thumb position

[bigted]

talking about my hiwall with the marples stand-up tang sight.

WHERE DO YOU ALL PUT YOUR THUMB ?? :groner:

i cant figure out why they would put the windage adjuster on the right side of the base. i have a marples sight for my marlin lever that i took all apart and turned around the base so i could have the offending knurled knob on the left side of the base so now it does not knock skin off my thumb every once in awhile....... but this hiwall i have has the same sight except the base is looooong and i cant turn it around to remove the knob from the "rub" point. this is a "hunter" model so i dont want the more expensive vernier that has the adjuster already on the left side.

i finally found that instead of tucking my thumb into the right side for a little more stability...i wing it up in the air when i blast away but some times i forget and snap a shot with my thumb laying along the side and bink...more skin on the adjuster.

any thoughts?? oh i left out the part that im a right hander if you missed that.:holysheep

[Don McDowell]

Why not just put your thumb over the top of the stock like god intended and be done with it?

[the other DWS]

probably because the tang sight base is in the way. If you put your thumb behind it, and the gun has any significant recoil it'll get your thumb each time you shoot. maybe just batter it but it could also cut and gouge depending on the sight construction

some of the old schuetzen rifles (with deeply pronged buttplates) had thumb rests along the right side (for right handers) of the wrist. They gave more support for offhand shooting without creating an opportunity to torque or twist the stock with your hand over the top. because of the hooked buttplate; with a well balanced rifle you did not have to use as much trigger hand effort to pull the butt back into the shoulder.

I wonder how the heavy-calibre long-range shooters who pretty much all use tang sights and frequently shoot from the prone position handle the problem

[Don McDowell]

Can't speak for all of em, but I and my wife both wrap our thumbs over the top of the stock wrist..... Can't controll the torque of the gun, nor keep a constant grip tension if you don't.

[bigted]

well don here it is...i learned to shoot a bolt gun and a very large one at that. the recoil is very much lessened by NOT putting your thumb over the wrist....dont ask me why....it just works this way for me and others. another thing is that with your thumb over the wrist...it is just another move needed for levering in the next shot or working the bolt. i just learned to not place my thumb over the wrist and it feels weird to me doing so. also the stand-up tang site leaves me no room for my fat thumb behind it and over the wrist.

this is why i ask and i do know what torque in a firearm is all about but never had to control it with my thumb before....maybe a trick i need to leard huh?? not being a smart a&% just asking if anybody else has had this problem and what if anything they do about it.......salllll

[Don McDowell]

Ted in all honesty in near 60 years of shooting never heard such nonsense.

[semtav]

Ted I see some of the shooters at the gong matches shooting with their thumb alongside the sight instead of over the stock, so there must be a following of sorts. Read that it helps eliminate different pressures with the thumb and is more consistant.

I tried it, didn't like it, not sure I even believe it, so I went back to the normal way. Plus I couldn't remember to do it every time so I was really inconsistent with my hold.

In the end tho, you've got to do what is comfortable for you. redesign the sight if that's what you need.

[Doc Highwall]

It will different also between a straight grip and a pistol grip. I have both and you have a tendency to wrap more thumb over with the straight grip then the pistol grip and your hand size makes a difference and with a name like bigted I would imagine you have big hands.

[82nd airborne]

I dont know about straight grips, so this just might be an annoying post, but I always place my thumb along side the stock to align my hand for a straighter trigger pull. (for me)

[bigted]

thanks don for your open minded compassion...ill try not to respond in kind.

for those that do shoot with this "nonsence" position , i overworked my marples that lives on my marlin and got the adjusting knob on the left side...away from my thumb so now it [ my thumb ]nestles alongside the sight and does not take the beating. guess ill just have to ponder how to do this with the longer base on my winchester sight. my sharps has no adjuster for windage so it works just fine with the position that has served me so well for so many years.

just cast some supposed 400's from my lyman mould as a side note and they are beutys accept that they are a little on the small size. i cast outta ww's and they plopped out at 424gr average. meassuring at 4585 to 459 th. so my question is...can i shoot these with acceptable accuracy as cast without sizing them? this seems to be the nominal size i need for all 4 of my 45's.

[montana_charlie]

I have been shooting my (straight-gripped) Sharps with the thumb over the wrist ever since I got it. But, I have to admit that it prevents my hand from 'relaxing'...and makes trigger control less precise.

After fashioning an add-on pistol grip, gone was the need to grip the wrist to keep the butt against the shoulder. Now, I have gone back to shooting with the thumb lying (relaxed) alongside the stock...and holding the butt in with the ring finger of my shooting hand.

