870 synthetic cheek buster

Larry Ashcraft

New member
When shooting for extended periods of time the comb on my 870 stock bruises my cheek. When shooting heavy loads it becomes down right painful. Anyone else have this problem or more importantly a solution?
 
If form is good, fit's probably the culprit.

Also, just how many HEAVY loads do you shoot in a session?

Try s shim under the pad at the heel or toe of the stock,not both at once. Pitch may be contributing to this.

Cheekeze makes a very thin (1/16") pad that may also give relief, but mess with the pitch first.
 
My cheek was so bruised and swollen I looked like a chipmonk with walnuts... part of my problem was "form" and the other part was first time bench-rest shooting with slugs (very unforgiving) and reeeeealy trying for that surprise break.

I corrected my form using Dave McC's posts, added a Cheekeze pad (mostly psychological protection I think, but I helps me get a good cheek weld), and quit doing benchrest shots.

Now I can blast thru 50 to 100 slugs (Rem Reduced Recoil, 1 oz)fired offhand in an indoor-range session and come away with no cheek problems at all.

The fit on my shotgun was pretty good to start with so I compensated for the Cheekeze addition by using stock-drop shims.

--Bruce.
 
Try one of those soft walnut stocks. That should be much easier on you.

Seriously, form is very important. I find that when I don't control the recoil well and let the gun rise more than push back into my shoulder that I start getting a sore cheek. It quickly becomes a self correcting problem as I know what the solution is for me. I have gone through as many as 150 full power heavy dove loads over the course of a couple of hours and several rounds of skeet and come away with nothing bruised other than my ego and nothing sore other than my shoulder. The regular skeet shooters think me crazy for not getting light loads or reloading light loads.

The other problem I have seen will occur when folks fail to put their cheek on the stock and the gun slaps them during recoil. That brings up bruises pretty fast.

If you can't correct by changing your form, then by all means compensate mechanically and get a pad on your stock or a special stock.
 
Next time you feel the urge to bench some slugs, do like me....

First, use a wearable recoil pad like the PAST. Heartily recommended even for manly men.

Second,use good bench form. Shoot off your hands and not sandbags. Use a rest under the support hand for steadiness.Stay as erect as you can.

Third, add as much weight to the weapon as you can. A couple homemade recoil reducers(old thread) in the magazine, a Side Saddle loaded with shells, weight in the stock, and so on. This can be removed when hunting starts. Nobody feels the kick when there's hair or feathers in sight.

Fourth, an anti inflammatory taken in advance is a good idea.

Bruce, glad to hear I helped.....
 
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