chawk wrote on Dec 7^th, 2016 at 8:45am:


I have an overview/history of the (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links) illustrated with 19th century images and photographs of modern riflemen. The uncredited pic posted by marlinguy above is one of mine.

There were/are many variants of the back position and both heel and tang sights were used. In the 19thC this was at a time when no artificial support was allowed (including slings, wrist rests, cross-sticks). The back position gave a more stable platform for many rather than shooting in the prone unsupported position.

One gentleman I knew who shot into his 90s said he could take recoil fine from the back position but wasn't able to shoot prone.

David

I shot Pistol silhouette for a few years  with a 14 inch contender in 357 Herrett.   mostly in a modified Creedmoor position.   then one of my cousins offered me his buntline-barreled Ruger Super Blackhawk to try in one match.   I completely forgot about the gap between the cylinder and the forcing cone of the barrel breech-------for the first shot.      I wound up with some powder and lead tattooing that eventually faded with the years.    I stuck with the Contender

CF,
In Handgun Silhouette, I used the front panel from a Second Chance ballistic kevlar Vest inside a cover made from vinyl
upholstry. The vinyl was a replaceable sacrificial cover that got gradually shredded by the M29 cylinder flash. But my leg was fine. 
beltfed/arnie

The flat bottomed piece of wood in front of the receiver is called a riser block; modern target rifles like Walthers and Anschutz provide them for offhand shooting. New riser blocks have a rubber pad to rest the finger tips or knuckles on; old ones generally used cork.