Instructions for shooting rifle with a crescent buttplate

leadhoarder · Jun 4, 2023

Does anyone know where to find a good tutorial on this. I tried to explain the proper technique to someone and I realized that I really did not know what I was talking about and need to brush up on this myself. I know where to put the butt but I am not well versed on the rst of my technique to hold steady offhand.

Comfortably_Numb · Jun 4, 2023

I put the toe in my armpit, more or less. Flat buttplates come in on my shoulder farther.

pacanis · Jun 4, 2023

I don't know of any tutorial.
But somewhere along the way I was told to put the butt plate in that crook you have when flexing your bicep muscle.

But when I am wearing heavier clothing I don't really pay attention to it much. As long as I get my cheek weld.

So yeah, can't help you with the tutorial.

Justin.44 · Jun 4, 2023

Here's a little video by Bob McBride that may help to visualize it.

ppg1949 · Jun 4, 2023

Since you stated you know where to hold the rifle butt, we are not sure what else you are looking for?

leadhoarder · Jun 4, 2023

Like the angle to have the rifle coming off your arm what position to have your arms etc? There has to be some trucks to getting a stable platform.

akroguy · Jun 4, 2023

Not a fan of the crescent. Shoulder/bicep with a bladed stance best bet but I’ll take a flatter butt plate any day.

kelvinator · Jun 4, 2023

My first ML was a TC Renegade .50, flat/shotgun style but plate... I could shoot it well enough.
Recently acquired SF Hawken with crescent but plate... LOP is about an inch longer at 14-1/2, which I think helps with the technique.
Just seems natural to me, let it settle into the top of bicep, turn your arms so the rifle is almost parallel across your chest, left hip and left arm pointing in the direction of the shot, for right handers.

ETipp · Jun 5, 2023

Whatever the proper technique is, I don’t have a problem shooting my Crockett Rifle while standing. But I cannot for the life of me shoot that ML worth a darn off of a bench. I also found that I am not accurate even when standing if I have my hunting day pack on my back. Something about those shoulder straps that throws me off.

ETipp · Jun 5, 2023

Also, I did have an issue while trying to shoot my .54 GPR the first time off of a bench, during cold conditions and while being all bundled up.

Bushfire · Jun 5, 2023

ETipp said:
Also, I did have an issue while trying to shoot my .54 GPR the first time off of a bench, during cold conditions and while being all bundled up.

As long as you know that ain't the crescent butt plated fault, any gun shot off the middle of your biceps is likely to do that.

Bushfire · Jun 5, 2023

leadhoarder said:
Does anyone know where to find a good tutorial on this. I tried to explain the proper technique to someone and I realized that I really did not know what I was talking about and need to brush up on this myself. I know where to put the butt but I am not well versed on the rst of my technique to hold steady offhand.

They're very comfortable to shoot, I find it more natural than a shotgun butt. I've seen bruising and cuts from people cursing them and tried to re-enact the hold that would cause such injuries. Needless to say you really need to commit to an unnatural hold and awkward positioning to stuff things up.

My hawken shoots a 250gn bullet and 120 2F with a big crescent butt comfortably.

Just get the toe in the crook of your armpit and the rest kind of in your shoulder joint. Main thing is it will feel comfortable when your holding it right and uncompfy when holding it wrong.

Okie Hog · Jun 5, 2023

Never bought into the shooting off the arm thing. Simply avoid having the sharp things poke you in the shoulder. i often fire hard recoiling rifles from the bench, my shooting jackets/shirts have spongy pads sewed into the shoulder.

Comfortably_Numb · Jun 5, 2023

This is the most stable type of crescent buttplate I shoot.

Hatman/2nd line · Jun 5, 2023

Comfortably_Numb said:
This is the most stable type of crescent buttplate I shoot.

Beautiful wood!
I have an old friend who was a great builder that built a single shot such as yours using a Martini action, moved to SC so we don't see each other much but yours reminded me. Sorry for the reminiscing!

