Home Forums Lever Action Central Lever Actions - General Can someone explain the full crescent butt plate?

I have an old pre-World War One Winchester 94 (rifle length, octagonal barrel) with a full crescent butt plate. Like two sharp points for transferring recoil to your shoulder. Now, granted, the .30-30 has very little in the way of recoil, but who was the genius who decided two sharp contact points against the body would be the best way to design the part of the rifle that transfers recoil to your body? Is there any logic to the full crescent butt plate? Some special way it was intended to be used so you didn't get poked with both points with each shot? Please explain.

It sounds like you are pulling the stock too far in toward your chest. The crescent should hang more off the arm, less on the shoulder. You may have to modify your shooting stance some, but there is an advantage to a crescent style plate. The shotgun plate, which is the parent of just about all modern butt plates just does not register as easily with the same repeatability.
Congrads on your rifle, it must be a nice example.

Thanks. It's in good shape mechanically, but has only about 30% of the original blue on it. The wood finish isn't much better. Bore is great, though. One interesting feature of the rifle is that it has a two leaf express rear sight on it.

The full crescent was meant to be on the upper arm not the shoulder and thus the reason for the full crescent. It should sort of be full of your upper arm muscle not into your shoulder. I have several with this option and it does take a few times before you catch on to how to shoot them correctly but once you get it they are great fun to shoot and enjoy.

Yep, that's the problem I've had with it. I was taught a very specific way to "shoulder" a rifle when I was a kid, and I've always done it that way since. It feels unnatural to me to "shoulder" a rifle in the gap between my bicep and my deltoid muscle. I guess you can get used to anything, though, and I will give it a try.

Where did that therory come from about the Cresent was ment to be held on the arm and not the shoulder..I would like to see that proven...I shoot them off my shoulder btw and held tightly into the clevis they won't hurt you..

The real reasoning for the Cresent was a throw back from the muzzle loader days, and for cosmetic purposes only. Even Winchester knows that.

The full crescent plate was a common method of finishing stocks through the mid 1800s into the early 20th/century. I believe Winchester offered three different types of stock plates during this time; The full crescent, the carbine, and the shotgun. The shotgun was flat, the carbine was a semi-crescent, and the full crescent has that graceful curve coming to two rather sharp points.
Both the shotgun and the carbine plates are similar enough to the flat end stocks that modern rifles have made universal. Shooting them requires little or no modification of modern rifle technique.
While it might have been offered as an item of convention, or mere style, the full crescent really fits when the upper and lower points set in the armpit and above the deltoid. I suppose this could be referred to as the shoulder, but I consider it to be more on the arm.
When mounted this way, the points will not drive into your torso. In fact, the full crescent actually helps to register the rifle.
I find folks today usually like to pull the stock closer in toward the chest proper. If you do this with a full crescent, without complaint, you are either the toughest man alive, and have my unending respect, or you do not have any pain receptors in that area of your body!
By the way, the two leaf express sight is a very interesting item. I don't recall ever seeing one. I think I've seen about a dozen folding leaf rear sights, and they invariably feature three leaves. For standard factory loads, the three leaves were regulated at 100, 200, and 300 yards, but I have no idea what the two leaf would be regulated for. Can you include a picture?

The problem is that people are bigger now than they were in 1850. The crescent needs to be a tad larger to fit my shoulder/upper arm. I have a Winchester 1873 and I believe the combination of the crescent butt, the drop in the stock and the heavy octagon barrel makes the perfect off hand rifle.

I don't know, I shoot a cresent butt plate just like I shoot every other rifle, from the hollow of my shoulder, if that makes me tough then guess I am! I am however pretty immune to recoil as I am a big bore shooter and African hunter. I shoot some of the really big bores and double rifles. maybe my shoulder is hardened..I know that if I shoot off my actual sholder over the ball joint it hurts like hell...I'm not a spongy and fluffy there!

The original reason for the full crescent butt plate is likely 'all of the above'. Something that I have not yet seen mentioned is that it also helps maintain the butt position against the shoulder while working the lever as it should, from the shoulder.

If you are interested in the history of cresent buttplates look up some photos of Arabic flintlocks of the late 1700s. Nothing we see from western nations in the 1800s is nearly that extreme!

Dunno.. we've had some with serious buttplates. Here's some early Stevens..