This SMALLBORE
Personally I think Martinov could shoot a bent stick with a lump of gas pipe for a barrel but, every year we see a new development issued and within the study that this article is headed with, I wonder…..
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pointed to the target in contact with the left side curve of the fore-end and, the width of that fore-end was made so that the measurement from the web of the thumb to the index finger knuckle was identical.
This position of the left hand also allowed a 10 degree positive cant (into the face) of the rifle.
This factor was a bonus that I had not considered when I made that stock but, I can tell you, the advantages of this was a huge improvement because I discovered that the butt-plate system fitted beautifully within the muscle structure of my right shoulder! (Even when I shot a straight stocked 1411 Anschutz prone rifle.)
Over the years, I have developed a butt-plate system that is very simple and, coupled with the fit for the shoulder, produced an extremely stable, extremely accurate prone position. (You may remember that ten shot group illustrated earlier in this magazine that a 22 rimfire case would not drop through?)
An interesting photo of the author’s left hand showing the area of the ball of the thumb. It should be noted that the measurement from the thumb-joint to the knuckle of the index finger coincides with the width of a custom stock on my Finish Lion smallbore rifle
Lately I have been working with a shooter who does have an exceptionally fine rifle and,, to my mind, the only adjustment on his stock that is fundamental is the fore-end accessory rail - that can be reversed and so allow a much more comfortable left-hand position because the rail is closer to the ball of the thumb.
Well, when I built my own alloy stock way back in 1980, the accessory rail was milled into the fore-end 6mm off-centre towards the left, as I wanted my left hand to operate properly - given that if you hold your left hand face up, you will see a lot more of your hand on the right of the ball of the thumb.
I had also noticed that when my hand is settled into a correct position, the ball of the thumb has a relatively flat area (see photograph) that the fore-end of the rifle is rested on. The left thumb, in my technique, actually
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It is very desirable that prone shooters for smallbore and 300m use a hook butt-plate on their rifle. The stability gained when a hook is fitted, or adjusted correctly, is of paramount importance, as we all know the hook function is to allow position repeatability. The back of the rifle is securely locked in place within the shoulder and, once the face pressure is settled onto the cheek piece of the stock, there is very little that will affect the position and recoil stability when the shot is released.
There are however, a number of sensitive areas with the hook butt-plate system that can produce errors of startling proportions and, it is with these thoughts in mind that I arrived at the heading of this article, ‘Accessories, overkill or what?’ Tell me, do you think there are too many options available? Has the ‘KISS’ principle gone out the window?
The most dangerous problem of adjustment with the hook under the arm-pit, is the contact of the hook with the body of the shooter inside the jacket. Firm
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