CM

[NickSS]

I started competitive shooting using a 1903 Springfield in NRA High Power matches. One of the first things I learned by that was that the Springfield stock is short and if you wrap your thumb around the stock it is going to hit you in the nose. So I started laying my thumb along side the stock and have been shooting that way almost forever. It seams natural to me. The only time I wrap my thumb around the stock is when shooting off hand as I need to pull the stock into my shoulder for that more firmly than otherwise.

[Doc Highwall]

Here is a picture of a Harry Pope gun and a thumb rest.

[montana_charlie]

Since bigted is shooting a hiwall, that thumb rest would solve his problem...
CM

[Dan Cash]

If the sight is such a bother, put a barrel mounted peep on a ladder then the wrist is clean.

[bigted]

thanks again fellas. i like the pictured thumbrest but i hesitate to drill "new" holes in my reciever. i also see that the POPE gun has a tang sight that has no adjuster on the left side. this sight would work but then id have no windage adjust to play with. not really a fan of the reciever peep that also would require drilling my reciever. kinda want to keep this rifle as stock as possible. maybe my grandchildren will find a collectors value if im a little carefull with it.

[Doc Highwall]

bigted, maybe you could make a thumb rest that mounts using the two screw holes under the sight and use longer screws to mount the sight. It will raise the sight by the thickness of material.

[the other DWS]

Ted, shoot what works for you.
What we have to offer is just opinion, based on experience and accumulated "lore";)

If its fairly original I'd alter it as little as possible. and experiment with a different grip. You can also obtain various replica finger levers that incorporate a grip that obviates the need to pull the rifle back into the shoulder with a thumb-over grip.

FWIW Bench resters have learned that thumb-free trigger pull is more consistently accurate

[bigted]

just wanted to update this post with my "cure" for my big fat ol thumb problem and the stand-up wrist site.

this is not and never will be a "target" shooter...bought her for hunting and breaking rocks in informal shooting. as i remembered this i relaxed a bit and remembered what an ol timer told me some time ago...he used a full buckhorn...the one that curles clear over and nearly touches at the top of the curl. then he removed the notch where most settled the front bead in and used the big hole like a peep site. i configured an old .22 years ago like this so i started thinking about it and as i have several "full buckhorn" rifle sites on hand i started looking at the removable "notch" and removed it on one...low and behold it has a nice round bottom where the "notch blade" is attached in its groove.

after removing the standup wrist site i installed this full buckhorn rear site and started throwing it up to the shoulder and wrapping my thumb "over" the wrist...[ kinda like god intended Don...lol] and walla what a nice site picture for hunting in low lite and in brush. also upon playing with this 28 inch barreled rifle i discovered that if i held the bead up in the middle of the horns at the top where they nearly come together i can radicly change the poi so this gives me something to experiment with.

soon as i land "the load" for this very nice shooter ill figure where this different poi will be acording to the 100 yd sight in. also the more i play with this curved butstock the more i like it. just a matter of how to hold it against my shoulder/arm. yes im canting it a small bit but i think that in the hunting situations ill be in the small cant will make no matter in the least.

im settling on a smokless load of around 12 to 1300 fps with my new rcbs 500gr flat nose. this boolit loves my hiwall so far and the ocasional 400gr load ive gotten with 70gr of 2f geox is a hoot as well. this rifle keeps impressing me all the time...i really like the looks and feel as well as just packing it so far...what a sweet rifle for sure. and the bore has remained shiney and bright rather then the streaked barrel of my cowboy marlin...this hiwall is spoiling me for other rifles except the ped 74 sharps...nothin will take its place but its just too heavy to pack in the woods for a day hike thru brush and bogs that the moose like to hang out in.

trick with these bog moose is staying with them till they remove their big ol self from the bog...unless you like gutting and skinning in the water....def not my cup-o-tea...been there...bought the shirt...dont care for another thanks.

[Don McDowell]

For hunting with these ol punkin rollers nothing really beats a barrel mounted ladder sight. Quick and easy to adjust to accomidate a long range shot.
Looking forward to hearing your first impressions after you drop one of those big ol fat hunks of lead thru a mooses shoulder.

[bigted]

don,,,

yep that makes two of us. ive been hunting with my ruger in 375 ruger and always thought it was the cats meow but now look at me....shootin these big hunks of lead thru a single shooter and not knowing what will come of my bolt guns.

i want to harvest a smaller black bear in the spring [ great in the crockpot to say nothing of the fall blueberry bears up here] and then have to wait for fall for bull season but im with you in the looking forward part. when it takes place i will definetly post the account with photos of the event'''S

[Paratus]

Ted I see some of the shooters at the gong matches shooting with their thumb alongside the sight instead of over the stock, so there must be a following of sorts.



The Martini Henry was made to be held that way. Note the checkered thumb rest.

Lefties had to make do.

http://www.fototime.com/535525C6A705D1E/standard.jpg