I did a side by side comparison of the stock on my CZ550 .416 Rigby with some of the other guns I have. Without the neoprene comb raiser I can almost see through the barrel, resulting in nasty hits on the cheekbone when I raise my face to align my eye to the iron sights.

Turns out that the drop at the rear (heel?) is about an inch more than on one of my guns that nearly fits me perfectly. I have a small narrow face, so I don't even want to think about shooting this gun with a scope; my face would just be hoovering in mid-air over the stock waiting to get smacked.

My theory on how these stocks come so low is the following: the old hog back weren't too popular on the American market. So in order to produce a straight stock, instead of designing anew, they just took the old hogbacks and ground them down to produce a straight, but very low butt stock. Anyway, this theory is purely based on fantasy and not what I wanted to bother you with.

Has anyone ever done a comparison of the new laminate stocks on the Safari Magnums and the OLD wooden straight stocks. CZ says the new ones are more designed for use with scopes, which suggest a lesser drop, which would suit me just fine. Would it be too much to ask to expect a drop-in fit?

Frans

Your situation is just the opposite of what it should be...by being up off the wood you should never get hit in the cheek..when a comb is too high then one gets hit in the face..Perhaps its something about your structure..very unusual.

Ray,

I'd like to think I'm just an average guy, but maybe my physique is all screwed up...

I thought that getting a snug a fit as possible between cheek bone and wood would turn the smack into a push, but maybe I'm wrong. Without this good contact, I theorize that my head (doesn't come back with the recoil as much, but just sits there, waiting to receive the recoiling wood, the cheekbone being to main recipient. If I could squeeze my face against the stock tighter, it might follow along with the recoil.... but if I do that I can't see the sights.

Just my theory. Hence the idea that I needed a higher comb... but maybe that is all

Just want to get rid of that ugly neoprene camo (all they had in stock) sleeve on the stock.

Frans

I loved the old hogback stocks. They fit me to a tee and never hurt me with recoil. My 416 is nice and easy to shoot and the 375 is the same. They roll some but they don't kick. Now the Lott does kick. I have a 416 rebarreled to 450 Dakota which is not unpleasnat to shoot either. It ain't no walk in the woods gun but you can shoot 20 rounds from the bench and still see out of both eyes!
I don't care what they look like if they work and they put my eye right where it should be.

Frans,
Try you stock and see how you like it...

Recoil is an individual matter and the only way to know is try it...

I like the English style low comb stock that I can shoot with iron sights, and raise my head about 1/8th of an inch and shoot a scope..the low comb keeps the stock off my cheek, and recoil goes up and back about evenly, thus seperating it inot two parts...

The American classic is strictly a scoped rifle affair and it brings recoil straight back and very little up..I don't care for this...you cannot use irons unless you install a very high set and then they are plumb ugle...

Both designs are fine for what they were designed to do, but I persnally prefer the English guns with patterns like Purdy, Holland, Westley Richards, or modern makers like Ritterbush, Johannson, and Breeding...

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
Frans,
Try you stock and see how you like it...

Well, I did, I shot ten rounds with the gun a while ago, over iron sights, and ended up with a block of ice on my face hoping to reduce some swelling. Yet if I really go down on the stock with my face, like I said, I can almost look through the barrel. I guess I'd need to go visit a stock maker/gun smith and see what he says. With the neoprene comb raiser on it the gun is very shootable and I can get instant sight alignment, if the damn thing didn't shift. Just throw the gun up, lower the cheekbone on the neoprene comb, and I can see the bead in the V. Not so without it, hence my thought of getting a stock with a higher comb.

Frans