Shotgun Stock Fit
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It's not simple, if you really mean "correct."
What I've seen people do, though, is have you bend your arm and put the buttstock in the crook of your arm. If your finger is on the trigger, they tell you it fits. This is the biggest bunch of BULLSH-T on earth! If someone uses this method on you, stop listening to them, walk away, and disregard their advice.
What I do is close my eyes, mount it, and see where I'm looking when I open my eyes. That's a start.
Then I shoot at some clays, low gun, and if I hit them, I figure it must fit well enough, at least for a guy who can't afford a bespoke Purdey.
Gun fit is a very complex thing, with many dimensions. I've known people who had custom stocks made, and they usually go back to the shaper a couple of times, after shooting for a month, for corrections. That's starting with a custom stock, made by someone with years of experience, doing all sorts of measurements. There is no simple way to see that it fits correctly in the truest sense.
It's easier to determine that the gun DOESN'T fit.
What I've seen people do, though, is have you bend your arm and put the buttstock in the crook of your arm. If your finger is on the trigger, they tell you it fits. This is the biggest bunch of BULLSH-T on earth! If someone uses this method on you, stop listening to them, walk away, and disregard their advice.
What I do is close my eyes, mount it, and see where I'm looking when I open my eyes. That's a start.
Then I shoot at some clays, low gun, and if I hit them, I figure it must fit well enough, at least for a guy who can't afford a bespoke Purdey.
Gun fit is a very complex thing, with many dimensions. I've known people who had custom stocks made, and they usually go back to the shaper a couple of times, after shooting for a month, for corrections. That's starting with a custom stock, made by someone with years of experience, doing all sorts of measurements. There is no simple way to see that it fits correctly in the truest sense.
It's easier to determine that the gun DOESN'T fit.
kd7nqb
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I found picking it up and holding it seems to provide the biggest guide if it feels odd and your holding it right then it does not fit you. I agree with the comment about its easier to tell if it does not fit than if it does. It also seems like if you can take it out and shoot some clays and your shooting well, then it fits well enough.
Are you talking a "fine" shotgun or one of the "rest" of us? 
I bring it to shoulder and sight it. Does the rubber pad snag coming up? Does it feel comfortable and rest snugly? I am short and the stocks are usually too long and I need to shorten them.
I bring it to shoulder and sight it. Does the rubber pad snag coming up? Does it feel comfortable and rest snugly? I am short and the stocks are usually too long and I need to shorten them.
A properly fitted gun should shoot where you look and not slap your face in recoil.
The Churchill method of fit testing is to stand with the muzzle of the gun 16 yards away from a patterning board. Put a mark on the board and using a tight choke mount the gun fire at the mark and see where your pattern lands. Keep your visual focus on the mark, don't aim the shotgun or adjust your face to the gun but bring the gun smoothly up to your face and fire.
At this distance An 1/8" inch adustment in the stock equals a 1" adjustment in the pattern so if your pattern is 8 inches too high you need to bring the stock down an inch.
There are four main measurements. The length of pull, the drop (how far the stock drops below the muzzle line, the cast or bend (how far right or left the stock bends) and the pitch which is the angle of the butt pad.
The Churchill method of fit testing is to stand with the muzzle of the gun 16 yards away from a patterning board. Put a mark on the board and using a tight choke mount the gun fire at the mark and see where your pattern lands. Keep your visual focus on the mark, don't aim the shotgun or adjust your face to the gun but bring the gun smoothly up to your face and fire.
At this distance An 1/8" inch adustment in the stock equals a 1" adjustment in the pattern so if your pattern is 8 inches too high you need to bring the stock down an inch.
There are four main measurements. The length of pull, the drop (how far the stock drops below the muzzle line, the cast or bend (how far right or left the stock bends) and the pitch which is the angle of the butt pad.
There are three significant problems with the Churchill method, though.
1. Shooting a pattern board can be quite different from shooting a bird. Unless you're a contortionist, perfect gun fit for skeet or dove shooting vs. perfect gun fit for American Trap can be different. Standing and shooting at a pattern board will replicate Trap reasonably well, but it's nothing like shooting passing doves or geese.
2. Even with that caveat, it really only works if someone really knows exactly where and how he/she likes to mount the gun. And shooting "high gun" at regulation targets can be quite different from shooting "low gun" in the real world of hunting, or SC.
3. It still doesn't tell you if the stock fits you. Felt recoil, cheek slap, etc. are as important as POI.
Bottom line: don't go using this method to start chopping away at a stock unless you really know what you're doing, and you've really thought this through.
1. Shooting a pattern board can be quite different from shooting a bird. Unless you're a contortionist, perfect gun fit for skeet or dove shooting vs. perfect gun fit for American Trap can be different. Standing and shooting at a pattern board will replicate Trap reasonably well, but it's nothing like shooting passing doves or geese.
2. Even with that caveat, it really only works if someone really knows exactly where and how he/she likes to mount the gun. And shooting "high gun" at regulation targets can be quite different from shooting "low gun" in the real world of hunting, or SC.
