doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Thoughts on Gun Fit

I have worked very hard to get my guns to 'fit' me. I have had a professional gun fitting which was close but not perfect. I made several adjustments on my own. I don't think gun fitting is horribly complicated but I don't think it is simple. Clearly gun fit is more critical for low gun instinctive shooting than it is for pre-mount. Likewise, I think gun fit is much more critical on a side by side than on a gun with single sighting plane such as with an O/U. I also think pitch has a lot more to do with gun fit than most people think. Any thoughts on gun fit and what parameters are important to you?

Proper cast and twist of the butt make a gun feel a bit better than a gun without them. Pitch should be adjusted so the gun does not slip off the shoulder at the shot.

I think gun fit is somewhat over rated. In an ideal world, every gun would fit perfectly. In the real world, humans are extremely adaptable. Find a gun that is close to what you need and learn to shoot it. When I was a kid, the old guys who didn't miss much had never had a gun fitting. They would have fallen over laughing if someone had suggested they get their old pump guns professionally fitted.

I will concede that if you are a competitive target shooter, fitting has more value.

Or hit you in the face.

JC

When I first began shooting competitive sporting I set about modifying my old 30" 1100 Rem. for the job. Realizing I needed to improve the fit I installed an adjustable butt plate and pad, then set about getting the drop right. I did this by pattern testing from low gun, knowing that if I ever got that right I could shoot it fine pre-mounted. I added cardboard "cheekpieces" until all was right. Then, a few months later I went for a gunfitting. After all was said and done he wrote my needed measurements on a slip of paper to bring home. When I got home I measured my gun against what he said I needed and found that I was within about 1/16" on all the dimensions.

What does this tell me? That he did a good job with the fitting, but also that anyone can do it themselves if they are diligent, do some research, and don't quit until they know it's right, by shooting a pattern plate.

Frankly, I am much less concerned with pitch than with DAH, less concerned with DAH than with DAC, less concerned with DAC than LOP, and less concerned with LOP than cast. Horribly wrong pitch can be really bad, but I haven't encountered that many guns that have a really radical pitch. Also, too little drop is much worse than too much. Too little and the the gun whacks my cheek really bad, even worse than with the pitch being off.

I don't believe gun fit is more important on a S x S than an O/U. I can shoot many of my S x S guns pretty decently, and have never altered the pitch on a gun, but I DO try to get the LOP right for me. If the cast is not right I don't even buy it in the first place. I know some can be bent, but there are too many fish in the sea. JMO.

SRH

There is a lot talked about gun fit .A lot of people have strong opinions as to what they want ,as do a lot of instructors who have there own ideas and think you to should have them too . Every one is different so guns like clothes are made to fit the "average " man . When gun fitting it is important to listen to your customer and ascertain exactly what is his problem ,weather it is actually gun fit or dose he think he needs his gun altering . Incorrect stance and mount are often in my experience 50% of the problem .
There are no hard and fast rules and so part of the "fun" is talking to a customer ,looking at his physical shape ,height , weight , width of shoulder , length of neck , length of arm upper and lower , slope of shoulder , Etc.Etc. Then look at the gun to its current set up length ,drop , cast . Discuss the sort of shooting that he is going to do mostly and finally what actually is the problem . After that you just have to work out what he needs ,what he wants ,and what can actually be done to the gun in question.

I have Michael Yardley's little book on gunfitting. Great insight. I think an enthusiastic, experienced shooter, with the knowledge of that book and some aptitude, can figure out his or her own dimensions. Experienced shooters will have already gravitated to their dimensions in adjustable comb and LOP target guns or by going thru numerous guns. I've never had a professional fitting, but I can recite my dimensions and I would really question a pro that suggested dimensions much different.

For me, I have no differences in tolerance of general gun fit dimensions for o/u, sxs, auto, or pump guns. I do believe shooters have a lot of tolerance on LOP and in general, I would rather have a gun shorter than my ideal LOP rather than longer. That is: I can tolerate a 1/2" shorter better than 1/2" longer.

Some of the best shots I have ever seen would have gotten a blank look on their faces if you asked about " a gun fitting". Replacement hit the nail on the head with his comments.

My thoughts about this matter are that some type of bodies are much more "adaptable" to "standard" shotgun dimmensions that others.
Slim and tall bodies adapt very easily to almost any "normal" shotgun. A thin long neck helps a lot to put your dominant eye in the correct place over a wide range of shotgun�s meassures.
Short and fat bodies are the worst in terms of adaptability; big and tall in the middle.

I also think that cast is the most important meassure for gun fitting.

Best,

I think the fact that some of the best shots around aren't fitted just means they are either a good fit with an off the shelf gun or they are even more talented than an average joe than their exhibited shooting reveals. Me, I need all the help I can get. It just boils down to whether or not shooting can be improved.