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Length of pull

4K views 13 replies 9 participants last post by  Rick Barker 
#1 ·
What is the best way to measure someone to know what the length of pull should be on a shotgun. Just bought a Browning XT trap for my daughter and may need it cut just don't know how much.
 
#4 ·
You will be time and money ahead if you will take her to a stock fitter. Hopefully, there is one near you. She may need a different pitch, LOP, and cast. All these adj. will make for much more comfortable shooting and the stock will fit her much better. Hope this helps, Roy
 
#5 ·
cal 1,

Different things will affect the nose/thumb distance. One, as HMB mentioned, is the position of your daughter's head and neck. They should be in a natural and upright position or posture.

Another is how she places her feet, her stance. Shooting with her shoulders more in line with the direction the gun is pointing will require a shorter stock (with more cast) than if she rotates her stance and shoots with her shoulders more in line with where her gun is pointing.

Still another is the height of her gun mount. Mounting the gun with the top of the recoil pad below her collarbone will usually require a shorter stock than if she mounts it with the top of the recoil pad on her collarbone, which is better for most shooters.

These things can also affect how the cheek meets the comb and therefore, may affect the height of the comb needed to use snug cheek pressure on it while looking slightly down onto it.

Please be very careful when you shorten the stock for your daughter. A good rule of thumb is to divide the distance greater than 1 or 1.5 inches between her nose and thumb by 4. I have never heard a good explanation of this 4/1 ratio but it works. Having to cut the comb twice is also better than shortening it too much.d

A visit to a stock fitter is very good advice. The good ones would not only change the stock's dimensions to fit her, but would also teach your daughter the correct shooting form (gun mount, stance and body posture) she should be using. Then all she will have to do is remember to use the form that was taught when her gun was being fitted.

Rollin
Rollin
 
#6 ·
With a long neck getting the nose and thumb within an inch should be an easy task?

There's much more to determining a correct stock length for individuals than a nose/thumb measurement! To attain that, just bend your head forward some for an instant fit?? Yup, it fits, exactly an inch! I never did believe in that so called method of determining a proper stock length.

Length of arms and body build and muscle structure say something totally different. Place the pad in the shoulder pocket with the trigger hand back on the grip. As you reach for the trigger, if the shoulder muscles bunch and push the gun forward, it's too long for you. Recoil hammering on tensed muscles all day makes for a very long day.

Hap
 
#7 ·
The distance ones nose is to thumb knuckle is a no better gouge then the old crook of the elbow to trigger finger one.

As Hap has said to many variables in body build shooting styles etc. to believe in such nonsense. There are now self proclaimed experts on the subject that espouse to this and write books on the subject , so heh they have to be the authority on the subject right?............once again nonsense , unless you believe we are robots that are all built the same and shoot the same , have the same reaction time and see the targets the same. Its an individual thing that requires a little experimentation by the shooter to find the right LOP.

Be careful with stock fitters who will try to get you to "shoot with the proper form" as it may be the form that is required to achieve what THEY THINK your lop should be at, specially if its some pre-determined length between ones nose and thumb knuckle..........nonsense and a ruse.
 
#9 ·
You asked a simple question and I tried to give you a simple answer. Some folks just want to make everything complicated, trying to give you the right answer.

Every person is different and have different preferences and shooting styles. It will take your daughter a few years to develop hers. There are many factors involved in making a gun fit properly. I commend you for being willing to try and help her start off on the right foot by shortening the stock.

A good friend started shooting a few years ago and had a custom stock fitted to her gun. She didn't know what she wanted or needed, so the stock maker did the best job he could. The stock looks a lot different now than when she first started shooting it.

That's my two cents worth. Bill Malcolm
 
#10 ·
"Place the pad in the shoulder pocket with the trigger hand back on the grip. As you reach for the trigger, if the shoulder muscles bunch and push the gun forward, it's too long for you."

And how do we determine if it's too short? Hey, maybe check to see if we're gonna smack our own nose with our thumb? Hmmm, might just work... Maybe Kay was right, and Rollin too? Imagine that.

OK, sarcasm aside, I do like what Hap said about if it's too long it will be a long day.
 
#11 ·
It might be better to shorten a stock and then have spacers available to lengthen it for best fit and help future fit as your young shooter grows. You can make them out of wood, aluminum, or plastic (I used clear 1/4 plastic Plexiglas).
I remember reading an article by a gun fitter and he did not trust either the arm crook, or the thumb/nose theories. He looked at the overall stance of the shooter holding the gun to see if he/she was comfortable and then stood in front of the shooter with the gun mounted to see how the shooters eyes and face were in relation to the rib. He saw many "fitted" guns and the shooters eye off or to the side of the rib, the gun canted, face contorted, gun on arm, etc., etc., There are entire books on gun fit.

The best fitting I ever had been from Bishops' when they were still in business. Once they told me how a gun should fit, I have little problem as far as myself with gun fit, but I do not pretend to know how to fit others. Shooting a gun too short, can hurt, and shooting a gun too long can get frustrating and tiresome
 
#13 ·
Things that affect the LOP:

1. The stance that the shooter uses, facing targets or oblique
2. The height of the gun mount
3. The length of the shooter's neck combined with the drop at the heel dimension and how well that dimension fits the shooter
4. How well the grip fits the shooter and where the hand is placed on the grip
5. Where the cheek is placed on the comb to view the rib when using a field stock with an upward-slanting comb.

Depending on the size of your daughter, other stock dimensions may also be poorly fitting; some of them will affect the correct length of her stock.

Visiting a stock fitter is an excellent recommendation.

Rollin
 
#14 ·
I second Rollin's advice. It will be money well spent and get a new shooter off on the right foot, whereas a poorly fit gun will cause a new shooter to give np in frustration because of pain or missed targets, or both.
 
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