How does one measure the length a gunstock should be on a long gun? I have a Remington 1100 that I want to put a recoil pad on. When I put it up to my shoulder, it looks like I am looking up the vent rib, which would mean to me that the stock is too short. I am calling a gunsmith tomorrow to see how much it costs for them to put a pad on it. I was just wondering, though, as I am sure I can do a slip on pad for less. It is just I was wondering how to measure for that.
Steve
The old tried and true method..which really is not all that precise for everyone..is to hold the butt in the crook of your elbow, barrel raised skywards..and the trigger should be at the first joint of your trigger finger. Now if you have a long arm, or short neck, etc etc..it may not hold true..but it should come close.
A better way..is to remove the butt plate, and make up a dowel with an oval piece of masonite etc on one end. Tape your buttplate to the oval, and slide the dowel up the hole in the buttstock, exposed when you removed the butt plate.. Preferably a snug fit of the dowel in the hole..then use that to determine what is the best length for your physiology. Slide it in and out, while posting the arm to your shoulder in various shooting positions until you find the best fit, then measure from the outside of the buttplate to the ass end of the buttstock. That distance is what you want to make up.
And if you need to make the stock longer..you simply use plates of wood, aluminum, etc etc, milling them/it to the proper thickness (subtracting the thickness of your butt pad) and then shaping them to fit the contour of the buttstock and pad.
Wrap the last couple inches of your buttstock in electricians tape, and it will be harder to ding the stock if you shape the plates ON the shotgun using a disk or belt sander.
Simply making a spacer in other words..shrug. Its not hard to do.
You can also do cant, cast on and cast off etc this way, without modifying the weapon itself.
Stockmakers use a much more complicated thingy called a "try stock", which is a stock, with much universal joints and sliders etc etc to get an exact fit.
Ive made some stocks that are exact fits for me this way. Chuckle...few other people can shoot my custom stocks..unless they have arms that drag the ground and have a long face and neck. Most of the time..they cant see through the scope of a rifle, as its way far away for them. On the other hand..when I shoot someone elses rifle..I tend to get the rear bell of the scope cutting my eyebrow, or giving me a Thump when I fire. I also have a problem with some stocks forcing my thumb into my nose, as I "crawl the stock" getting a good stock weld..and many are too short for me. The old Savages were nortorious for this...the newer ones are far more ergonomic for big guys like me. The old ones would hurt to shoot, even in small calibers like 308 and '06.
Gunner
Gunner
"Pax Americana is a philosophy. Hardly an empire. Making sure other people play nice and dont kill each other (and us) off in job lots is hardly empire building, particularly when you give them self determination under "play nice" rules.
Think of it as having your older brother knock the shit out of you for torturing the cat." Gunner
The old method was to hold the gun butt in the crook of the elbow, make sure that your index fingerfirst joint was at the trigger. Lately the trend has been to use fitup stocks with adjustable everything to see what works for you.
Since the fitup that you like is completely up to you and will vary by what kind of use (skeet, trap, bench, upland field, etc) and what kind of clothes you are wearing(trap vest versus cold weather parka), use the slip on in various sizes until you get what you like.
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