Gents:

Is there a system out there for measuring a person for a riflestock?

There isn't anything so simple as a formula that tells you what should fit you.

Your physical build and mount will determine how a gun should fit you.

First question is - are you talking about fitting a bolt gun or double gun?

Bolt gun, Chris.

If you're going with open sights and a scope, the stock will have to be made lower to accommodate you seeing the open sights. Shooting through the scope will obviously require you to raise your cheek off of the stock more. But that is what it is - two different sighting planes and a compromise has to be made.

LOP has nothing to do with the distance from your elbow to your finger tip. That measurement simply tells you how far it is from your elbow to your fingertip.

The stock’s LOP determines how much distance there is between your thumb (on the grip of the stock) and your cheekbone when the rifle is mounted.

If you have too little distance between your thumb and cheek, you'll get smacked in the face by your own thumb when you fire the rifle. Too much distance and the stock will drag on your shoulder and make the rifle difficult to mount. As the Brits say, you typically want about 3 fingers (1.5"-2") between your thumb and cheek when the rifle is mounted.

Adjusting/determining the drop is effectively making elevation adjustments to your shooting eye. Higher comb will raise your eye. Lower comb lowers it.

Cast is the windage adjustment and moves your head from left to right.

That's all you're basically trying to accomplish. Get the length right for your build and mounting style, while making the appropriate windage and elevation adjustments to put your eye on the sights when you shoulder the rifle.

Your best bet is to visit with your stock maker face-to-face. He's probably going to have several rifle stocks around for you to "try on." He'll need to see your mount, and he’s got lots of lessons learned over the years of experience.

If you already have a rifle that fits you perfectly, take it with you and your stock maker can duplicate the dimensions on that rifle.

If you’re in doubt on an exact LOP, I always recommend going a little longer. Get the rifle and shoot it. It’s just a little wood – easy to take off, but harder than heck to put back on.

I was playing around with some poster board tracing 2 stocks that fit me quite well. I drew a line that was used as the bore line for both rifles and made a mark where the trigger was.

First rifle is a Sako factory monte carlo w/cheekpiece and second one was a BSA Majestic low comb stock with a concave cheekpiece.

Both had scopes, the BSA also had irons. The LOP was the same and heel and toe of both were within 1/2" of each other. Seems obvious now :-)

Rich

one more practical piece of advice. take into account what clothing you will be wearing when you are shooting. If you plan on using the rifle in very cold weather hunting you may want to calculate the proper fit with your hunting clothing on.