Beating my face up

[jb7706]

I have been shooting trap for the first time as part of a league. 50 birds a night, one night a week. On the 7th week of shooting I tore a chunk of skin off my cheek, about the size of a nickel where the comb meets my cheek bone. Same again on the 8th week. What could I have changed for this to suddenly start happening?

The last 2 weeks I have come home with a bloody cheek. Any pointers on what I should be looking for to stop jackin' my face up? I'm not diggin' looking like John Boy Walton.

If it matters I am shooting an 870 with synthetic stock.

[mjsweims]

Make sure your gun is shouldered in the same place every time, and your cheek is hard on the stock. If your cheek isn'e hard on the stock you'll keep getting slapped.

[Thefeeder]

...

Sounds like the shotgun is not a good fit for you. You should be able to close your eyes, shoulder your gun in your shooting position, open your eyes and be looking at nothing but the front bead...no part of the barrel or rib should be visable. A 20ga with target loads can beat the hell out you more than a 3" mag 12 if the gun is a bad fit.

[Hayashi Killian]

If you've been shooting it for this long without issues and now you are suddenly getting scratched, check your stock and receiver to make sure everything is flush and there's no seams or exposed rough edges (such as those that may occur from a scratch).

[BamBam-31]

Gotta shim your face.

J/K. Sounds like bad fit. Either that, or try some Kick-Eez.

ETA Midway link: http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct...tnumber=466004

[randy]

Sounds like your gun took a dislike to you. Were you trying to get over on some sexy Italian job?

[Fjold]

A cheap experiment is to try a slip on recoil pad. Lengthening the pull will move your face back on the stock and get it off the thin part of the comb, which sometimes bites you.

[jmax]

Shooting M1's and then M14 in rifle matches we were taught to weld the cheek to the stock. Same thing when shooting shotguns, cheek weld, I bet you are lifting your cheek off the stock and getting slapped every shot. The more you shoot the more you lift your cheek. Kind of like a self eating watermelon, once it gets started its tough to stop.

[45R]

A friend of mine once told me..."Shooting a shotgun is like having sex...if it hurts your doing something wrong."

Try keeping the stock tight against your cheek and shoulders.

[El Gato]

try some Cheek Eze-

http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=15486/Product/CHEEKEEZE

[Black Majik]

A friend of mine once told me..."Shooting a shotgun is like having sex...if it hurts your doing something wrong."

LOL!

[BamBam-31]

A friend of mine once told me..."Shooting a shotgun is like having sex...if it hurts your doing something wrong."

Try keeping the stock tight against your cheek and shoulders.

That depends on how kinky you are. (The sex part, not the shotgun. )

[jb7706]

That depends on how kinky you are. (The sex part, not the shotgun. )

Well there has certainly not been any kinky activity with a fine Italian number, though I have cast a few glances in that direction...

Thanks for the suggestions. I think you have confirmed that the comb is too low for me. Curious that it didn't bother me until the last couple of weeks, but it's pretty clear I am not keeping a good cheek weld in favor of getting a look at the bead.

I think I am going to try the cheek pads posted above, mostly to get the height built up a bit. I am shooting target loads, so recoil is not really a big deal (until it tears my cheek open.) Are there other options for building up a comb on synthetic stocks? Replacing the stock outright would be considered if it is relatively cheap.

[aippi]

You have peaked my curiosity... can you post a picture of the stock? What ammo is being used? As stated above the stock could be a big issue. The right stock on the right weapon for the right purpose makes all the difference in the world. Seems the guys you were shooting with would have noticed if you were doing anything wrong and pointed it out. But, hey, I hang with some guys that would double load my rounds to see me get the heck kicked out of me and laugh their tails off about it.........

[jb7706]

You have peaked my curiosity... can you post a picture of the stock? What ammo is being used? As stated above the stock could be a big issue. The right stock on the right weapon for the right purpose makes all the difference in the world. Seems the guys you were shooting with would have noticed if you were doing anything wrong and pointed it out. But, hey, I hang with some guys that would double load my rounds to see me get the heck kicked out of me and laugh their tails off about it.........

It's a bone stock 870 Express with synthetic stock:


Ammo is the bargain basement stuff available at WalMart in the 100 round value packs. Federal "Multi Purpose Load", 2 3/4" shell, 3 dram eq., 1 1/8 oz of number 8 shot rated at 1200 fps according to the box. Nothing fancy or hard core, pretty tame in fact.