Shooting the Hawken is new to me, as is getting accustom to the butt plate. I realize the design is meant more for free hand shooting, but how do you shoot from a bench rest comfortably, considering some of the heavier loads that you shoot?

I never found the woodsman that uncomfortable to shoot, but I do get low and try to get that rifle good and solid on the shoulder.

I use my lead sled.

Raise the whole gun. I have 12-18 inches, depending on the drop, under the forearm. That will allow you to sit up in an upright geometry, as if you were standing, keeping the butt plate off the boney part of your shoulder and also your face does not creep forward. You may need sand bags of 6-8" under the butt also.

I use a lead sled on occasion, but for really hard kicking setups like 3.5" magnum slugs from a 6.5 pound shotgun. Have not tried it with ML's yet.

Pale is right, the more erect you sit the softer the recoil is. You can also get a Limbsaver slip on recoil pad for bench shooting. It doesn't look pretty or fit too well, but it works fine.

You need to get one of these(picture below). LeverGun Leather wil make you one to custom fit your rifle for a reasonable price. Some of my Low Wall's have crescent butt plates. And I do not like them as well either. The one in the picture is not padded. But I did not want one padded. It goes on a 45 Colt Low Wall, which is like an MZ and does not have alot of recoil. But it takes away the sharp edges. Tom.

A lot of people don't realize it but the early German gunsmiths that came over here after 1700 were producing larger caliber rifles with a wide, straight butt...Then sometime after 1800 the crescent butt came into vogue...By then calibers had been reduced down to .40 caliber as most of the deer in the eastern part of the US had been killed...A .40 caliber round ball rifle with 40-50 grains of powder is very comfortable to shoot with a crescent butt plate because there is little recoil...Once you get to .50 caliber and especially when shooting conicals a crescent butt plate isn't the best to have on a rifle...

A crescent butt plate is made to be mounted on the upper arm, not the shoulder...Move the butt to the area of the arm between the shoulder and bicep...

Yup! Shoot off the arm not the shoulder. The bottom should be tucked right under your armpit.

HA

Shooting the Woodsman standing, as few times that I've shot it, feels great. Fits nicely to the upper arm.

I've tried the lower position, to the shoulder, like a flat butt rifle. Not going to work for me!

First, I'll try raising the rest, so I can sit more upright and shoot off the upper arm.

I've thought about a recoil pad... second on my list. Or, just put some meat on my bones!