What am I doing wrong? I have a fairly new .416 Rigby and took it to the range yesterday. In the 40 rounds I shot, 2 came back on me. Any advice on how to prevent this?

I have a 1.75 - 6 Leupold scope 350gr magtip but not conographed. I shoot nice groups - 2 inches off hand (no sticks) at 100m. The scope is set as far forward as it can go and I am shooting off a 4x magnification

Hold on to the rifle? Do you wear glasses which are messing with your eye relief? Are you really tall and does the rifle have a short length of pull?

I have a .460 (11 pounds) with full tilt 500 grains loads and the same scope I have never even come close to bumping into the eyepiece.

Is your photo image reversed or are you a lefty?

longer LOP

tell the ladies you were in a bar fight

Boom's got it right, your stock is to short.

When the stock is to short, your shoulder will moove backwards while your head is still, resulting the scope to marry your head.
When the stock is long enough, shoulder and head is one and moove backwards in one motion.

quote:

Originally posted by Bent Fossdal:
Boom's got it right, your stock is to short.

When the stock is to short, your shoulder will moove backwards while your head is still, resulting the scope to marry your head.
When the stock is long enough, shoulder and head is one and moove backwards in one motion.

.......

He is getting 2" groups OFF HAND @ 100 M. .........I don,t buy the longer LOP stuff ...12 7/8" on one 458 that I have that weighs 9 1/4 lbs loaded ,,with a 2-7x leup , I have never come close to ringing myself ... But I can,t shoot as well as he can ..........

I would TRY a slip on pad just to see if you can still group as well ..
I,m with Mac on a tighter grasp , but that too can screw up your shot .....How tall are you ???
That is marvelous shooting .... Is it factory equivalent loads ?? Not some hand load going 2700 fps or something ??
Your shooting is so good , don,t do anything to mess that up .....

Keep us posted ....

....I re read your post ,, you shot 40 rounds ,, I think it was ,temporary loss of concentration ..40 rounds is quite alot for a 416 in 1 trip to the range .....What rifle was it ,,, The CZ550 with the hog back stock definitely rises up more when fired than the American Safari or the Ruger ....???

Thank-you for the constructive comments -

I am not tall - 1.74m The loads are all my own hand loads. The rifle is custom built for me and I really hope it is not LOP as then some measurements have been messed up.

It could be a concentration thing but what is odd is it was my 5th shot and then my second last shot when the scope and eye got intimate.

No I don't wear glasses. I am also a light weight 70kg so yes maybe "hold the rifle tighter" is good advice.

Would it help to stand more square on when shooting?

I am right handed and shoot off the right shoulder however the love taps are above my left eye

It is a CZ 550 here is a pic of the stock

I'm not an expert, but one of the reasons to get injured by a scope is that, when you shoot, your head doesnt't "follow" the upper torso. So, I would suggest you to slightly increase the contact between your cheek and the stock; you could try to apply some soft rubber on the stock. Wounds are above the "other" eye, probably because of some twist of the rifle under recoil.

You asked if it might be better to stand more square. I think you're onto something here. I found it peculiar how far left your marks were. I suspect you were in a full or at least close to full target type position with your left shoulder facing the target and little of the rest of your front facing the target. Rifle mostly across your front. I think this may be it. That position is great for smallbore competition but it puts you quite close to the ocular. It would also explain the cuts being so far left on a right handed shooter.

I don't know if it's the right thing to do, but I sort of hunch my shoulder forward a bit to contain the recoil pad, lock up head,neck,shoulder, and go with the recoil more from the waist.

What kind of scope are you using? What's the eye relief? Also Leupold makes rubber eye rings that screw into their scopes. At least you won't get cut

Anyway, chicks dig scars ...

Cheers,

Chuck

Chicks dig scars!

Post a picture of yourself, just before you're about to touch one off.
I think your head is pivoted too far to the right.
Also roll your right shoulder forward a bit more.
The way I invision your "technique", your left eye is about 2 - 2.5 cm closer to your scope.
Your right eye will have more viewing area as well if you shift your head left.

