Gunfit & Correct length of Stock

[Skeet UK]

sadly the crook of the arm thing is about as much use as **** on a fish!

ed

Mmmm....so, what kind of fish...nice tail...??

 

[Wonko the Sane]

The right length is whatever allows the shooter to mount comfortably and consistently to the same place.

there is no hard and fast rule, there are guidelines but they are just that. Massively dependant on stance, build and discipline.

sadly the crook of the arm thing is about as much use as **** on a fish!

ed

And of course, control the gun (movement, recoil, etc) and hit whatever is being shot at.

I'd like to rant a bit about the meatheads that contend that a certain style of stock is necessary for a given game but I'm gonna pass on that.

And I'm certain that there is absolutely no way to objectively quantify gunfit and related performance data in a universal field and grounds theory.

 

[westley]

Am playing with a 14" stock at the moment and loving it,

Still, if it stops you going blind ......................

 

[Santa2512]

OK,   Heres my report on the session.

Very busy morning!

Arrived at AGL super early, as typically the car park was clear, apart from an  *anchor  in a HGV, who tried to bully me into doing 60 inbetween the gantrys!

He lost BTW

The weather wasnt the best, it was slightly damp and very cold, however it didnt stop us.

Whilst i used there facilitys, my guide  (humble pie moment, i forgot his name ,doh)  checked my gun and  made some initial observations.

I then did some mounts so he could check  the rib / eye relationship,  cast & lop etc.

Revalation No 1.

My rib/eye and lop were spot on!!, based on my current shooting style  / gun up

So much so, that we didnt need to use the try gun, and went straight out to the pattern plate

after a discussion on the mechanics of the pattern plate, and how to use it, I shot my first pair from 15yds.

Revalation No 2.

The shot pattern was perfectly aligned in the Z axis (up/down) and almost all contained in the inner centre circle 

And with ony a minor shift to the left in the Y axis (Left/right) in the inner circle

So a quick adjustment on the cast, and it was a tiny adjustment, i shot a second patten.

Good alignment in Z  and Y , the observation was that the gun is shooting roughly 50/50,

If i wanted to play with the comb height, we could have pushed for 60/40, however it was felt that if i'd gone down that route,

 I may have the odd issue, say one in five  with high birds being missed due to the me not seeing them / due to not seeing over the reciever.

Next up was some targets to *****  my shooting with the changes 

Stand one

High incomming driven bird.

Once I'd sorted my lead, it was just a timing game and I hit all bar one.

Stand two 

High teal,

Timing was a topic here, and i missed a couple as i was shooting to early,  just needed to slow down slightly 

Stand 3

Going away , slightly crossed

Again, timing was my biggest issue here, with my wanting to take the bird early, 

After following the advice given,and  waiting one second longer before taking the shot, I was literally dusting them.

Other Observations

Stance,

My stance was good, with a minor observation on my "shut that door" rear leg ..  Somthing to possibly think about, but as he said its down to the individual.

Timing, 

I need to slow down a little and let the presentation develop before  trying to kill the bird before its  even got going . 

Mount,

As it stands for gun up style, no problems, If however i do choose to develop into a gun down style, I may need to look at the stock

length, but only from the point of view of making sure it allowed the gun to be brought into the shoulder quickly without snagging.

As by now it was evident that i didnt need any work doing on the gun, it was decided to treat today as a lesson,

and they have given me a voucher for a further lesson to be used at a later date   ( For some coaching  / refresher).

In terms of the question about nose / heel relationship  I did ask the question,  And interestingly, his response was the same as Ed's 

Basically there is no hard and fast rule,  it all depends on the individual shooter and there inherant style / method of shooting.

and apparantly, im not far off the 2" nose heel relationship,

Conclusion

Was it worth it ?   

Yes, very much so,

I now know where my gun shoots, (litteraly)  and i have identified some areas with my own style / technique that can be addressed.

From a psychological point of view, the value is immense,  i have now eliminated the gun from the equation, so any ongoing issues are with me. and my technique / approach to the shot. which means i can now focus on shooting, and not of wondering about the gun .

I'll get the pattern plate pics up shortly

:santa:

 

[Salopian]

Santa,

 Thank you for the feedback, I do have to agree that a good consistant gunmount is the most important thing and providing a too short hold does not cause discomfort, and an overly long stock does not result in the heel of the stock snagging on clothing, the actual dimension may just be of little consequence.

 

[Mike L]

My game gun had a 14.5 inch stock, when I went to h and h I tried the adjustable gun on 14.5 at the pattern plate, my shots were on target but spread up to the right, when it was adjusted out to 15.5 inch as the gunsmith suggested was right for me ALL the shots were bang on target with a vertical spread. Also the gun just came up right into my shoulder as opposed to me mounting and fitting myself to the gun. It's now at diamond gunsmiths to have an extension piece put on.

mike

 

[Jan Powell]

This may help...

http://gunlore.com/stock-fit-part-ii-length-and-pitch/

 

[ips]

interesting and confirms what I and others have said, as short as possible without thumb hitting your nose. I stopped reading as soon as POI was mentioned

insert smiley

 

[Wonko the Sane]

interesting and confirms what I and others have said, as short as possible without thumb hitting your nose. I stopped reading as soon as POI was mentioned

insert smiley

Prolly a wise move on your part.  Absolutely nothing to be gained by  being subjected to some irrational rant about POI

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