Why do .mil guys shoulder so high?

[Heavy Metal]

Are those bottom two pictures Ken Hackathorn's place?

[telecustom]

I think stock placement is dependant on the situation. If it s snap shot, then the high shoulder is the way to go. But when you need to have a more solid position and better placement of the butt of your weapon. Just my $.02

[SIMPLYDYNAMIC]

I think it probably originated from the target shooting/marksmanship community who basically determined what went into the "official" training program.

From what I have heard and from an educated guess, I would say that has a lot to do with it.

We always want to find the position that provides a rigid abutment for the weapon to recoil against. That IMO is obviously more like Thekatar says above...
however; it is of course situational dependant. You may have to shoot over something like a high wall on your tiptoes where the higher toe/stock position comes into play. I notice when I am in the marksmanship off hand with a sniper rifle (which I have found myself in overseas) I had a high toe stock placement.

[Robb Jensen]

I too believe it's based it the yellow glasses shooters.

[SIMPLYDYNAMIC]

I saw a pair of those in your shooting bag!

[Robb Jensen]

I saw a pair of those in your shooting bag!

[Austin Powers] That not my bag man! [/Austin Powers]

[CarlosDJackal]

This is how it was explained to me: it's because of the design of the M-16 family of rifles. In most other rifles, the buttstock has a downward "sweep" designed into them. Without such a bend, it requires the shooter to either bring their heads down or "toe the rifle" in order to achieve proper sight alignment.

Of course, this could all be a bunch of baloney that I gobbled up hook, line, and sinker.

[WillC]

Bring the weapon up to your cheek, not the cheek down to the weapon...

Try shooting with body armor, helmet, etc... with a collapsible stock--it simply works better to shoot the M4 type carbine with it in the position you describe.

+1, especially with a high noise headset.

[Low Drag]

Get a timer, try it both ways and different ranges and see what works best for you.

Do what works for you, after you put in the time of course.

[CarlosDJackal]

Just move along, nothing to see here...