Strange cycling issues. Because of side saddle?

[Dr. Marneaus]

nope, i do not. just a stock stock.

[Synchronizor]

Oh and holy hell, why does this thing beat my cheek up so bad? I feel like i got punched in the face and am honestly worried i'll have a bruise in the morning. i've never experienced that on any other rifle or shotgun i've owned.

I use a Police hardwood stock very much like yours on my 12ga (but with an older-style recoil pad), as well as a similarly-shaped polymer one, and I both to be very comfortable. Are you sure it's not a problem with your technique? A fixed-breech 12ga can be pretty unpleasant if you don't brace and hold it properly.

Another contributor could be your recoil pad. If you have one of those overly-squishy gel-type pads, it might be allowing the butt to shift around on your shoulder too much, giving the stock enough freedom of movement during recoil to knock your face even with a proper hold and stance.

[Dr. Marneaus]

Oh and holy hell, why does this thing beat my cheek up so bad? I feel like i got punched in the face and am honestly worried i'll have a bruise in the morning. i've never experienced that on any other rifle or shotgun i've owned.

I use a Police hardwood stock very much like yours on my 12ga (but with an older-style recoil pad), as well as a similarly-shaped polymer one, and I both to be very comfortable. Are you sure it's not a problem with your technique? A fixed-breech 12ga can be pretty unpleasant if you don't brace and hold it properly.

Another contributor could be your recoil pad. If you have one of those overly-squishy gel-type pads, it might be allowing the butt to shift around on your shoulder too much, giving the stock enough freedom of movement during recoil to knock your face even with a proper hold and stance.

It could have been my technique for sure, I was a bit uncomfortable/out of it to begin with as I was in a very small indoor range when testing it so I might not have been all there.

I've shot plenty of shotguns before but never experience this extreme cheek slap. Part of it could be because of the above, and also because I was shooting some pretty heavy loads which isnt the norm, but I've fired plenty of buck and slugs without this issue. Hell, even my short barreled single shot doesnt beat on me this much with slugs and buck (beats the shoulder more, but not my face). My cheek bone is still sore today if I touch it.

I can definitely say I wasnt leaning into it very much, possibly wasn't holding on as tight as I normally would either. I'm planning to hit the desert this weekend and will see if adjusting my stance and grip will help.

[ponycarman]

Mine has never slapped me that hard in the face. Wouldn't be fun if it did lol. Hope you get it figured out.

[pump-it-up]

Definately your ammo. Grab some federal or Remington target loads. I find they feed, fire, and extract in any gun I own. The Remington stuff isn't terribly expensive, either.

[UltimateGuns]

You've received some great advice so far. One thing I always recommend is to lightly polish the chamber. It greatly aids in feeding and extraction. I do it to all of my customers' guns. It's really easy to do. Get some fine steel wool, and wrap it around a cleaning brush. Then I clamp the brush onto my Dewalt cordless drill, and run it all around the chamber. Piece of cake!

[Reaper]

Polishing your chamber will allow you to shoot even those crap Winchester shells. I used my Dremel tool with those little round wool polishing pads and some polishing compound.