Butt pad vs collar bone

[Diesel64]

Took my new XLR Element Chassis for my rem5R in 308 for a spin today. Shot very and I felt good behind the chassis but my collar bone is all bruised up. I would say the XLR pad is a little stiff for me, but my real question is, was I doing something wrong?

The butt of the gun was in the pocket from a left to right perspective but would say vertically the pad was roughly centered on my collar bone.

Should the top of the butt pad be just under my collar bone?

Thanks,
Diesel

 

[...]

sounds like its in the right spot.....just need to pull it in tighter

picture shouldering the rifle and placing the muzzle flat against a wall, and then leaning against the rifle with enough force to hold the rifle against the wall without touching it......thats how tight you want it in your shoulder, at a minimum.

 

[Diesel64]

Well my one gripe was I wish I had spikes on my Harris but I have also heard you don't want to overload the bipod. I live in Arizona and the ground is pretty hard, feet on the Harris wanted to roll/spin. I felt I took the slack out of the rifle but probably not as much pressure as you described.

Not sure if it was the bipods fault or if I should have been pulling the rifle more into the pocket using the pistol grip, but was concerned I would be over doing.

i am thinking it's worth going down the spikes road to get some more tension into the bipod.

i guess the positive for the day was able to put down some consistent groups down, and managed to be consistent on a 10" plate at 500 with 10-15mph winds

 

[txfireguy2003]

I'm not dogging on you, so please don't take it that way, but I run a 20" Remington 308 in the Element and recoil is literally so light I don't see how it could bruise anyone, even without a pad. Maybe my can reduces recoil more than I thought, but seriously, recoil is about like a 22 mag, just a real pleasure to shoot.

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[Diesel64]

Haha, well I almost put in the original post, "call me a pussy if it is so" if the shoe fits I will wear it.

For me, and maybe it is a positional issue, it was a problem at the end of the day, which was only 54 rounds.

I did have to get pretty low to the ground as the ground was sloping down 2-3 degrees and we were shooting up at 2-3 degrees. If I arched my back and pulled my chest up I could get the butt pad to engage my whole shoulder pocket and not just the collar bone. || vs |<

 

[Darkside-Six]

No worries man, it's happens to us all. You're just not pulling it into you with enough pressure. Many shooters neglect pulling it into them because they feel they need to lean into it with so much force trying to load the bipod. If you're leaning into it enough to where it is sliding away from you then that is too much. You only need to apply a little pressure to take up the slack.

Frank made a good video a while back about the amount of force that you should be pulling the rifle into your shoulder. I can't remember the specifics but it was something along the lines of use the same amount of force as you would if you had to pick up the rifle from the ground and support the weight or something like that. You want to pull it in tight enough to where you start to feel your biceps flex but not a full on strain. If that makes sense.


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[Carl_Ross]

A few things:

Shooting from a downhill angle to a target above you while prone is an awkward position, and will make it hard to pocket the buttstock well as you experienced.

I like stocks with high heels so that they catch as much shoulder as possible in those types of positions. You can adjust the heel hight on your XLR so it rides higher and catches your shoulder farther up.

What does your rifle weigh, 11 lbs? Assuming it has no brake, it should have a significant amount of recoil but not a crazy amount. I was getting 13 ft-lbs from JBM after making a couple assumptions, which is low for a hunting rifle but on the higher end for a precision rifle. My competition setup gives me about 3 ft-lbs (a 6 Dasher with a brake at 15 lbs), and even my hunting rifle is only 10 (a 6.5x47 without a brake at 10 lbs). I've certainly found that I shoot better with less recoil and I've set up my rifles accordingly.

If I am shooting a higher recoiling rifle from the prone, I'll try to run the bipod and buttstock a little higher off the ground than otherwise, as it'll put the buttstock higher into my shoulder and give better engagement.

It's true the XLR pad isn't especially soft, you could replace it with a squishier one.

If you don't shoot rifles that kick some very often, you'll be a bit more prone to bruising.

 

[Diesel64]

Thank you both, I will work on pulling into the pocket more.

carl,
its a Remington 5R 24" Barrel, sendero profile, no fluting, no muzzle brake, scope is viper pst 6-24x50 so you are probably about right on weight.

i did add the adjustable plate to the tac-light stock and it's adjusted as high as it will go, which seems to be a good spot for me.

a 9-13" bipod would have been an ideal height for the terrain.

I do not get to shoot much, maybe 2-3 times a year if I am lucky.

i really do appreciate everyone's input, going to play around at home and next time out of pulling the rifle into the pocket more without muscling it. And work on trigger control while in that hold.

thanks again

 

[Lowlight]

If your shoulder is bruised up you are giving the rifle a running start and not holding it in the shoulder pocket.

The collar, the shoulder pocket, should not matter with a rifle like that. What you are doing is not holding it properly and it is bouncing against your shoulder / collar bone.

The rifle has to be held firmly into the shoulder, that will fix it.

 

[IanHusaberg]

If your shoulder is bruised up you are giving the rifle a running start and not holding it in the shoulder pocket.

The collar, the shoulder pocket, should not matter with a rifle like that. What you are doing is not holding it properly and it is bouncing against your shoulder / collar bone.

The rifle has to be held firmly into the shoulder, that will fix it.

What he said!!!

 

[Diesel64]

https://youtu.be/Zhaan8Hsox8

Thanks Frank! I also looked up your video, giving the visual of how much pressure to pull back on the rifle.

 

[Petrov]

So do you have to "pull into the shoulder" by preloading the bipod or using your hands to actually press/shove the butt into your shoulder pocket?
Because my shoulder gets bruised bu shooting a heavy M24 barreled 308 rifle and I pre load the shit out of my bipod(the fucker snapped from me pusing forward so hard).

 

[MarkLeupold]

So do you have to "pull into the shoulder" by preloading the bipod or using your hands to actually press/shove the butt into your shoulder pocket?
Because my shoulder gets bruised bu shooting a heavy M24 barreled 308 rifle and I pre load the shit out of my bipod(the fucker snapped from me pusing forward so hard).

Isn't it both? You should be pulling the rifle into the shoulder pocket first, and then you should be loading your bipod. Probably ease up on the loading force because it takes less than most people use. Just a little will suffice.

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[Petrov]

I wasnt doing both, need to work on that. Thanks.

 

[yama]

https://youtu.be/Zhaan8Hsox8

Thanks Frank! I also looked up your video, giving the visual of how much pressure to pull back on the rifle.

This is the most useful video I've seen in a while, and I think a piece of the puzzle I've been missing. After watching it, I got down in the living room floor and did some dry firing, practicing pulling the rifle back with my right hand. With my thumb wrapped around the pistol grip, I found that the pistol grip angle on my MPA chassis was making my wrist hurt (my wrist has some issues lately). After some experimenting, I feel like the grip angle is too steep, so I ordered the vertical grip from MPA in hopes it'll ease the pressure off my wrist. Then I can't wait to put this to the test

I wasnt doing both, need to work on that. Thanks.

I wasn't doing both things, either. I really feel like this is going to make a huge difference in my shooting. Even though my 6.5 CM has next to no recoil, I still am having issues staying on target after the shot. I'll eventually get all the fundamentals put in place to do my part in accurate shot placement.

 

[Tiger83]

Damn Petrov. What brand of bipod was it?