Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Shooting question

When shooting a rifle from the bench, or in prone, specifically my Remington 700 in 30-06, when i try to cycle the bolt without breaking cheek weld, the bolt will hit me in the face.

Is this a LOP issue? Or am i just needing to keep pulling my head off the gun to cycle the action?

Its a standard 13.5" LOP and i am 6' 5". It doesnt happen when i shoot my short action rifle, but it is a right handed gun and my 30-06 is a lefty.

Scope setup/eye relief issue? Or open sights? I'm about your size (-1 inch) and only my Mark V bolts do that. I had a 700 in -06 and didn't have that issue, but I used iron sights.

It is scoped. I have the scope set up as far back as it will sit on the rifle, but it keeps me almost leaning back to shoot offhand trying to get the eye relief right.

Then again, I tend to mount my scopes farther forward than some so with a long Mk V bolt it's no surprise it hits me in the face.

I am 6'4" and run my scopes as far forward asi can get away with. It tried 4 LA 700's that were in front of the safe and none hit me when I cycled my bolt.

13.5" is too short of LOP for the OP's size. I'd suggest 14" minimum.

If you are leaning back, how is the bolt hitting you?

Offhand

Seriously.. this chit ain't hard. Tape a 1/2" spacer, then 3/4", etc to the pad and see how it works.

I was going to suggest that he tried it in on a Browning BAR.

Bullseye. Good idea. Thanks Rancho.

I should have clarified that the reason for the scope being as far back as it is, is that the power adjustment ring is too big to move it any further forward. I will be replacing the scope eventually, but i have to deal with this thing until then as it is my "do all" rifle for hunting.

IE, as mentioned earlier, it looks like you need to take a couple steps back.

At your height, depending on your girth, you probably need a length of pull closer to 14 1/2 to 15 1/2 inches.

Next you need to determine your proper eye relief. Remove the top of your rings so the scope slides back and forth. Close your eyes and get into a proper, but comfortable shooting position. With a firm cheek weld, open your eye's them slide your scope forward or back until you have the best eye relief in this natural position.

In the position you described, short stock, scope all the way back, bolt hitting you in the face, it sounds like you are tilting your head over the stock. This is an unbalanced position. Your setup needs to allow you to keep your ears level, and bring your gun to your face, not the other way around.

Antelope sniper, I agree with you. I think i may need to try a different ring height as well. That would allow me to move the scope forward possibly. I will have to look it over and see what potential options are. Couple things to consider.

Do you shoulder a rifle left or right handed?

Left

Ok, was just curious as if you were right handed I could see the lefty bolt handle causing issues. I'm a lefty and have to raise my head when cycling long action right handed rifles - my hand on the bolt handle runs into my schnoz.

The LOP change others have mentioned will fix your issue.

To me this is NOT a LOP issue, it is an eye relief issue. Unless I am wrong, you will position your head at the correct eye relief to view through the scope, with a very small amount of +/- wiggle room. Regardless of LOP, the combination of eye relief and scope position sets the distance between your face and the bolt. If moving the scope back doesn't help, try a scope with more eye relief or move to a short action (as you said works for you).

Edit to add you probably do need a longer LOP, but the scope will still hit you in the face, unless your stock is so short your face is slipping on the stock.