I've mentioned this before, but get no credit for good ideas. Now you know where it hits you can put some band-aids on FIRST.

quote:

JAL: Now you know where it hits you can put some band-aids on FIRST.

Or wear a helmet like Shootaway.

With my 416 Rem I have the Scope 1.75X5 Burris
Mounted half way down my barrel.

Thats a nice looking stock .....

You may need to stand more faceing the target ..
How firmly do you grasp the foreend ?? Does the rifle want to jump out of your left hand when you fire ??...

quote:

Originally posted by fla3006:
Or wear a helmet like Shootaway.

Ken....

Your head is definitely moving on the stock in a serious way.

Were those two shots in the mark or off. they wer elikely off the mark and it was because you cringed as the thing went off or just before. MAke a good strong triangle with your shoulder, cheek and right hand (ok its not quite a triangle) and then pull back into it with your left. I know a lot of guys talk about the push-pull method but it doesnt work for me. I just allow the thing to roll me a bi and usually a bit up and right.

Have someone film you and you may catch subtleties that lead to your new lekker decorations.

_Baxter

do you weigh every charge?
If you have a couple "hot" loads it could be the problem.

Instead of wearing the band-aids I would rather put a round rubber "bumper" on the scope itself first... There is an invention! A scope bumper LOL! Where are my patent forms? Hmmm...

Since you are shooting so well, it would be a shame to change your form too much. The fixed power Leupolds have an eye-piece that is 1/2" shorter than their variables which can gain you a little clearance. The 2.5 compact has the combination of the longest eye-relief and shortest bell that I'm aware of but may not meet your needs. I took mine off, needing more power. A 4X may work for you.
Sometimes a change in ring height will make enough difference. Higher rings rotate your forehead back slightly and can prevent the cuts. The next guy will benefit from lower rings locking then into the stock firmer and following the recoil back.

Get a Leupold 2.5x compact and mount it as far forward as possible. The distance from your rear ring to the rear of the scope will be about 1 inch less than with the scope you are currently using.

Murphy's law # 1
If it can go wrong... It will.
make sure your head CANNOT hit the scope.

Jissie boet,

Even with a custom LOP, you might be creeping the stock in an attempt to shoot the big bore 'properly'.

Perhaps go to a BASA shoot and get some advice?

At least those are not too bad...for a .416!
40 rounds of .416 in one day? Jys 'n man van STAAL!!

Check to see if the stock comb is too tall for you. Since you have the tall comb, the sights may be to low for your eye.

If the the sights are too low you will have a tendency to roll the left side of your face forward to lower your right eye and line up the sights.

This puts your left eyebrow a lot closer to the scope.

quote:

Originally posted by boom stick:


longer LOP

tell the ladies you were in a bar fight

quote:

Originally posted by jens poulsen:

quote:

Originally posted by boom stick:


longer LOP

tell the ladies you were in a bar fight

Yep...a little more presige on that story

I am not an expert, but it seems to me that the high comb is the culprit. My CZ in 416 has the European (hogback) stock and I have never even come close to being hit by the rifle. Of course, I have plenty of eye relief. It would help to show a picture of the rifle WITH the scope mounted.
Peter.

After a while you may relax your muscles a little giving the rifle a chance to get a run at you. Just when you are shooting your best you get comfortable and relax just a little too much and ouch....

Here's my 2 cents. I have had the same problem with my 7.75lb rem 700 9.3 RUM wildcat (5300 Ft Lbs of Muzzle Energy) I can shoot my 8.5lb Rem 416 all day with no issues but the 9.3 is deadly. Both of my cuts occured on max power 9x (using a Leupold 3-9x compact). First was on the last day of Elk season I just wanted to bust a rock on my way out of the woods and to impress my hunting buddies who were scared to shoot the rifle .
The second was on the range when I was testing a new load. The first hit was most definately Lack of eye relief at high power. The second was creeping up on the stock not paying attention. Recoil causes one to become mentally fatigued and you get sloppy and boom you get hit. My advice get the rubber EP protector. Take your time shooting each and every shot. Take a break if you feel yourself getting tired. I bring my Ar15 9mm or 22Lr to plink with and to test my flinch factor. If I flinch with the 22 I know its time to rest a little. Big Bores rock you just have to give them the respect they deserve. Like riding big motorcycles.

