Brought my 870 to the Range for the first time ...

[cpatbay]

I recently bought a remington 870 with the Blackhawk Specops recoil reducing stock. Brought it out to the range this afternoon and the experience was mixed.

The gun shot fine. But the recoil from some of the full load shotshells rattled my shoulder quite a bit and bruise my right cheek. I held it tight and close but the stock still kicked back at me towards my cheek. After a few shots of the non-low recoil shotshells, my cheek definitely felt it. It's like somebody gave me a good left hook ... I was surprised that the #4 buckshots gave one of the largest kick out of the 6 or 7 types of shotshells I tried.

So, I am going to stick to low recoil shotshells unless I can figure out how to not get my cheek bruised every time I go out with my shotgun. Any idea? I seem to remember seeing somewhere that the Blackhawk Specops stock is known to have this "cheek bruising" characteristics. Is this other's experience as well?

[Thefeeder]

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I would attribute the heavy felt recoil, bruising and cheek punch to bad mounting of the shotgun and/or bad fit. Add in a light weight shotgun and ouch!

Low recoil loads are no more then target/ clay loads with 00 buck instead of #8
Looks like you had some full house/ hunting loads in the mix and those really gave you a hard time.

This thread may give you some useful info as it applies to all shotgun shooting

http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=425953

Also try to make it one of the Skeet clinics at the top on the shotgun forum......mount and fit is one of the things we teach

[mrkam]

I don't know, I tried a SpecOps on my Mossberg and I got the cheek slap too. Getting the proper sight alignment was also difficult. I switched to a Hogue 12" LOP, no cheek slap, no sight alignment problems.

[prc77]

I don't know, I tried a SpecOps on my Mossberg and I got the cheek slap too. Getting the proper sight alignment was also difficult. I switched to a Hogue 12" LOP, no cheek slap, no sight alignment problems.

me too,

[cpatbay]

Sounds like cheek slap is very common with the specops stock ....

[Number Six]

I own the SpecOps NRS (Non recoil reducing stock) and got cheek slap and a sore shoulder (870 w/ 18" bbl slugs & 00) so I bought the recoil reducing version and it seemed to help but unfortunately my side saddle broke off (TacStar) during my shooting (10-15 shells) so I didn't get a chance to fully compare.

MY CONCERN IS I GOT CHEEK SLAP FROM THE NON-RECOIL VERSION OF SpecOPS. Maybe it is the SpecOps geometry???

Many of the comparisons are not apples to apples; NRS SpecOps vs Recoil reducing SpecOps. It is often versus another brand (geometry?). Also, I have read that a classic "tight" hold on the SpecOps is not advised.It should be a loose posture?? Not sure this adds anything, but figured I would pass along my experience. SpecOps geometry may just have subtle flaw for some shooters. I never experienced cheek slap with Rem OEM wood stock.

PS: I got a Mesa Tactical side saddle.

[cpatbay]

I also got the mesa tactical side saddle... Will see how durable this is...

[cpatbay]

For those who has the mesa tactical recoil reducing stock, does this stock cheek slap like the specops do?

[carnelianbay]

I would attribute the heavy felt recoil, bruising and cheek punch to bad mounting of the shotgun and/or bad fit. Add in a light weight shotgun and ouch!

I agree. If I wait a year or so between shooting clays I tend to revert back to a sniper cheek hold for the first station and ouch. 4 shots later and the inside of my right cheek is red and in some cases bleeding. I loosen up, relax my grip a bit, and everything is back to normal.

[iamgbot]

I know exactly what you mean, I have the 870 with the blackhawk recoil reduction buttstock. And also felt as if it didn't help. At the end of the day you had a bruised cheek like you were punched in the face. I got the cheek raise adapter and it helped a whole bunch. I got it from here:

http://www.blackhawk.com/product/Axiom-VS-UL-Raised-Cheek-Piece,1397,167.htm

Your sight is a bit higher but its a shotgun, as long as you aim in the direction of your target you'll hit it. This is how it looks with the adapter: (hope this helps)

[mrkam]

For those who has the mesa tactical recoil reducing stock, does this stock cheek slap like the specops do?

I got the Makko GL Shock stock since it with a standard buffer tube was much cheaper than Mesa Tactical's options, and I hoped it wouldn't have any cheek slap since it's a straight back motion. However, there is was some, not as bad as the SpecOps, but still there. I don't know about the Mesa Tactical, but it does seem to be quite popular so I don't know.

I think problems with recoil can just be solved by shouldering the gun properly. That's why I use a standard sporter stock and haven't looked back.

Maybe it is the SpecOps geometry???

That's what I would think.

[monk]

For cheek slap, take a look at this guy's guide: http://aiptactical.com/Breaking_In_the_870.html

If/when I get the knoxx specops I'll try this out.

[aippi]

No, cheek slap is because you guys are not shooting the stock correctly. It is not a conventional stock and can not be use like one.

Go to www.aiptactical.com and click on the red link "Breaking in the 870" scroll down to the part about recoil reducing stock and follow that. Problem over.

[chuymonster]

i second what aippi said,just sounds like user error, i used to get hit too till i learned to use it correctly.you get the slap because the slope at the beginning of the telescoping part ,so if your just digging your cheek far up near it will result in a slap.just make sure you keep your cheek like 2 inches away from the slope and make sure its adjusted to the right length to short= slap. feels strange aiming like that cause i too dug my cheek far into the stock but once you practice a little i think the stock is the tits.

[mrkam]

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No, cheek slap is because you guys are not shooting the stock correctly. It is not a conventional stock and can not be use like one.

Go to www.aiptactical.com and click on the red link "Breaking in the 870" scroll down to the part about recoil reducing stock and follow that. Problem over.

Well, I wasn't craning my neck forward at all. I made sure that my face was very far away from the slope, so I'd put it right on the middle of the stock. However, I probably wasn't bringing my weapon up to my face enough. I think I wouldn't crane my neck way down, but I think I sort of met halfway. I'll test that technique out with my Mako recoil reducing stock on my other 500. If it works, then I'll be very glad I didn't spend more on one of the fancy buffer tubes.

Anyway, thanks for the info! I'll bet it was user error. That being said, I love standard stocks just fine, and with a recoil pad, I'm not going to be having any issues.