[dhip]

I know it's been covered before,but haven't seen anything posted since I've been reading this site.Been struggling since Aug. and had a fella this past weekend suggest moving my trigger back.The method he used to determine this was to tell me to hold my trigger arm over with trigger finger curled up as he layed my gun down ontop to see where finger to trigger relationship was.The fella that got me into this sport debunked that method and said it was an Old old way that was proven to be not correct.My simple minded question is then,,,How does one at least get close to your desired LOP without professional help that always seems to costs money..

Doug H.

 

[traphouse52]

The distance between your nose and your thumb should be 1 finger to 3 finger widths. All depends on size of your fingers. Or 1-2 inches

 

[senior smoke]

Everyone is different, try different lop's on your gun. Mount your gun with the recoil pad off and with spacers increase the lop until if feels comfortable to you. You will automatically know when you have reached your correct lop because the stock and gun will feel as one. There are a lot of good people who will offer advice and set ways to determine lop, but in the end it's what ever feels right for you, and that than is your correct lop.
Steve Balistreri

 

[neofight]

Mine and my wife's gun fit according to the loose rules and they seem to be quite comfy, after some adjusting. Our noses are about 2" away from the knuckle of our rt thumbs and they happen to follow the guideline of placing the butt in the crook of your arm and placing your index finger on the trigger.

I have noticed that many shooters(and some very good ones) are all over the map. Some have their noses almost against their thumb, while others have enough room to set up a small orchestra. I think that Steve guy has it right.

I played with mine for awhile and it seems to fall right into place every time without having to squirm about and dislodging it from the shirt fabric.

 

[Setterman]

The "crook of your arm" thing means nothing. The goal is to keep your trigger hand thumb from bopping you in the nose. This can be determined first by dry firing your gun while simulating a rising target, but the best way is to shoot 50-100 targets and adjust as you go. You can tape spacers to your pad as you shoot. Wood shims from a hardware store work good.

Get serious about breaking targets when you attempt to do this. Many shooters are "neck stretchers" when they shoot for score.

 

[bubba68]

The "Old Way" of measuring against your forearm is a good starting point. Then mount the gun and check the distance between the nose and thumb as traphouse52 mentioned above. This will give you the approximate LOP you need. If you follow these two methods, you should have a length that will not inhibit your swing and give you good control of the gun. Beyond that, it comes down to how comfortable you are.

Now, a professional stockfitter might chime in here to say that you can certainly fine tune beyond that level. And, I would agree with that. But, this takes you into the realm of a good stockfitting process. And, this depends on where you are in the game of trap vs. where you want to be, and whether or not you are willing to undertake everything possible to get there. If so, then stockfitting is a no-brainer - get it done.

But, if you are just learning the game and/or just want to enjoy the sport of trapshooting for now, then the "Old Way" and the "Nose/Thumb" processes will work just fine. Then, somewhere down the road, stockfitting may be necessary.

Good luck.

 

[dverna]

Doug,

Get a close fit ASAP. Start with about 1" between thumb and nose. Fine tune from there. Your stance (square, neutral, or open) and build will affect the LOP that works for you.

I have seen people develop very bad form by having stocks that are too long or too short. They fit their body/stance to the stock and develop bad habits.

Stock fit is critical to a game that demands perfection. LOP is only one element; but it is an important one.

Don Verna

 

[wm rike]

At the root of it, you want to keep your thumb out of your nose when the gun recoils (see previous posts). Beyond that you have some latitude, but beware of getting the pull too long. The gun should be comfortable between the hands. Lengthing the pull and moving the trigger hand further out does not necessarily mean that your other hand will move a like amount. With too long a pull your hands begin to converge and the gun gets awkward in a hurry. My casual observation would be that people will do better with a slightly shorter LOP than a longer one.

 

[dhip]

Thanks for all the advice.I'm short armed and short necked,been told I have excellent trap shooting physical stature.Being in a slump,I tend to look at every minute thing,trying to get out of it.be a year now shooting,ist 25 in august,but haven't done it again,very frustrating,I'm one who believes if you do something(like 25 straight) you should be able to continue that pace and get better on a graduating progression,don't like going backwards.I've blamed everything from being too relaxed at the line to being to serious at the line.Just need to cool my jets I guess,take it easy and have fun shooting and let the clays fall where they can.

Doug H.

 

[Rollin Oswald]

The one to two inches between nose and thumb is fine, BUT that distance is affected by other things. For example, the height of the gun mount and the correctness of the drop at the heel dimension relative to the shooter's neck length.

The correct head and neck posture affects LOP. The head and neck can be leaned and tilted to gain the nose/thumb separation. This is not the way to get the separation!

The head and neck should be in a natural and upright posture. To have this posture, the gun needs to be mounted correctly the shoulder and the recoil pad needs to be the correct distance below the rib (drop at the heel dimension).

The stance also affects the nose/thumb separation. If you shoot your shotgun like you shoot a rifle, you will need a longer LOP than if you shoot using a stance that rotates the body 30 - 40 degrees from the direction you are shooting.

To a lesser degree, the pitch on a stock and how well it matches your shoulder configuration also affects LOP as well as the likelihood of cheek
slap.

Therefore, shooting form as well as other stock dimensions affect a shooter's nose/thumb separation. It is obviously best measured while using a correct shooting form.

Rollin