming down the mountain
I do shoot a few rifles with sharply curved brass butt plates. I learned from an old codger (thanks he-dog 😁) a long time ago that the most comfortable position for shooting is to drop the butt down on top of your bicep muscle. The muscle padding helps a lot!
Brookwood, you got it. Also the rifle is positioned across the body, not straight out.
Too low for me.. I want a straight stock with an adjustable cheek piece.