Is cheek weld really that important?

You get chance take a apple seed shoot.


You will learn all about cheek weld, natural point of aim and other great lessons.


Doug
 
Sweet Shooter, a perfect sight picture is important in that it's what is desired when firing pin strikes the primer. But nobody hand holds a firearm perfectly still. The best rifle marksmen will hold a rifle slung up in prone under a 3/4 MOA area then try to break their shots inside a 1/2 MOA area.

But while the bullet's going down the barrel and the old physics law of equal and opposite reaction's gonna start moving the rifle's bore axis up, back and sideways. How much it moved while the bullet's in it determines where the muzzle points when the bullet exits. Even with a perfect sight picture for everyshot, the bore axis won't point to the same place for every shot; us humans can't hold perfectly still. . . .unless they're dead and rigor mortis has firmly set in.

Different cheek pressure on the stock's the same as different fore end pressure on the barrel. Neither's good for accuracy.

People have tested their 30 caliber match rifles for accuracy when they're clamped in machine rests and shoot sub 2 inch groups at 600 yards. But the best they can do shooting that stuff slung up in prone and calling all their shots inside a 2 to 3 inch area on target, they don't put all the bullets any tighter grouped than 8 to 10 inches on the average at best; sometimes a lot more. It's all due to how their inconsistant body position causes the rifle recoil for each shot to move the bore/muzzle axis to different places when the bullets exit.

Even handgun front sights are higher above the bore axis than the rear sight; that bore axis moves up from recoil while the bullet goes down the holes it's fired in.

And 50+ caliber double rifles bore axes cross at about 15 yards down range. That way they shoot to point of aim at 100 yards. The rifle moves sideways in recoil before the bullet leaves; left for the left barrel, right for the right one.
 
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I never liked the term "Cheek Weld" because it seems to give the impression that it's a heavy pressure applied by the face. IMHO, "cheek weld" doesn't have to be heavy pressure, but a very consistent feel that positions the eye perfectly behind the sights for each shot.

Cheek pressure applies transverse force to the bore and heavy pressure can cause strain in the neck muscles, resulting in variations in pressure.

I'm not a 3-P competition shooter and rarely use slings for support. That said, my shooting position philosophy is that positions should be as comfortable as possible and that most force applied to the rifle, (except for countering the forend weight) should be straight back to the shoulder. The stock comb should be configured to aid repeatable eye alignment.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
 
Cheek weld is important. If you don't have the same sight picture, your POA is different. Bench rest shooters with low recoil calibers have very little contact with the rifle, they put the cross hairs on target with a 2 oz trigger & let the rifle do the work. With sporting rifles cheek weld is the way to go, cheek pressure, light or heavy must be the same. with out a weld looking through the scope, is like looking at how fast your wife is driving from the passenger seat. It's a comfortable height when shooting, just close your eyes rest your head on the stock,open your eyes and if your eyes are in line with your sights than your stock height is fine. Most of the time it's a chin weld,will stress your neck. Try it and see if it works for you. Be Safe Chris
 
So because the military teaches it it must be correct.... I've been taught for marksmanship to take as much muscle out of the equation as possible. Smashing your check into the stock doesn't fit with this idea.
 
So because the military teaches it it must be correct.... I've been taught for marksmanship to take as much muscle out of the equation as possible. Smashing your check into the stock doesn't fit with this idea.
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So because the military teaches it it must be correct
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Yeah, they have learned a thing or two about it in the last couple hundred years.

And..who said anything about smashing your cheek into the stock?

If you want to learn about it, the info is out there...ya don't even have to join up. ;)
 
Having the cheek on the same part of the stock every shot is important in rifle shooting, and absolutely critical with shotguns.
 
Cheek weld isn't important at all. :rolleyes:

Just fire a shot or two with a hard kicking caliber with your face just off of the stock and you'll find out everything you need to know.:cool:
 
Which brings up another point. All these new huge objective scopes are making cheek weld very hard to achieve without modifying stocks. I have noticed that even with some of the 40mm objective scopes, they are so huge at the back end that they have to be mounted obnoxiously high to clear the bolt handle.
 
I have to go with the majority on this one, just not for the same reasons. You can get by without cheek weld if you have a good rest position for the rifle. Try consistently hitting fast moving deer when using a scope and not having a comfortable weld spot.
 
I have to go with the majority on this one, just not for the same reasons. You can get by without cheek weld if you have a good rest position for the rifle. Try consistently hitting fast moving deer when using a scope and not having a comfortable weld spot.
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Most folks prefer to take more ethical, non-moving shots on game animals.
 
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