It seems that straight combs (parallel to rifle bore) and 'negative' combs (slants down from butt toward action) have been commonly used on most shotguns and rifles.
They may be fixed or adjustable in 'height' relative to the bore line.

Negatively slanted combs transmit less recoil force to the shooter's cheek, as the surface drops away during rearward movement.


What would be the advantage(s) of a 'positively' slanting cheekpiece, rising from butt toward the rifle's action?



https://www.legacysports.com/hera-h7-webpage/

I don't see any advantages to a sloping cheekpiece, either positive or negative. IMO it should be parallel to the bore.
- The stock moves straight back during recoil, reducing disturbance of the sight picture.
- In the event different shooting positions change the shooter's eye relief, the eye is still aligned with the center of the eyebox.

I don't know anything about this company.

I read their barrel break in procedure. It differs a bit with what I've seen from good PRS-type shooters. It doesn't give me warm fuzzies about the company, although they do seem to carry nice products.

I have two XLR Element chassis…they have the cheek piece and the only drawback is that I have to move the piece up or down to punch the bore.

I think they just put it on backwards. That or designed by someone who doesn't know any better.


I don't believe Nikko Sterling is a particularly well regarded brand, at least their optics anyway. People say awful junk, or the rave about them??? That makes me think Magpul wanna be. (they certainly borrowed the raised comb mounting style from them) It nicer looking than Tapco. lol But what do it know?


(Four times my tablet changed Magpul to Magpie)

This message has been edited. Last edited by: cas,

Shotgun stocks are either parallel to the bore or slope downwards from the receiver to the butt pad. Just checked and a VERY common "starter" gun is the Beretta 686 Sporting. The drop at the "comb" is 36mm and at the Heel it's 56mm. BTW the Comb referred to is the top of the stock just behind the thumb notch, the Heel is the very top of the stock at the butt pad. Drop is measured from the top line of the sighting rib, use a 6 foot lock straight edge and it's easy to confirm those measurements and determine that there is a lot of variation from gun to gun.

I'll also note that cheek slap is an issue with the Fit of the stock and can usually be solved by changing the pitch angle or position of the butt pad.

Finally I will note that Rifles with scopes mounted to them will typically have a rather high bore offset. This results in the stock sitting lower on the shoulder which moves the recoil axis down to be more inline with the shoulder. End result of this is a reduction in barrel rise and in perceived recoil.

Some shotguns today are now moving towards very tall sighting ribs for the exact same reason, a reduction in barrel rise and in perceived recoil. Personally I refer to these as Brooklyn Bridges and would not have one on any shotgun I owned. However I'm wise enough to do most of my shooting with either 28 gauge or 410. They cost less to load and 410 will break a target just as well as a 12 gauge so why spend the money for all that excess shot.

Now that I've looked at the Legacy Sports site a bit, I suspect the company has some flash, but not a bunch of substance behind. Not everyone caters to, or even understands, precision shooting.