Using a cheek rest on a mares leg

[rep1954]

I shoot a Henry 22lr mares leg using a cheek rest and get satisfying results. Most of my AR's are pistols and get shot the same but I do have 2 that are braced. WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IS DOSE ANYONE HERE SHOOT A CENTERFIRE MARES LEG WITH A CHEEK REST AND IF SO WHAT CALIBER AND MAKE? I dont think the 44 mag would be to comfortable but the 357's and 45 Colt seem to me would be reasonable.

[T. O'Heir]

Where do you put a cheek rest when there's no stock? Just curious.

[rep1954]

“Where do you put a cheek rest when there's no stock? Just curious.”

Easy there is a stock a short one with a 8” LOP. It’s just like the rifle version with 6” sawed off. It allows me 3 points of contact with my body, forearm, grip, and cheek. I can even rest my grip arm against my body to make a steadier hold. I guess it also takes a good positive additude.

[buck460XVR]

I once watched a guy try and shoot a Shockwave(basically a mare's leg shotgun) using a cheek rest......he only did it once. First shot broke his nose.

What you can do with a .22 is different than what you could do with a centerfire. You could probably rest your .22 mare's leg on your groin and fire it safely and without any pain. Doubt you could do that with a .357 or larger.

IMHO.........if you want a cheek weld, get a regular stocked rifle and be done with it. Iffin' you want a Mare's leg, then shoot it the way it designed. Never understood the rationale of a pistol brace either.

[rep1954]

buck460XVR thank you for your thoughts but they don’t really pertain to my original post as it is clear you have no experience with what dose pertain. I don’t own or have ever shot the Shockwave but I do own a Remington TAC14 in both 12ga. and 20ga. and agree putting a 12ga. in your face doesn’t take much of a education but the 20ga. with a Mares leg style stock might be very feasible if not do able. Let’s see I do think I might have a old 870 donor stock somewhere around hear.

[buck460XVR]

Originally Posted by rep1954

buck460XVR thank you for your thoughts but they don’t really pertain to my original post as it is clear you have no experience with what dose pertain.

My thoughts are most certainly pertinent........and relevant. Mare's legs aren't meant to be used with a cheek weld.......kinda the whole reason they don't have a shoulder stock.


Someone out there must make a "brace" for them too....you know, for those folks that want to look "tuff" like Josh Randall, till they actually have to shoot his gun.

[NoSecondBest]

I don't usually like to tell someone their baby's ugly. However, in this case I have to make an exception. No serious shooter would ever buy one of those guns and even begin to think it's of any value as an actual shooter. It's a novelty piece of #$*& that gained some popularity from a 1950s TV show. Referring to a "cheek weld" with this "gun" is saying that you don't know much about the meaning of the phrase. Sorry, it's an ugly baby.

[DPris]

I have one of the early Chiappas, in .44-40.
Has a 12-inch barrel & short stock nub.

I CAN get a cheekweld with the stock on my shoulder & CAN fire it using sights that way, in mini-rifle fashion.

Have three other MLs, in .45 Colt.
I would not want to try shooting it off the shoulder in .44 Mag, and have not tried in in .45 Colt.

Denis

[Mn lefty]

I have a 44 mag Rossi mares leg. I’m 73 years old. I think the mares leg is a beautiful unique gun. I’ve shot mine numerous times with cheek hold. I’ve shot light and heavy loads, it can be done with both. I do prefer the light loads. I buy and shoot what I like. Enjoy what you like, we are still a free country.

[44 AMP]

The mild report and recoil of a .22LR allow for a lot of things that I wouldn't consider doing with a centerfire.

Ok, I don't have a Mare's Leg. I think they are neither fish nor fowl, nor good red meat. I have handguns and rifles and don't have a good use for a gun that is all the worst points of both in one package.

I understand, a cheek weld on the side of the "butt" could be managed, but I'd hate to have the end of the butt on my cheek. And, I don't care for the muzzle of a centerfire to be that close to my face. Personal opinions, of course, you're entirely welcome to hold a different opinion.

[DPris]

It's not the muzzle being close to the face (it isn't), it's the chamber & bolt, where all those explosions are going off!
Denis

[buck460XVR]

Originally Posted by Mn lefty

I think the mares leg is a beautiful unique gun.

I agree. But.......it is not the most practical gun. It's uniqueness comes from it originally being a fantasy prop gun in a fantasy television show. Does one really think a bounty hunter after the worst of hardened criminals is going to use such a firearm for their primary and only weapon?