Brad

quote:

Originally posted by Fjold:
If the the sights are too low you will have a tendency to roll the left side of your face forward to lower your right eye and line up the sights.

This puts your left eyebrow a lot closer to the scope.



Frank

I had this problem with a Guide Gun in 450 Marlin - scope was too low and while it didn't hit me, it tapped the left lense of my shooting glasses.

quote:

Originally posted by Brad aka Pill Shooter:
creeping up on the stock not paying attention. Recoil causes one to become mentally fatigued and you get sloppy and boom you get hit. My advice get the rubber EP protector. Take your time shooting each and every shot. Take a break if you feel yourself getting tired. I bring my Ar15 9mm or 22Lr to plink with and to test my flinch factor. If I flinch with the 22 I know its time to rest a little. Big Bores rock you just have to give them the respect they deserve. Like riding big motorcycles.

Brad

The single time I got one of these cuts was with my 416 which I had put 100s of rounds through with nary a problem before. One particular day i was particularly tired and distracted and knew I had crept forward on the stock, but my sight picture was good and I had never had a problem before so ... I gave myself a new eyebrow.

Since it didn't happen every time, I would go with the "human error" theory - either fatigue, distraction or both. Do check the scope height issue - throw the rigle to your shoulder and the scope should be "there". If you have to wiggle your head around for your site picture, you might need to change mounts, scope or both.

Take the scope off and shoot open sights not a bad way to go with a 416. A large medium bore

Mount you scope farther forward.

On a hard kicker you should have to stretch out your neck to get full view in the scope.

That way if your neck, and thus your head, is stretched out, as the rifle recoils, your head cannot move farther forward while the scope recoils back.
Also place your face on the stock HARD.
Keep your shoulder firm, do not let it collaspe and recoil back.

Want you want is for the rifle, your head, shoulder, and arms to recoil back as "one unit".

You absorb recoil at the waist, not at the shoulder, and thus the HEAD.

Maintain a firm grip with both hands, firm pressure into the shoulder, firm head contact on the stock, do not relax ANYTHING until after the recoil, after you have cycled the action, and then decided not to shoot a second shot.

Then you can relax.

Think of your upper body as a gun turret, take recoil at the waist, not at the hands and shoulder, [and the head ].

Take recoil at the waist.

we are going to relax the rules for membership in the Whomper Club, just this one time, and slot you in member status. The second moon got you in for having the balls to shoot again instead of being a crybaby.

Rich
DRSS
Knowledge not shared is knowledge lost...

Hi; I have the same rifle but my stock looks to be a little straighter than yours. I use a leupold 2.5x8. I never had any problem with a smack in the head but i put out 10 shots in 2 rapid fire strings last week ended up with a bruised middle finger and a cut on my thunb. Don't know how but in has never happened when using carefull aim.Still a great gun though. Regards Dan[i would really like to put on a 2.5 leupold compact but that will have to wait till i go back to work]

quote:

Originally posted by Idaho Sharpshooter:
we are going to relax the rules for membership in the Whomper Club, just this one time, and slot you in member status. The second moon got you in for having the balls to shoot again instead of being a crybaby.

Rich
DRSS
Knowledge not shared is knowledge lost...

I second the motion.

Well at least you have a new Indian name..."Two Moons"

quote:

Originally posted by ireload2:
After a while you may relax your muscles a little giving the rifle a chance to get a run at you. Just when you are shooting your best you get comfortable and relax just a little too much and ouch....

...

Thats what I was thinking ...

I shoot a Ruger .416 a lot, but I would never shoot 30-40 rounds in a day through one. For me that is a sure way to have a problem. I think you just got a little tired and weren't concentrating on proper gun mounting. I never shoot more than ten rounds at a time through the big ones, I like to shoot a few rounds very often.

lop is too short.. getting hit on the left side means you are effectively turning right... thus shortening the distance to the scope.

high cheekpiece? gives it a running start...

move the scope forward 3/4 in


or longer eye relief

it took me 3+ months to get rid of a flinch from being hit twice... and then i built a stock machine