Negative comb rifle stock pros/cons

[rickyw]

For those of you who now use a rifle stock with a negative comb (not an attachable negative cheek riser), what are the pros and cons of this? More specifically:
I understand it will change the line of drive of the recoil, but is felt recoil noticeable reduced? Are there certain shooting positions during hunting scenarios for which the negative comb is not ideal? I currently add a soft cheek riser to my rifle stocks, which brings my eye right into a nice position and gives me a good cheek weld. I’m hoping a negative comb stock will do that trick on its own.
Thanks

 

[wind gypsy]

Stock comb and butt pad elevation (drop at heel) are independent features. This "true negative comb" talk on the rokstok only further confuses people.

Stock comb is where your cheek goes. Height and angle (negative, none, positive) are independent of butt pad height. You can have a negative sloped comb that's too high or too low for a given optic setup and shooter. Being negative isn't what controls that, it just creates less bite into your cheek weld under recoil.

Drop at heel is butt pad height in relation to bore. Where the resistance to recoil is in relation to the bore impacts the direction the rifle moves under recoil.

Recoil energy is the same with the same weight gun, it's just what direction that energy pushes the gun that a stock shape can help impact. If you're getting less comb rising up into your cheek one could say "felt" recoil was reduced, at least it would be more pleasant to shoot.

 

[DangerRanger]

I raised the buttpad of my whiskey 3 up past the bore line last year after reading on here a bit. I still have a parallel cheek riser so it is not negative, and that is still in the same place as it’s appropriate for my optic setup.

I enjoy the higher butt pad and feel it provides a more comfortable location for contact on my shoulder and think that it reduces muzzle rise. Though that may be placebo, and it’s a heavy chassis gun in 6.5 creed anyway so it’s not much to begin with.

I have suggested the change to a few friends one did it and like it, one says I’m dumb.

I’m interested to try the negative comb on the rokstok because it will let me get that buttpad up higher with a non adjustable cheek peice (light stock) and still get into funky hunting positions. Hopefully that shows true

 

[willfrye027]

I’m using a few alterra stocks right now. I’ve not experienced any “negatives” with any position. The biggest thing for me is making it easier to stay in the scope and spot my shots. After getting used to doing that, I don’t even think about or notice the recoil because I’m intently watching for that impact. The other day I shot my buddies factory tikka with the same recoil energy and I had to really focus to catch the impact in the lower part of my FOV with quite a bit more muzzle rise causing it to jump. And I had to be very careful with my position and really pull the rifle tight into my shoulder pocket to do that.

For me it’s pretty much night and day but my buddies who are newer to long range shooting don’t feel a huge difference between our stocks, fwiw.

 

[Bluefish]

where your shoulder contacts the stock to bore axis makes the most change to cheek slap. My wife suffered a lot when shooting shotgun, would be bruised after 100 rounds. The fix was lowering the bore by putting a taller comb and sights. Went about 2” taller and that moved where the gun contacted her shoulder down enough to keep cheek slap manageable.

 

[Macintosh]

As said above—the butt height (ie where it hits your shoulder) relative to bore is what determines if recoil impulse will be straight back, or if it will flip up into your face. A negative comb takes advantage of rearward movement of the gun to relieve pressure on your cheek as it recoils—the comb is a wedge, depending in what direction its facing it either increases or decreases pressure on your face under recoil. A negative comb will reduce felt recoil on your face regardless of how high the butt is, but max reduction in felt recoil will be when those two things are combined.
The only thing to keep in mind is that on all people I know, their face is located ABOVE their shoulder— thats a universal, humans simply have their head located above their shoulders. A high butt with a straight, steeply negative comb forces your face contact with the stock to be BELOW your shoulder pocket. This may work for some people, but if you have a longer neck or face it may be a physical problem to get and stay in that position without considerable body tension. It seems to work on an alterra and some other stocks that have a gently sloping comb and butt only very slightly above bore, but in a more radically shaped stock this will limit some people’s ability to use it comfortably. It IS possible to design a stock with a high butt, and a raised negative comb that eliminates this problem—this would be a monte carlo but with a high butt. A stock like that has the advantages of the high butt straight recoil impulse, and the negative comb being softer on your face, but the raised comb allows a more natural head position. Monte carlo stocks generally suck for recoil, but only because the butt is lower than normal.

 

[rickyw]

Thank you all, this is very helpful information

 

[TheCougar]

the negative comb and higher butt pad don’t reduce recoil, as @Macintosh stated. They simply make the recoil “inline” (straight back, or straighter back, at least) and with less abrupt movement on your face, which helps with spotting shots and requisition. You could actually argue that actual recoil would increase. If a traditional stock results in 15% of energy expended on a muzzle rise, a stock that achieves 100% “inline” recoil would have the same total energy, but 100% of that energy would be into your shoulder. Just things I have been thinking of.

One thing I’ve been thinking of is the effect on your head placement. The more aggressive the negative angle of the comb, the more precise your eye placement has to be in the eye box. If you move your head forward or back just a little, it will change height of your eye more than a modest negative comb, therefore changing the pressure of your cheek weld or leading to fighting scope shadow. I’ve been thinking of gluing a small marker on the top of the comb (think of a bow kisser button) to make sure I get my weld (and therefore my eye-to-scope relationship) consistent in different shooting positions.