3. It still doesn't tell you if the stock fits you. Felt recoil, cheek slap, etc. are as important as POI.
Bottom line: don't go using this method to start chopping away at a stock unless you really know what you're doing, and you've really thought this through.
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ocharry
Member
+1 for what ArmedBear said,,,,,,especially the arm bend part ROFLMAO
good stock fit is a tricky thing to get right,,,and static stock(trap) and action fit(hunting,skeet,sporting clays) are definitely two different things
ocharry
good stock fit is a tricky thing to get right,,,and static stock(trap) and action fit(hunting,skeet,sporting clays) are definitely two different things
ocharry
The critcisms of the Churchill method are not without merit. But it is a method that starts the process of fitting and is not the conclusion.
A full fitting includes shooting clays from a low gun position for the final adjustments. The problem frequently is people don't know how to mount the gun correctly. The gun is brought to the face not vice versa.
A full fitting includes shooting clays from a low gun position for the final adjustments. The problem frequently is people don't know how to mount the gun correctly. The gun is brought to the face not vice versa.
This is primarily a problem with "high gun" shooting, and "high gun" fitting of inexperienced shooters. It's hard to think that someone could shoot "low gun" and hit anything, while doing this.
And that's part of the problem with the method you specified. I have no real problem with testing where a gun points, but the precise formula for trimming the stock suggests that this test is far more meaningful than it really is.
If someone brings the gun to his/her face, and finds that he sees a little rib and a bead, straight in line with the eye, it's time to do some basic patterning, or even just "dust kicking", then start shooting.
Even with an experienced stock fitter working with an experienced shooter, it takes some trial-and-error work. Until someone can shoot reasonably well with a gun that fits reasonably well, it might be impossible to get a perfect fit, or even a near-perfect fit.
And a gun that doesn't fit at all is pretty easy to ferret out just by having someone mount the gun and look down the barrel. Mirrors and other tools can help with determining basic fit, but familiarity with the shotgun is an unavoidable prerequisite to getting any farther with it.
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What ArmedBear said. When I put the Wenig New American Style style stock on my 870 I did the initial stock removal before shooting then I shot it and then I took it to a shotgun smith for the final fit and recoil pad. Closing your eye and mounting the gun is a quick way to see it doesn't fit. Unless you're the Joe Average that that particular shotgun maker chose to fit stocks to, it won't fit. Remington standard doesn't fit me, Browning is closer.
There are many criteria in determining a correct shotgun fit. Several of them have already been pointed out. Here are a few more.
First, in order to determine a correct fit, the shooter must be using a correct shooting form. This means an erect shooting stance with a slight forward (toward the target) lean and with about 60-65 % of your weight on your front (left) foot. Don't arch your back and lean rearward like a rifle shooter. Your knees should be slightly flexed with your weight favoring the balls of your feet. This way, you can swivel or turn easily to hit crossing targets.
Your head should be fairly erect with your cheek leaned over very slightly so that your cheek contacts the side of the comb. If you have to bend your neck a lot and strain to get your eye in the proper position on the stock, then the stock doesn't fit. If your head is leaned over the top of the comb, the gun doesn't fit you.
Also, the tip of your nose should be about 1" to 1.5" from the knuckle where your thumb joins your hand. While you are in this correct shooting position, your eye should be looking just over the top of the receiver and just over top of the rib (assuming the barrel has a rib). It should appear that the front bead is sitting on top of the receiver, and the bead should be exactly in the middle (from side to side) of the rib. If the bead is off to one side of the rib when viewed with your right eye, then the stock doesn't fit you.
As others have said, you should be able to assume a correct shooting stance, close your eyes, and bring the gun up to your face/shoulder to the shooting position. When you open your eyes, your right eye should be perfectly aligned as I indicated above.
There are numerous other factors involved in a good gun fit, but these are some of the main ones.
First, in order to determine a correct fit, the shooter must be using a correct shooting form. This means an erect shooting stance with a slight forward (toward the target) lean and with about 60-65 % of your weight on your front (left) foot. Don't arch your back and lean rearward like a rifle shooter. Your knees should be slightly flexed with your weight favoring the balls of your feet. This way, you can swivel or turn easily to hit crossing targets.
Your head should be fairly erect with your cheek leaned over very slightly so that your cheek contacts the side of the comb. If you have to bend your neck a lot and strain to get your eye in the proper position on the stock, then the stock doesn't fit. If your head is leaned over the top of the comb, the gun doesn't fit you.
Also, the tip of your nose should be about 1" to 1.5" from the knuckle where your thumb joins your hand. While you are in this correct shooting position, your eye should be looking just over the top of the receiver and just over top of the rib (assuming the barrel has a rib). It should appear that the front bead is sitting on top of the receiver, and the bead should be exactly in the middle (from side to side) of the rib. If the bead is off to one side of the rib when viewed with your right eye, then the stock doesn't fit you.
As others have said, you should be able to assume a correct shooting stance, close your eyes, and bring the gun up to your face/shoulder to the shooting position. When you open your eyes, your right eye should be perfectly aligned as I indicated above.
There are numerous other factors involved in a good gun fit, but these are some of the main ones.
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