Hi Richard.
Thanks for your response. I also thought about how some of the early European wheellock rifles, for sporting purposes, were also cheek-stocked.
I too, at this point, am convinced that these short butt stocks on the Ottoman guns were designed to be shot from the cheek. It seems like the most logical conclusion.
If you bring the short stock up to the cheek and aim the front and rear sights, it aligns perfectly. Since both of these guns are live shooters, I can attest that the cheek stock gun is actually a bit faster to aim and fire than the shoulder-stocked gun.
So it may have been that it was a simple matter of shooter's preference in building the gun stocks.
Rick.
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