Orvis Guide to Gunfitting by Tom Deck

Author:Tom Deck
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781461748700
Publisher: Lyons Press

Length of Pull

The length of the stock, including its inherent length of pull–the distance from the middle of the trigger to the middle of the butt stock–is always the most overexamined feature of how well a bird gun might fit. The prospective buyer dry mounts the gun, feeling it out and envisioning birds flushing wildly in all angles. But this tells you very little; it’s just like taking a fly rod off the rack and wiggling it, which won’t really tell you how it will perform when casting forty feet of line to a rising trout.

To be honest, the length of pull is only a small piece of the puzzle. The length of the stock is the most forgiving dimension when it comes to gunfit. For example, an ⅛-inch difference on the length will not affect the point of impact much, but a ⅛-inch change at the comb will have a tremendous effect on the elevation of your shot pattern.

I could comfortably shoot a gun with a 14¾-inch pistol grip up to a 15¼-inch straight grip. I don’t mean to say that length of pull is not important, but you can comfortably tolerate a gun that is ¼ to ¾ of an inch too short. However, whichever length feels comfortable will affect where most of the other dimensions fall. So if a 14¾-inch length of pull mounts the best for you, then all the other gunfit dimensions will fall in line according to that length.

During a gunfitting I prefer to establish a comfortable length of pull for the shooter as a starting point. Once I figure this out, then I can start to examine some of the other dimensions with the try gun based on that stock length.

The length of pull determines where you place your cheek on the stock when the gun is fully mounted. Ideally, your cheek should fall slightly forward of the middle point between the drop at heel and drop at comb. So in essence, the head will be a touch closer to the comb than the heel of the stock. Length of pull in conjunction with the drops aligns the eye horizontally over the barrels, which establishes the elevation of your shot pattern.

What determines how long the stock should be? The old litmus test was to place the butt of the gun in the cradle of the arm while touching the trigger with the index finger. Unfortunately, this has nothing to do with figuring out length of pull. All that holding the gun that way will do is measure the distance from the trigger finger to the crook of your elbow.

How long the stock should be depends upon many factors: the overall length of your arms, the thickness or breadth of your chest, length of your neck, and your gun-mounting style. Also taken under consideration is the placement of your lead hand on the forend, and your stance and foot positions. Finally, the grip style on the gun (pistol or straight) and single or double triggers can play a part in creating a stock length that best suits a shooter.

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