ETipp · Jun 5, 2023

Bushfire said:
As long as you know that ain't the crescent butt plated fault, any gun shot off the middle of your biceps is likely to do that.

I believe I stated that I was all bundled up. To the degree that I couldn't even tell where the buttstock was on my shoulder.

There is a difference between a crescent buttstock and a regular buttstock. None, not the first one, out of many, many, rifles I have owned and shot, including ML's (that I still own with straight stocks) has displayed the same characteristics that a crescent stock does. Even when shooting off of a bench without being bundled up there is a big difference.

ETipp · Jun 5, 2023

Comfortably_Numb said:
This is the most stable type of crescent buttplate I shoot.

That sir, is simply very beautiful wood. It just doesn't get any finer than that.

Comfortably_Numb · Jun 5, 2023

ETipp said:
That sir, is simply very beautiful wood. It just doesn't get any finer than that.

It's a helluva shooter too. Under an inch @ 100 yards.

Dusty_Traveler · Jun 5, 2023

Most of my rifles are antiques, and have crescent plates. Some of them are pretty aggressive. I have one rifle that has a massive amount of drop AND an aggressive crescent. I'm guessing: a lot of that would be custom tailoring to fit the first owner. Folks were a lot smaller back then.

When I shoulder one, I start with the butt close to my shoulder, and move it outwards and down my bicep until crescent fits my anatomy best. That's where the butt goes.

As far as the rest of the stance:

I am turned in such a way that I am having to turn my head to see the target. Shooting across my chest. Almost perpendicular to the target.

I hold the elbow of my trigger arm (Up/Down) where it fits the best against the buttplate.

I put the elbow of my forward arm against my side and allow gravity to settle the gun into my ribs via my forearm/elbow. The toe area of the buttplate will settle upwards and "lock into place" at this point.

I also tend to lean back a bit, especially if the barrel is of length and heft.

Then all it takes is practice to form the muscle memory.

Ones that say "guns with crescent plates are an awful thing to shoot" just haven't tuned their form, or are overcharging their weapon.

ETipp · Jun 5, 2023

Dusty_Traveler said:
Most of my rifles are antiques, and have crescent plates. Some of them are pretty aggressive. I have one rifle that has a massive amount of drop AND an aggressive crescent. I'm guessing: a lot of that would be custom tailoring to fit the first owner. Folks were a lot smaller back then.

When I shoulder one, I start with the butt close to my shoulder, and move it outwards and down my bicep until crescent fits my anatomy best. That's where the butt goes.

As far as the rest of the stance:

I am turned in such a way that I am having to turn my head to see the target. Shooting across my chest. Almost perpendicular to the target.

I hold the elbow of my trigger arm (Up/Down) where it fits the best against the buttplate.

I put the elbow of my forward arm against my side and allow gravity to settle the gun into my ribs via my forearm/elbow. The toe area of the buttplate will settle upwards and "lock into place" at this point.

I also tend to lean back a bit, especially if the barrel is of length and heft.

Then all it takes is practice to form the muscle memory.

Ones that say "guns with crescent plates are an awful thing to shoot" just haven't tuned their form, or are overcharging their weapon.

Perhaps. I do not claim they are terrible. However, they are different. I sometimes think that crescent style buttstocks were never intended to shoot off of a bench. All I know for a fact is, I can shoot one of mine quite well while standing in the woods while taking rest off of a tree. I have proven this on live squirrels, which are not a big target to begin with. And to say that every time I shot was the same stance/rest would be a stretch. This includes being in the mountains on hillsides that are very uneven. Seldom any two shots were under the same conditions. I am not able to obtain such consistency from a bench with that squirrel rifle, nor if I have my day hunting pack on my back.

With that said, maybe there is a trick to shooting a crescent-style stock rifle off of a bench. If there is I have not learned it as of yet. I'm sure some folks have, but I have not found it thus far. And to be honest, I don't hunt off of a bench anyway.

Instructions for shooting rifle with a crescent buttplate

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