It's a gun made for fun and it's appeal aesthetically. It is not made to be fired with a cheek weld and by just using a cheek weld does not make it a accurate rifle. Putting the sharp spur of the hammer on a recoiling firearm that close to my face is not my idea of being practical and safe. Others are certainly free to feel differently.

[Mn lefty]

I shoot with butt of stock on side of cheek. I would never shoot with butt of stock on cheek. I shoot light loads in mine 99.999 % of the time. I want to enjoy my guns not get the crap beat out of me. Enjoy what you have time is short.

[T. O'Heir]

"...neither fish nor fowl, nor good red meat..." They're a Hollywood inspired big kid's toy. A fantasy prop gun(where McQueen hauled a belt of .45-70 ammo around for some reason.), like buck460XVR says. A target rifle that needs or would benefit from a cheek rest they ain't.
Mind you, big kid's need their toys and fantasies too. I certainly wouldn't waste time or money on doing anything but making a holster for one. We call 'em 'restricted rifles', up here. Requires the sane licence as a hand gun and a club approved for restricted rifles. Ain't easy bein' a big kid.

[rep1954]

I also shoot with my cheek held up to the side of the stock as a matter of fact it’s in about the same position as it is when I shoot rifles. I am 5’6” and have short arms for my height so the whole mare’s leg and SBR thing works very well for me. I believe that for a centerfire ML I’m leaning towards the 44spl/44mag as I already handload this in other handguns. A bullet around 200gr. Cast lead traveling around 1000 FPS should should be very doable I would think. I always thought Steve McQueen rode a Mustang in the movie Bullet.

[DPris]

If you don't "get" the ML, you don't get it.

I will actually be wearing one of mine on my next desert outing.
I can hit a man-sized target with it out to 35 yards, easy.
It's quite accurate off the bench, even with no sights.

Practical?
Who cares?
Gotta try it once.
Denis

[Drm50]

A Mares Leg and a Shock wave, what more could a serious shooter want. Maybe a Tech-9
for a handgun?

[Ibmikey]

Actually the OP is asking if anyone has one of the things they shoot and if so what is the caliber and make. The Way Steve McQueen shot his on tv there is not a chance he could hit a wall of the barn he was standing in. I have wasted ammmunition in a of other ways so I certainly shall not look down my nose when others have fun doing it.

[DPris]

With some practice, while I'm not saying they have any real practicality, they can be surprisingly accurate.

Shooting from the hip at a B27 silhouette, I got fairly good with my first one, the Chiappa .44-40, out to 5 yards or so.

Shooting that one with sights in a two-handed hold, it'll easily take down my small steel buffalo out to 30 yards, that's as far as I tried that one. Using it in a rifle position against my shoulder I suspect it could run out to 50 yards or so.

The most recent, the shorter .45 Colt octagon barreled Chiappa without sights, was grouping at 2-3 inches off a rest at 25 yards.
With NO SIGHTS, it's more intrinsically accurate than many true pistols I've worked with.

In a two-hand hold, I've also knocked my little steel buffalo down at 35 yards with it.
Not hard at all.


Each scene where McQueen used his Mare's Leg was carefully staged around it.
The gun is not particularly practical, but it CAN be surprisingly accurate, and McQueen COULD have hit most of what he was "shooting" at on the screen.
Denis

[buck460XVR]

Originally Posted by DPris

With some practice, while I'm not saying they have any real practicality, they can be surprisingly accurate.


Each scene where McQueen used his Mare's Leg was carefully staged around it.
The gun is not particularly practical, but it CAN be surprisingly accurate, and McQueen COULD have hit most of what he was "shooting" at on the screen.
Denis

The guns are unique and I don't have an issue with them. What I have an issue with, is using them in a way they were not intended or trying to make them something they are not. Even with your testimonials of how they can be fairly accurate at close range, they are not and never will be, a long range sniping tool.....even if one does have the Cojones to try a cheek weld with one of the big bores. Similar to shooting my SxS shotgun both barrels at a time. Sure it can be done....Old cowboy westerns did it all the time...but why would you want to?

