We know for a fact, hooked butt plates (plains rifles) can not & could not be shot from the shoulder pocket (off the top of the pectoral musclewith arm foreward, elbow high), but were designed and must be held either out where the bottom hook slides between the chest wall and the upper arm, or out on the arm to be even remotely comfortable. The deeper hooks with shorter-in-height butts, like the Bedford county rifles needed to be shot further out on the arm than the Hawken style of rifle. This much is obvious - add to that modern man is more robust/obese/overweight/taller/heavier than most people of our past and those styles which showed poor comfort THEN, are really bad now. We also know even when held fairly close to the chest, but under the arm as needed, the hooks of the larger rifles kick badly.just plain hurt with larger than about .58 calibres. That is the reason I sold my S.Hawken all those years ago, because of how badly it kicked me with the loads that shot well.
After switching to the English style rifle, the butt that is held on the chest as a shotgun butt and as all of the heavy rifles are held today when properly stocked for the shooter, felt recoil was reduced to manageable levels. Even heavier loads were easier to shoot and I discovered that style was the fastest in target acquisition to boot. No wonder, of all the styles of rifle butts and stock shapes, the English pattern survived until today. Thus those of us who shoot the larger bores, recognise the attributes of this design and applaud those of old who discovered and developed it.
