Get Into HFT - Raised Cheek Pieces PART 5

This month Gary Chillingworth takes a look at adjustable cheek pieces to help get perfect eye/scope allignment

- Gary Chillingworth

A few months ago, I wrote a piece about how important it was to look through the centre of your scope. I pointed out that if your eye was to low and you were looking through the curved part of the glass, this could cause error and make your shooting erratic. If you remember, we put tin-foil on both ends of the scope with a small hole in the middle of each piece and this showed whether you were looking through the middle, or the curved part of the glass. If you haven’t seen this article it was in the May issue and is available on our great digital subscription.

The main issue is that some rifles out there have a very low cheek comb. The HW100 and the S400 are brilliant rifles, and if you shoot them from the shoulder, or kneeling or standing, they will align with your eye perfectly – on medium mounts – but if you are an HFT shooter and want to shoot these rifles with the butt resting on the ground, or if you have a large objective lens and high mounts, you might find that your eye will not line up. This is why higher-end rifles, like the stunning HFT500 and HW100KT have adjustable cheek pieces.

EASY OPTION

The simplest way to get an adjustable cheek piece is to buy an aftermarket stock, like the LP Tac 2 that I have on my TX200HC, or go to a stock maker, like Tommy Bennet or Warren Edwards, who could either modify your current stock or sell you an all-singing and dancing custom stock. That could be a bit pricey, though, so here are some do-it-yourself cheap options.