I've been trying to find information on how to establish the right Length of Pull value when it comes to rifles I own. I've never found a good source for this, but know the guns I have seem to be too short at 13.5-13.8".

Other than personal preference, are there guidelines on ways to measure things like arm length, elbow to trigger finger length, etc?

95
Hi, the old fashioned way was to measure from the inside of your elbow joint to the crook of your trigger finger.
Unless you know someone with a try stock I guess that is one way to go.
Keep in mind the prevailing weather conditions at the time you most use that rifle. If you have bulky clothes on the lop might be best at a little shorter length. One way around this is to shorten to bulky clothes length and use a slip on recoil pad for warmer conditions. Some of the newer rifles are coming out with recoil pad spacers for a means of accomplishing this , Tikka I think is one.
I am assuming you use a scope on the rifle and that moving the scope back or forth is not an option.
Main thing is can you shoulder your rifle and see a proper scope/sight picture, if not trim it down or lengthen it till you do, keeping in mind what I mentioned before. Hope this helps and best of luck with it.
Straight shootin

95,
like WC said, a close rule of thumb is from the inside of the bicep to the trigger... it's not perfect, but it'll like you know how close... subtract 3/8 or 1/2 an inch for clothing/coats/etc

jeffe

There is no hard and fast rule (that I know of) for determining correct LOP. The truth is, one can adapt to a stock that is a little short, but not to one that is too long. Someone once wrote that a stock is too short when your thumb hits your nose on recoil!

Glen,
I saw richard nearly RIP his nose off on a 577 that was WAY too short...

and I learned to shoot with mausers and springfields... and people that don't shoot offhand crack me up with they point out my thumb is inline with the barrel, not wrapped around...

wiping your nose with a .458+ SUCKS

jeffe

Length of pull should not be measured by the length of the fore-arm. When the gun is mounted, it should be balanced (the right arm should be bent at a comfortable angle), and a couple of fingers should fit between your thumb and your nose. JMO, Dutch.

I had a professional shotgun fitting done this past summer, got measured for SxS & O/U. Would the LOP be the same for rifles?

Seems to me standard LOP on production shotguns is around 14-1/2 but production rifles are an inch shorter.

Rob

With a jacket on, the measurement from my bicep to the pad of my crooked trigger finger is 15 3/4". I like a 14" length of pull on my rifles.

i ahve always wondered how the old fore arm thing go tstarted. All that tells you is how long your bicep-to-trigger distance is. Shotguns fit differently than rifles. I put some stock in a good shotgun measurement session, but only so far. THere are a ciuyple of reasons for this. One, evryone measures a little differently, and everyone shoot's a little differently. There are soem guidelines as to "proper" mount, but again, it is only for starters. Same with rifles. Most AMericans really crawl the stock. I mean super crawl it. I used to do it when younger as well. As I got older I found I shot much better, especially offhand, when shooting very erect. I like German stocks with a good bit of drop and high scope rings and long pull. I find it much more comfortable. Most Americnas hate that style of stock and shooting. THe only thing you can do is actually shoot a lot of rifles and see which one you like best. There is no magic way to measure it. There are certain things in yoru physique that just can't eb measured, as well as any physical issue. This includes aging. Shotgunners change their diemensions as they age due to less strength and flexibility. Just try a bunhc and find what you feel the most comfortable with

LOP is determined by variables with the rifle. The human body is infinitely adjustable and will conform appropriately.

I recommend the longest possible LOP. Slightly over 14" is still the standard on most European rifles. American rifles began to get shorter after WWII, when inexpensive scopes came into use. By mounting the rings on the tube instead of the objective, we pushed the scopes forward on the receiver. This meant that we had to shorten the LOP by an inch in order to get proper eye relief with high power scopes.

Europeans still mount the forward ring around the objective, which brings the scope rearwards toward the shooter and allows for a longer, more comfortable LOP.

Remember you can alway remove wood, you can't put it back.
Consider your scope mount, eye relief and recoil.

Kurt C. makes a very valid point about the eye relief of the scope you are using... You might achieve perfect LOP but then you might not be able to mount the scope you want/have...

My method has been: find your best fitting current stock, get some 1/4" plywood and trace the butt section on to it and cut out several spacers, continue to glue on spacers until you are there and make a measurement. This method should keep the pitch consistent with the original rifle stock...

95Yukon, An inexpensive way to check if a longer length of pull would be comfortable to you is to use one of the slip on recoil pads. They add 1/2 to 3/4" to a given rifle and you could add spacers inside to lengthen it even more. I would buy one and try it on several of your rifles. When you find one that feels good to you take a LOP measurement.
If the rifles you have don't already have recoil pads you can add different lengths of recoil pads to add a little to the LOP. Brownells sells recoil pads from 1/4 to 1 1/2". They also sell additional black spacers you can use in front of the pads, but too many of these does start to get goofy looking. But unless you already have a thick recoil pad on your rifles you should be able to adjust LOP with different pad thicknesses enough for a good fit.......DJ

I was just going to order a Stockade stock from Lock Stock and Barrel for my Savage and was thinking what LOP to order. I have only shot whatever most stocks come standard. Does anyone know if these synthetic stocks can be shortened? I have very long arms and I find myself backing my head up from the scope when I pull most rifles to my shoulder. Thanks Chain

Two well thought of stockmakers who helped me learn both had the same solution. Grip the stock and position your head on the stock in a comfortable manner. There should be 1 1/2" +/- between your thumb and your nose. That will allow you to be in the field of view of most scopes and will keep your nose from being hammered by your thumb. A lot of it is guided by the way you lay your head down on the stock and consquently the geometry of your body, not much of which has anything to do with the length of your forearm.

The one thing that also determines the trigger pull is a persons neck.

The hardest stock fitting job I ever had was a Trap stock on a Rem 1100. Had to shorten the nut by a 1/8" so I could match the length. Then the hard part came. She was very well endowed, so had to put an outlandish twist to the stock so she would not get bruised. Then had to fit the comb just so because she also had a short neck.

If you have a short neck you can only place your head just so.
A long necked person can use a longer stock and get by with it.

Just my 2 cents.

Everyone have a good Xmas.

Jim Wisner

Chain, I have 38" arms, and I ordered a 15" long Stockade stock -- just about perfect, maybe a hair long. My shotgun stocks are about 3/4" longer.... HTH, Dutch.

I think that is the plan Dutch. I was also going to put a limbsavers recoil pad on it. I think 15" is the magic number. I hate getting in a tight position and then have to back me head up I think if I go to that I should be alright. Thanks, Chain