Stocked To Scope
Does Your Stock Play Well With scope?
The Monte Carlo comb developed for shotguns, appeared
on rifle stocks (here a Fajen) in the 1950s.
The engineers who designed the Model 70 had grown up shooting with open sights. So did nearly all the hunters who bought the first of these rifles on the eve of WW II. The ’70s stock had plenty of drop, for a low line of sight. Early post-war rifles, drilled and tapped for scopes, had the same stock. It worked well enough with Lyman’s Alaskan, the Noske and other scopes with 7/8″ tubes if they were cradled in low rings.
The low comb on early Model 70s also suited 7/8" scopes
(a Lyman Alaskan) in very low rings.
Upward & Onward
Scopes of the 1950s and ’60s, from Bausch & Lomb, Leupold, Lyman, Kollmorgen, Pecar, Stith, Unertl, Weaver and others had 1″ and 26mm (1.024″) tubes putting the optical center 1/16″ or so higher. Stocks for rifles with open sights still sufficed but then objective lenses started growing. To clear the rear sight or even the barrel, they needed taller rings. Eventually rings that barely kept turrets clear of the base were hard to find and scopes sat proudly above the natural line of sight on rifles with “low-comb” stocks.
Actually, such combs were low only in comparison to new “Monte Carlo” combs, taller at their mid-point with a step down to a heel more or less where heels had always been. They elevated the cheek to bring the eye in line with scopes in newer low rings, some of which carried scopes as high as did medium rings of old.
The British gun-maker Webley & Scott has been credited with inventing the Monte Carlo comb, which got its name from, well, Monte Carlo, in Monaco. Beginning about 1872 and for a century on, the story goes, its famous casino fronted a shotgunning venue hosting live-pigeon shoots. A high comb raised the shooter’s head and, thus, shot patterns to catch rapidly ascending birds. With a Monte Carlo comb, the top-line of the stock — traditionally sloping down to the heel — paralleled the bore-line or almost so. This comb became especially popular with women shooters, whose cheekbones or “zygomatic arch,” averaged a tad higher than those of men. It proved a better way to lift the sight-line than changing stock pitch — the angle of the butt to the bore. Some shotgunners say a stock with a Monte Carlo comb should be 1/4″ to 1/2″ shorter than a traditional stock, to account for a more erect head position.
Shades of the ’50s! A cheekpiece was fitted by an
earlier owner to Wayne’s 722 Remington in .244.
Taming The Kick
By the time I was shooting in rimfire matches in the 1960s, the Monte Carlo comb had appeared on many centerfire rifles. Roy Weatherby used it on the stock for his Mark V, trotted out in ’58. He gave it a pronounced step and a reverse slope, down toward the comb nose. With a lateral taper forward, this stock, he insisted, reduced felt recoil because it slipped away from the face as the rifle came back. While Roy could have sold goose-down coveralls on banana plantations, I’ve personally found this claim to be true. His friskiest magnums kick hard, but the Weatherby stock does not hurt my face. But, I digress.
Even a level comb reduces rifle rotation in recoil but the immediate benefit of a high comb lifts your eye above the level of ordinary open sights. It supports your cheek to place your eye on the optical axis of a scope. It helps you find a comfortable “cheek weld” quickly and maintain it to steady the rifle. Firm and consistent cheek contact is a definite aid to accurate shooting.
Head width matters too. Cadaverous faces sink lower onto a comb and farther toward the rifle’s middle. Thick jowls lift a face and keep it off center lines as the generous flesh bunches up on the comb.
Stocks were also “bent” to yield cast-off (away from the shooter’s cheek) or cast-on (toward it).
This fitting is still done, mainly for shotguns. Stateside, most hunters make do with factory stocks on repeating rifles. Scopes have become downright ubiquitous and metallic sights have been pulled from all but “stopping rifles” so high combs make sense. The most appealing to me are those without the heel step, the comb getting its lift subtly with reduced drop at both comb and heel. Such “straight” stocks have their genesis in custom rifle shops, where talented woodworkers render art from European walnut blanks.
But factories turning out hand-laid “sporter-style” fiberglass and carbon-fiber stocks have done very well emulating the form. Examples: stocks on Kimber 84-series rifles, Legendary Arms rifles with High Tech stocks and H-S Precision stocks, installed on H-S rifles but sold also as after-market components, as are stocks by McMillan, Brown Precision, others. The Mauser 18 has an excellent synthetic stock.
Surely I’m omitting several worthy names
Push-button length and comb-height adjustments on
this Blaser stock complement its futuristic style.
One Size Doesn’t Fit All
Stock designers have a tough job, not only because no two faces are the same, but because scopes and mounts vary almost as widely. The hunting scopes I prefer nestle nicely in low rings. However, optics with front lenses the size of irrigation pipes abound and scopes of modest size are commonly cinched in rings taller than necessary. In a bid to drive stock-makers mad, shops turning out scope mounts have yet to set standard measures defining “high,” “medium” and “low” rings industry-wide. Then too, there’s the current penchant to perch them on Picatinny rails….
Before attractive scope-friendly stocks came about, hunters taped and strapped on cheek-pads to raise combs. Added thickness also lifts the sight line, as our faces taper, their widest measure typically across the zygomatic arches. We naturally slide our faces up a comb to bring our eye closer to center line in the scope. Not long ago I bought a Remington 722 in .244. Stocks on 721-722 rifles, unveiled in 1948, were shaped for open-sight use, with plenty of drop. This .244 wears an after-market cheek-pad of what seems hard rubber. It aligns my eye with a Weaver K6 in low rings. The comb of a commercial Mauser of about the same vintage was cut away by a previous owner who shaped and inletted a walnut cheekpiece. Lace-on leather cheek-pads were another option. They’ve given way to synthetic versions with Velcro straps. I put one of these on a Ruger American, whose comb I find much too low for scope use.
Adjustable combs, long used on rifles for three- and four-position bullseye competition, show up now on “hunter-match” and long-range rifles. Some are rudimentary. A Savage 110 rifle had a synthetic, taco-like shell that slipped over the comb. “Stops” in slots on either side engaged buttons on the stock to determine height. Lateral wheels on threaded posts run other combs up and down. Still other combs ride notched pillars. Spring-loaded buttons, as on Blaser’s GRS stock, release these combs and lock them at the desired height. While such adjustments help align your eye with the scope, they add weight, bulk and complexity to stocks that, without the hardware, might be more attractive.
A little change in comb height (and thickness) can make a big difference in eye placement behind the sight. A folded diaper taped to a low comb can suffice. When deer camp protocol demands something more masculine, consider a leather cartridge cuff. Galco’s lace-on Butt Cuff, with brass grommets, is my choice. It complements any sporter stock and might give you just the boost you need!
