Cheek piece? Why?

[Nevada Mike]

The last several rifles I've had built I told the stock maker that I did NOT want a cheek piece. I see no reason for them if the stock is built correctly.

What do you think?

 

[JvW]

I agree. A H&H-style pancake cheekpiece looks nice but it's purely ornamental. Look at the pre-WW II Rigby bolt-actions. None of them had cheekpieces and they were some of the most elegant and user-friendly hunting rifles ever made.

 

[USMA84DAB]

I disagree.

"Cheekpiece" to me is a functional rest that I anchor my cheekbone onto, not a sappy, decorative wing of wood Monte Carlo abomination.

One cannot line the ocular cavity up with the bore of the scope without a comb height that matches. Either the comb itself is the height required, or you put in place a cheek pad. It can be an adjustable block of wood, or layers of padding. Without your cheekbone anchored on the comb you will never get fast, consistent cheek weld behind the scope. Different positions of the head behind the scope changes your zero. Without the cheekrest, you won't shoot the scope/rifle well in a hunting or combat situation.

European hunters tend to use chin welds - they often times shoot from hochsitze - lots of time to jockey your head around behind the scope, find the reticle, find the deer, and eventually take your shot. It can work that way, obviously. Not quickly, under duress, however. I suppose if you train anything enough you can make ANY technique work in muscle memory.

Snipers do not use chin welds. They have adjustable cheek pieces to get consistent cheek weld. Consistent can deliver accurate precision.

You also cannot have a comb height that is set for the iron sights that will also work for a scope. A cheekrest will have to be added. Boddington and Roberts both cover this in their books, as well as Woods.

I do functional rifles. Rugged, matte, painted, handy. 20" barrel or less, synthetic stock, Viking Tactics 2 point sling, Leupold or Trijicon glass. Beartooth Creek comb pad riser system. If one of these scopes defecates the bed, then I can strip off the comb pad and use the iron sights.

Just my $.02 worth. YMMV.

 

[Newboomer]

I disagree.

"Cheekpiece" to me is a functional rest that I anchor my cheekbone onto, not a sappy, decorative wing of wood Monte Carlo abomination.

One cannot line the ocular cavity up with the bore of the scope without a comb height that matches. Either the comb itself is the height required, or you put in place a cheek pad. It can be an adjustable block of wood, or layers of padding. Without your cheekbone anchored on the comb you will never get fast, consistent cheek weld behind the scope. Different positions of the head behind the scope changes your zero. Without the cheekrest, you won't shoot the scope/rifle well in a hunting or combat situation.

European hunters tend to use chin welds - they often times shoot from hochsitze - lots of time to jockey your head around behind the scope, find the reticle, find the deer, and eventually take your shot. It can work that way, obviously. Not quickly, under duress, however. I suppose if you train anything enough you can make ANY technique work in muscle memory.

Snipers do not use chin welds. They have adjustable cheek pieces to get consistent cheek weld. Consistent can deliver accurate precision.

You also cannot have a comb height that is set for the iron sights that will also work for a scope. A cheekrest will have to be added. Boddington and Roberts both cover this in their books, as well as Woods.

I do functional rifles. Rugged, matte, painted, handy. 20" barrel or less, synthetic stock, Viking Tactics 2 point sling, Leupold or Trijicon glass. Beartooth Creek comb pad riser system. If one of these scopes defecates the bed, then I can strip off the comb pad and use the iron sights.

Just my $.02 worth. YMMV.

I agree. My favorite old time rifle was a semi sporterized 1917 Enfield. It had an abomination of a stock that I replaced. It had a monte carlo cheekpiece fitted to my face that guaranteed a perfect weld every time. Kind of like fitting a shotgun, every time I mounted that gun it fell into perfect alignment.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Some of my rifles have cheek prices and fit me well with the scope height. When the rifle is thrown to the shoulder I want to be aligned with the ocular straight of.
Surprisingly the Stevens 200 stock sans the check price fits me like a dream. I can throw the rifle to my shoulder with my eyes closed. When I open my eyes I'm looking straight down the ocular. To me as long as the stock fits correctly it doesn't matter if it has a check piece or not.
Just my thoughts.
Bob

 

[crs]

"To me as long as the stock fits correctly it doesn't matter if it has a check piece or not."

Agreed!

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

Ruger No1 is a good example of a simple stock that fits all, left or right. But oh, I love the Heym pancake cheek piece with that shadow line!

 

[Nevada Mike]

I feel that I should explain my initial comments.

On a custom rifle (or any rifle) the height of the comb is critical in obtaining correct sight picture vertically. But so is cast (right or left) to allow lateral alignment of the eye to the sights (or scope). Length of pull is important to obtain correct eye relief.

