Eye / Rib Alignment

To ensure consistent accuracy, a rifle shooter using open sights, places the front bead in the aperture of the rear sight to align the barrel and then places the front bead onto the target. This alignment ensures that the bullet is fired where the front bead is pointing as seen by the shooters eye.

This alignment does not rely on the face being in contact with the stock in any particular place or position. Repeatedly hitting the target relies on the alignment of front and rear sights.

 

RECOIL SYSTEMS, ELMDON BARN, HEYDON LANE, ELMDON, SAFFRON WALDEN, ESSEX. CB11 4NH.
Tel/Fax: +44 (0) 1763 837 140 (from the USA dial 01144 1763 837 140) - email: info@recoilsystems.com

The serious competition shooter knows that in today's highly competitive sport the need for consistent eye / rib alignment is critical in minimising the number of missed targets. Just a few lost targets means a position a long way down the leader board.

With the ISIS Facesaver Comb it is possible to overcome head lifting and keep the face snugly on the comb shot after shot.

Muzzle Flip
The main reason for this 'head lifting' is that when the gun is fired, the huge pressure created by the expanding gases in the cartridge cause the barrel of the gun to lift, known as 'muzzle flip' and the comb of the gun is forced at extreme speed into the shooters cheek.
Once this has happened a few times, our self preservation reflex will initiate a recoil reaction involuntarily moving the face away from the upwardly moving comb. A movement of just a few millimetres can make a big difference to our eye / rib alignment.

This reflex is something that no shooter can override. Our brain will not allow us to repeatedly cause pain to our bodies so we naturally adapt to this by placing the face on the comb in a way that gives us little or no discomfort as we fire the gun.
Unfortunately, any location of the face to the comb that compensates for the muzzle flip will also allow for misalignment of the eye / rib relationship that is critical for accurate shooting.
It is difficult enough to address each target correctly, read it's line of flight and pull the trigger when the appropriate amount of forward allowance has been given, without the added problem that the gun is not pointing exactly where we think its is.

Recoil Reaction
Accepting that we need both jaw and cheek bone contact on the comb for repeated accuracy is a step in the right direction.
The difficulty is carrying out this comparatively simple operation every time we mount the gun to the target.
This is where the recoil reaction reflex comes into play.
When you try a gun in a gun shop or dry mount your gun at home you will probably touch your cheek bone onto the top of the comb to get the correct eye / rib alignment.

Sighting Devices - Lasers
If you use sighting devices such as a laser you will probably put your face quite snugly onto the comb to get a repeatable gun mount. These devices show you visually how important a correct gun mount is, but unfortunately things change on the shooting ground.
A gun mount that feels fine to the shooter can be seen to be varying greatly by other shooters that care to notice.

A shotgun shooter has to use his eye as the rear sight in order to consistently hit the target. The eye has to view the bead down the centre line of the rib. The bead or the centre line of the eye / rib alignment is then placed at the appropriate place in relation to a moving target and the trigger is pulled.
Whether we see the bead consciously or sub consciously or have no bead and rely on eye / rib alignment does not matter, the crucial factor is that the eye is looking down the centre of the rib at the target or at the relevant point in front to obtain a correctly placed shot.
The only factor important to consistent eye positioning on a moving gun is where the face is located on the stock.
Any ideal location needs three points to give guaranteed repeatability. Unfortunately shooters only have two points available to ensure repeated eye alignment - the side of the jaw bone and the cavity below the cheek bone. Both are covered with varying thickness of skin and tissue. When placed onto a correctly shaped comb these two points create a very stable platform to give consistent eye / rib alignment on a stationary and moving gun.
The contact of the jaw bone is pretty consistent by just bringing the gun into the face to look down the barrel. The big variable is the final position of the cheek bone in relation to the top of the comb.
To ensure repeatedly accurate eye / rib alignment the contact point of the cheek bone needs to be consistently in the same place.
If the cheek bone is not in contact with the comb it will cause the shot to go high. This can be adjusted for by altering the height of the comb. The big problem however is that because the cheek bone is not in firm contact with the top of the comb the face is allowed to 'roll' over or away from the comb when the gun is moved onto a variety of targets. This results in the eye being 'off centre' to the rib and the shot is placed to the side of the target.

If you do not have both points of alignment you cannot guarantee to be looking down the centre of the rib each time you take a shot.