Adjustable comb, fashion or real benefit

[McTrucky]

20yrs shooting Target rifle and still shooting, yes we are 'fiddlers', but after a while when you get it sorted you stop 'fiddling' and get more into the technigue side of it as it brings better results

My main problem was trying to stop my brain wanting to aim the gun at the clay, it's coming together now (6 months later) well it was until Covid19 raised it's ugly head

In pistol shooting,  all focus and concentration is on the front sight.  The target is fuzzy and not moving, so you have no need to look at it.  This is the most difficult thing, looking at the sights, especially under pressure.  So a lot of my work in recent years has been forcing my right eye to look at the end of the gun.

Now at the clays, I need to look at the target and keep my left eye dominant. 

Total change.... 

And picking up on Will's wise words; I also believe that everything you can do to make it easier/more comfortable/natural makes things more likely to fall into place, rather than fall apart.  Especially under pressure. 

 

[ColinD]

and both eyes open

 

[Luke_(NL)]

My experience of serious pistol shooters is that they are ALL inherent 'fiddlers' ...

This. But yeah, comfort and confidence. Even if it takes a while to fiddle with all the shiny bits. 

 

[Cosmicblue]

When I first got into shooting I was really drawn to 'all things techno' so an adjustable comb seemed like a cool idea and I had to have one...roll up one Browning Ultra XS Titanium Prestige.  As time went by I gained an appreciation of a lovely bit of wood and now feel slightly sad when an adjustable comb is hacked into a beautiful bit of walnut.....   obviously missing the point and function follows form and it's another set of adjustable variables to play the head game with too.

 

[Wonko the Sane]

As time went by I gained an appreciation of a lovely bit of wood and now feel slightly sad when an adjustable comb is hacked into a beautiful bit of walnut..... 

Yeah, me too - - - - BUT that was easily solved by either getting a different stock to hack or deciding between shooting the gun or looking at it.

Reminds me of a t-shirt I had decades ago from a hotrod shop in Belflower had a chopped and channeled roadster on the back and on the front it said

Anyone Can Restore

A Priceless Antique

It Takes A Real Man

To Cut One Up

 

[El Spavo]

As time went by I gained an appreciation of a lovely bit of wood and now feel slightly sad when an adjustable comb is hacked into a beautiful bit of walnut.....   obviously missing the point and function follows form and it's another set of adjustable variables to play the head game with too.

Again,... glad mine looks like a scaffold board, no heartbreak if I go down that route.

 

[Dafid]

I cant see the point of a raised cheek comb even on scoped rifle never mind one on a shotty. But most rifles (pellet,bullet) seem to have a comb. Not all.
If you shoot different guns they're never the same cheek height.
They never used to need them.
So what's changed?
In my view it's like a workman blaming his tools for not doing well. Psychological.
I can shoot just as well with an old 410 and an expensive 12.
As well as a PCP.
No cheek comb necessary.

 

[Dafid]

I shoot very well with a 410 a 12 and PCP.
Never needed an adjustable comb.
You aim every gun slightly different. With that logic you'd need an adjustable cheek comb for every gun setting the same.
It's impossible.
I think it's psychological and maybe a lack of confidence in your shooting. (Just a thought I'm not suggesting it)
Practise makes perfect. Don't blame the tool learn to use it correctly. People overcomplicate things by thinking too much. THE MORE YOU SHOOT THE BETTER YOU'LL BECOME.

 

[Will Hewland]

I shoot very well with a 410 a 12 and PCP.
Never needed an adjustable comb.
You aim every gun slightly different. With that logic you'd need an adjustable cheek comb for every gun setting the same.
It's impossible.
I think it's psychological and maybe a lack of confidence in your shooting. (Just a thought I'm not suggesting it)
Practise makes perfect. Don't blame the tool learn to use it correctly. People overcomplicate things by thinking too much. THE MORE YOU SHOOT THE BETTER YOU'LL BECOME.

Well, sort of agree if the fit is roughly OK with the fixed stocks. However, if you are so low in the comb that you can’t see the rib at all, then it’s goodnight. I could shoot my Perazzi well even though I needed a mass of cast off really. Used to leave me with a stiff neck forcing myself to line up the rib. So gun fit is about ease and comfort too.

 

[AW13]

For me it's more about cast.
On my Beretta which has cast my eyes are pretty much level.
On my B725 I have to cant my head over to look straight down the rib and that means my left eye lifts up and tries to take over. Hence my recent thread on bend it or fit an adjustable comb.

Leaning towards the adjustable comb to help level my eyes and reduce my left eye trying to take over.

 

[Oldblaster]

Hi all,

Picking up on some one else's thread "Missing on the left" answered with some solid and clear advice from Hamster, I have been thinking about getting an adjustable comb fitted.

But 30 years ago, I could shoot pretty well (A at sporting, AA at DTL) and was in the trade and virtually no one used or needed adjustable combs. Maybe we all learned to fit ourselves to the gun, rather than adjusting the gun to fit us. Was that such a bad thing? Is that why I could pick up any gun and shoot well with it 90% of the time?

I know times change, and 30 year old equipment is outdated in almost every aspect of life, but guns are pretty basic and design changes are usually more about marketing than function.

My problem is I can shoot fast close clays with satisfying ease; but far crossers, or things going up and away from me, I seem to have no clue. Seem's that if I have time to think about them, I end up throwing lead at them with no idea why I am missing. I had thought I had a changing eye dominance issue, but it may well be that on fast reactive shooting I do shoot with the gun tighter to me, where as when I have time I am more relaxed and try to rifle shoot them.

So, like a million before me, I am thinking about spending on equipment rather than fixing the problem (i.e. blaming the gun and not the shooter). Cost to have adjustable comb fitted seems to be about £200, which is not a huge sum of money - but would this be better spent on coaching, or should I suck it up and get both?

Thoughts please...

 

[Oldblaster]

It seems to me if you are missing long crossers the problem could be taking your eye off the target, looking at the barrels to check your lead, (because you have the time to do so) and of course you will miss behind! This is easy to do with going away birds too, never take your eye off the target till it breaks!

 

[TRINITY]

We are all different shapes and sizes , so it's obvious an off the peg gun can't fit all of us. You wouldn't buy a car where the drivers seat was fixed in one position. So yes I would say an adjustable comb has benefits