A rifle is built with cast to suit the shooter and the correct comb height. No cheekpiece needed. It would simply increase the overall cast and place the head (and eye) at more of angle to the vertical line of the bore. This is why I do not understand why they are so prevalent on modern rifles.

A very broad shouldered man might need a cheekpiece to set up his face properly in relationship to the centerline of the comb without undue weight of wood in the stock, and a very long necked man might need an elevated cheekpiece to raise the comb while allowing the bolt to clear the nose of the comb (think Monte Carlo). But I think these would be exceptional cases.

Maybe I have been too embroiled in shotgun fit to benefit from the current short, straight stocks with cheekpieces that I see so often. I want my eye to come naturally to the correct position when mounting my rifles (or shotguns) and have a set of dimensions for each case. I order my rifles (and shotguns) stocks to these dimensions without cheekpieces and they fit.

I am wary of any rifle builder that does not ask for stock dimensions. Chances are I will get an 'standard' stock that most likely will NOT do what I want.

 

[Woodcarver]

On a custom stocked rifle, everything you reference is built in, by definition. A cheek piece would then be based on the customer's preference. But the majority of rifles built today, even those with a semi-custom price tag, are built for the "average" shooter. No cast, 13 7/8"-14 1/2" LOP, some with, some without, a cheek piece. Standard drop at heel and comb for use with a scope; most rifles don't have irons on them anymore. The same blank can be used for a right or left handed action.
I prefer a cheek piece. It allows a more comfortable cheek weld for me on a rifle. Fortunately, I am close to that "average" sized shooter most production guns are made to "fit". One thing I have done with a couple rifles with cheek pieces, is to shave just a little bit of wood to "create" that little bit of cast wanted. The cheek piece gives me the wood to do that without affecting the appearance or overall shape of the stock. A custom fit, without a custom price. Buttstocks without a raised cheek piece are harder to do this to without the adjustment being obvious.
For those willing to drop a dime or two, the stock can be bent to achieve the correct cast, or drop. There are getting to be fewer and fewer gunsmiths capable, or willing, to bend a stock. There's also fewer and fewer shooters that even know what cast is, and why it can make the difference in how a firearm shoulders and shoots. The majority buy off the rack and make do. Blissfully ignorant of what a custom fit feels, and shoots, like.

 

[steve white]

I disagree.

"Cheekpiece" to me is a functional rest that I anchor my cheekbone onto, not a sappy, decorative wing of wood Monte Carlo abomination.

One cannot line the ocular cavity up with the bore of the scope without a comb height that matches. Either the comb itself is the height required, or you put in place a cheek pad. It can be an adjustable block of wood, or layers of padding. Without your cheekbone anchored on the comb you will never get fast, consistent cheek weld behind the scope. Different positions of the head behind the scope changes your zero. Without the cheekrest, you won't shoot the scope/rifle well in a hunting or combat situation.

European hunters tend to use chin welds - they often times shoot from hochsitze - lots of time to jockey your head around behind the scope, find the reticle, find the deer, and eventually take your shot. It can work that way, obviously. Not quickly, under duress, however. I suppose if you train anything enough you can make ANY technique work in muscle memory.

Snipers do not use chin welds. They have adjustable cheek pieces to get consistent cheek weld. Consistent can deliver accurate precision.

You also cannot have a comb height that is set for the iron sights that will also work for a scope. A cheekrest will have to be added. Boddington and Roberts both cover this in their books, as well as Woods.

I do functional rifles. Rugged, matte, painted, handy. 20" barrel or less, synthetic stock, Viking Tactics 2 point sling, Leupold or Trijicon glass. Beartooth Creek comb pad riser system. If one of these scopes defecates the bed, then I can strip off the comb pad and use the iron sights.

Just my $.02 worth. YMMV.

Didn't realize I have been "chin welding"...been working, but I see the better point.

 

[steve white]

I will say that if a rifle doesn't have a cheekpiece, then it needs to have some meat to it where the cheekbone connects, and not some knife edged abomination to pop you in the chops.

 

[CoElkHunter]

My Browning A Bolt .338WM walnut stock doesn't have a cheek piece? Shoots great. Must be the stock design?

 

[KJE81]

Ruger No1 is a good example of a simple stock that fits all, left or right. But oh, I love the Heym pancake cheek piece with that shadow line!
View attachment 485805

I am also a fan of pancake cheek pieces with a nicely done shadow line, also like the german kind of cheek piece on guns built in german style. Like on my little Heym BBF26 Superluxus below.