In the show, McQueen does most of his damage thru his wits, not his shooting. He also did everything he could in order to bring his quarry back alive....which meant he didn't depend on his arsenal much. This too is fantasy as bounty hunters were driven by greed, not integrity. A real Bounty hunter would have two weapons in his arsenal. A good long range rifle/carbine for sniping and a dependable, easily holsterable and drawable revolver for close in work. Not a poor excuse for either that was not practical at all for protecting oneself from someone with generally superior firepower and skill......much less overpowering them, easily and safely with a weapon of questionable accuracy. Heck, I loved the show when I was a kid, still watch it regularly when I can. I too used to fantasize about a Mare's Leg as for most of my life they were not legally available. Now I see them as a limited use range toy and iffin I had one, that's what it would be. It would be shot they way it was intended, from the hip or with a two hand hold looking down the barrel.....away from my face. JMTCs....others are free to disagree.

[rep1954]

Sure is starting to smell like old fish around here.

[DPris]

The ML was a TV gimmick gun.
That was its sole purpose.

Discussions of what a "real bounty hunter" would use are silly when we're talking about a Hollywood fantasy gun.

In 1959 I was 7 years old and I recall very well being fascinated by that cut-back Winchester when we watched Wanted.

As a kid, there were three TV guns I wanted:
The Mare's Leg.
The U.N.C.L.E. pistol.
The Rifleman's large-loop Winchester.

Since then, the itch for a Mare's Leg has never diminished, and I now have four that include two Chiappas, one Rossi, and a Henry.

The twelve-inch-barreled .44-40 Chiappa and Henry .45 are more like short carbines, much longer than the versions McQueen carried.

The .45 Rossi Ranch Hand started out that way, but I had it chopped at both ends and de-sighted to be truer to the TV gun. That one's the "coolest" of the four, to my eyes, because it's the most authentic. That one you do NOT try to shoot from the shoulder, it's just too short.

The .45 Henry's the beefiest of the bunch, and that one has my initials and DOB as its serial number, which is kinda neat & peachy keen.
It cries out to be SBR'd, and one of these days maybe.....

While, again, not trying to infuse ANY practicality into the ML idea, I do assert that exploring the actual genuine no-kiddin' inherent accuracy of the things can be quite fun, and what you may find could be surprisingly good.

I have, as I said, fired from the shoulder (cheek weld) with the first Chiappa.
.44-40 recoil was quite tolerable.

People do buy these things for actual field use.
I have never thought there was any practical value in that role, mine are strictly toys.
There are soooooo many more efficient guns to take into the wilds.

But- that doesn't stop me from acquiring and playing with 'em, and, as earlier, my two unsighted versions are just as accurate as several pistols I've worked with over the years.


They ARE limited use, and they ARE toys.
But they CAN be actually viable in putting a bullet on target down range.
And with the longer stock nubs the makers put on 'em, they CAN be fired effectively from the shoulder.

I just would not want to try it with a Magnum caliber.

I normally shoot 'em with both hands back on the wrist, true handgun style.
Firing in a normal "rifle" style, with one hand on the wrist & the other forward on the fore-end, incorporates too much wobble without a third point of contact to steady the gun.

I'm actually looking forward to wearing one out on the desert.
When I do, the inner 7-year-old still residing deep inside me will be immensely gratified.
As a wise me once said: It don't gotta be useful, it just gotta be!

And I'll quite probably take my ringlever Rossi along as a nod to Lucas McCain.

I have better leverguns, but I don't care.
Sue me if you don't think that one has any practical use either.
Denis

[buck460XVR]

Originally Posted by DPris

Discussions of what a "real bounty hunter" would use are silly when we're talking about a Hollywood fantasy gun.

Same could be said for the discussions of using a cheek weld on a Mare's Leg......silly. Kinda the just of my posts.

At least the talk of what a real Bounty Hunter would use has some legitimate merit, unlike the use of a cheek weld on a Mare's Leg.

Just sayin'.........

[DPris]

Disagree.

While trying to shoot an ML from the shoulder is less efficient than doing so with a full-length levergun, it CAN be done, and it CAN be quite viable in the wilds.

It is not fast, it is not efficient, but it CAN be fired like a normal rifle, from the shoulder.
I don't see that as silly, just inefficient.

My own personal gripe about the MLs is the way most are configured: too long.
Should be a 9-inch barrel & shorter stock nub.
The original TV gun was much shorter & definitely not shootable from the shoulder.

The 12-inch barrels with long stock nubs are more like chopped carbines & CAN be used like 'em.
If you choose to shoot one that way, it's your party & you can cry if you want to.
Denis

[shurshot]

ML would make a Wicked cool truck gun.