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Once you try to look through the rear sight on your BPC rifle with the rear
sight eye cup raised to an elevation of between 130 and 200, it will immediately
become clear to you that you’re going to need some type of raised cheekpiece or
pad to elevate your head and eye in order to be able to comfortably shoot.
This is an area, once again, where Long Range BPCR shooters have either
purchased or devised a host of different ways of solving this problem.
When I shot my first Long Range match, sponsored by Badger Barrels at the
Winnequah Gun Club in Lodi, Wisconsin a couple of years ago, I used a foam
rubber elbow pad held in place with two short Velcro straps. These are the pads
that athletes wear for wrestling and volleyball.
The padding in the elbow pad added about 1” of additional height to the stock
where I rested my cheek and the Velcro straps allowed me to easily attach and
detach the pad when cleaning my rifle between relays.
It certainly didn’t look pretty, but it did the job. Since that time I have
experimented with and tried to adapt such materials as the hard rubber kneepads
worn by cement finishers and the 1” soft foam knee pads sold by your local ACE
Hardware store for people to kneel on when they are working in their gardens.
I have even experimented with an old white cotton sock filled with different
materials and velcroed to my stock to see if it would work.
After that first Long Range BPCR match I also started searching the Internet for
something that would be a bit better looking and easier to use. I found what I
was looking for at the Cabela’s web site (www.cabelas.com).
They offer several different types and styles of commercially manufactured
raised cheekpiece attachments ranging in cost from about $ 17.99 to $ 23.99.
The one that I bought is called the “Beartooth Comb Raising Kit” (Part #
CE-22-3766 / $ 17.99). It consists of a smoothskin neoprene cover which you slip
over the rear stock. Then, depending upon the height that you need, you can
insert any of the five (5) high-density stackable foam cheekpads to suit your
particular needs. I use the two thicker cheekpads stacked on top of each other
to arrive at the added height that I need for my rifle.
Another version that I purchased is a hard molded rubber cheekpiece that has two
velcro straps used to attach it to your rifle's rear stock. It's called the
“Accu-Riser Molded Cheek Pad” and is available for $20.00 plus $6.00 for
shipping and handling from The Leatherman at their web site (www.accu-riser.com).
Whatever method you use to address this problem, keep these points in mind:
1) The cheekpiece needs to be relatively firm so that your cheek/face/eye
returns to the same position each time that you place your head on the rear
stock to line-up the target.
2) The cheekpiece needs to be easy to remove or at least easy to shift out of
the way so that it will not interfere with your cleaning rod. The nice leather,
lace-on cheekpads that Cabela’s offers look and perform great, but I have my
doubts about being able to move them out of the way when it comes time to clean
your rifle between relays.
By Darryl Hedges
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