doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com shotgun pitch

I noticed the rocker in the pad. Doesn't set flat on the floor for the old Look how some of them guns stick out farther than others game. Is there support for the idea that this may be the pad which gives the fullest contact with the shoulder pocket? Could it be that it mirrors human shoulder anatomy better than older and more conventional shapes? Many old stocks and buttplates on shotguns have the slight concave curvature of a crutch top (an attenuated tribute to 1873 Winchesters, Scheutzen rifles, and a lot of ancient stuff with nasty looking brass and steel "shoulder hooks"). Lots of pads are flat toe to heel but deeply radiused in the transverse (Old English Pachmyr), lots of plates and pads have had tranverse tread, presumably put there to encourage the butt sticking where it's placed. If there's a theory about the use and benefits of the rocker pad, please someone come forward and enlighten us.

jack

Rifles with "shoulder hooks" had them for a purpose. I learned this as an offhand m/l rifle competitor many years ago. They are referred to as crescent buttplates, and are intended to be placed on the upper arm, just outside the shoulder joint, not in the shoulder pocket. This requires a little different stance than most shotgun shooters use, with the side of the body more toward the target. The "hooks" keep the hard brass, or steel, buttplate from sliding around on the shoulder. The most exaggerated of all are found on Scheutzen rifles, the ultimate offhand competitive rifle of the 20th century. They are quite comfortable, and effective, when used properly. I had one longrifle built in the Appalachian Po-Boy style that didn't have a buttplate, only a slight curvature to the wood butt. I glued a strip of coarse emery cloth to the butt and it effectively kept the butt in place on my shoulder while aiming.

Stan

My theory is that some marketing genius was analyzing sales trends on barrel porting, 6" extended choke tubes, glow worm sights and......


....the rocker pad was born.

[If there's a theory about the use and benefits of the rocker pad, please someone come forward and enlighten us.]

I know several champion lady trapshooters, as well as very accomplished male trapshooters with a somewhat barrel-chested physique, who would shoot with nothing BUT a rocker pad. The shape keeps the toe of the pad from "digging in", according to them.
Craig Libhart

Craigs sentiments reflect my experience with Rocker pads. The fuller the chest (barrel chested on men, ladies in general) seem to do better with contours of the rocker pad fitting the coutours of their chest.

Guess I didn't add much,

Hack

I'm way out in left field here I guess,unless there is a rocker pad for chest,but how in the heck does a recoil pad( rocker pad and if the that is what we are talking about) conform to the chest when the shot gun is mounted on the shoulder.I am barrel chested myself and never heard of that one, but then again,I am not a trap /skeet shooter

I would think that certain anatomical configurations would benefit from a rocker pad in terms of recoil distribution and maintaining gun position.

As to the other questions, it never fails to amaze me that the authoritative resources like Michael Yardley are so studiously ignored. And Bruce Buck too for that matter. Get the real facts from the horse's mouth rather than the local guess from the other end.

Dr.WtS