shotgun cheek weld?

[chrome_austex]

Shot my new 12 gauge remington 870 with an 18" barrel last night for the first time. I put about 15 Remington Slugger 1oz rounds through it. I'm a shotgun noob, but I've been shooting rifles for about 15 years.

I guess the gun has a decent recoil pad on it from the factory, because my shoulder was fine! However my cheek bone is really sore! The gun has a bead front sight, so I had to get pretty low on the stock.

First, what do people use for a sight picture with the bead? Do you split the target with the top of the bead or what?

Are you supposed to have a cheek weld with a shotgun?

Maybe the stock was too high on my shoulder?

 

[MCgunner]

I hunt ducks with a Mossberg 500. It used to beat me up with heavy steel shot loads to the point it'd cut me and make me bleed like a stuck hog. This crossing shots shooting over my off shoulder were killer. Hunting in the marsh, you can't always move your feet with the target being as they're often mired in muck. I shimmed it to give it more drop and that ended the pain! Not only that, but the gun comes up to my shoulder and points naturally now without need to crawl the stock. That's how it's supposed to be. Works for me. I cut the shims out of pop bottle material, but Mossberg has a shim kit for adjusting drop and comb.

 

[DougW]

Cheek weld and a firm pull into the shoulder is a must. Get your face down on the stock, and look for the bead. I set the bead at the 6:00 position on the target and let her fly. Firm poaition will reduce the felt recoil. Sitting at a bench (an unnatural shotgun position generally) will beat you to pieces. You need to be leaning into the shotgun to be the most effective. Then, your cheek will not hurt anymore!

MCgunner has it right on drop too. I am 6'3" and shoot a Benelli M1 Super90 Tactical that kicks but doesn't hurt. Actually, my 870 Wingmaster 20ga tends to beat up my shoulder because the stock drop is a bit high.