Are there any rules of thumb of the length of pull based on ones arm length?

Although I am only 5'10", I wear a 35" sleeve. I find the standard length of pull (about 13.5") to maybe be a little too short. I find that unless I make myself snug the stock into my shoulder, I tend to pull shots high and to the right. This also tends to increase the chance of bruising and makes one more susceptible to "scope eye" as my neck is craned a bit forward.

I have always made do and I have always heard and read that a shorter stock is better on a hunting rifle as it accounts for heavy clothes. Any thought on this?

If I slid on a slip-on recoil pad, the stocks are snugged into my shoulder better, but maybe a little to long to shoot with heavy clothes.

Was wondering how guys approach stock LOP on a do-all hunting rifle.

Yep, a good starting point is bend your arm and set the butt in the crook of your elbow. Your trigger finger should reach the trigger comfortably. Then fine tune the LOP from there.

A gunsmith told me he has the person mount the rifle and adjusts the lop on the stock to make one inch between the shooters face and their hand. This I have done for my wife and daughter and they have not had any problems.

Most people go with something like a 13.5" LOP, even on custom rifles but in your case with the very long sleeve length I'd agree you need more.

People built more like a Yeti often go with a 14.5-15.5" LOP (talk to Jeffeoso about this).

Walker's basic system is absolutely correct.

I am 5'10" with a 34" sleeve. I was "fit" by stockmaker James Tucker at the '03 Gunmakers Guild Show with a try gun. My LOP from that is 15".

Just measuring from the elbow to the trigger finger pad gets 14".

jim

The 'rule of thumb' that I use, is to have the customer mount the gun where it feels comfortable and then measure the distance between the knuckle of the "thumb" and the tip of his nose. I generally set that distance to 1 inch.

I am 6'8" (plus) and I have a 38" sleeve. I was originally fitted at 14 7/8 inch LOP. I was also told to take and bend your fingers as if on a trigger, then measure the length fron that finger to the cook of your are (at the inside of the elbow) when held at 90 degrees. I am not sure if 14 7/8 is coorect, but it has to be better than all of these factory guns that do not fit!

I read on the net somewhere to mount the gun and measure from the thumb knuckle and face.

This measurement should be between 1 & 1.5 inches.

So after messing a round with all of my guns my LOP came out to 13 5/8- 14 3/8. This also works out to the the crook of arm/pad of finger method for me.

As a side note, I also pay alot of attention to the drop at comb/heel measurements. I have found that I prefer straight stocked rifles with 1/2 inch for both measurements.

The methods quoted above are often-used rules of thumb. Remember, though, that they do not take into account the clothing you will be wearing when shooting, nor the pitch & drop of the stock(s) on the gun(s) you will be shooting.

They also assume an offhand shooting position. For other positions you will likely do best with shorter & shorter LOP(s) for kneeling, sitting, and prone, in that order. Finally, when setting pull-length for a shotgun that does not have a single trigger firng mechanism, they should be employed to establish the LOP to the "rear" trigger, not the forward one....at least that works best for me and my guns.

If it is an inexpensive stock you are making, modifying, or having made, for hunting use only, the "rules of thunb" are probably close enough. For competitive shooting, or when ordering a truly expensive custom stock from one of the "master's", I'd personally find it worth the while to hie myself to someone with a "try-gun" who does LOP measurements for part of his living. Be sure and tell him the use you are going to make of the gun, too. (A slightly shorter pull often works better for hunting, as you will likely be standing more face-on to the game when shooting, while a target shooter will stand more at an angle to the target. That means the hunter will need slightly less LOP, even without his hunting jacket).

quote:

Originally posted by HunterJim:
I am 5'10" with a 34" sleeve. I was "fit" by stockmaker James Tucker at the '03 Gunmakers Guild Show with a try gun. My LOP from that is 15".

Just measuring from the elbow to the trigger finger pad gets 14".

jim

I'm guessing that gun is a shotgun. I could be wrong. Most shotguns are around 1" longer that a rifle fit to the same person. That's just one of those pesky rules of thumb. At least for the thumbs on my hand. I'm 6'2" and build my rifles 14". Just my personal taste.

gunmaker

I am very average sized 5'9", a standard 13 5/8 feels right and a standard shotgun at 14 1/4 feels right as well. I've never understood why the shotgun needs to be longer to feel a proper fit. Anybody have any ideas? My assumption is that you shoot with your head more straight up with the scattergun.

quote:

Originally posted by jstevens:
I am very average sized 5'9", a standard 13 5/8 feels right and a standard shotgun at 14 1/4 feels right as well. I've never understood why the shotgun needs to be longer to feel a proper fit. Anybody have any ideas? My assumption is that you shoot with your head more straight up with the scattergun.

Just guessing here, but I suspect you have most of the answer. Part of it is likely because of the (lack of) sights on the shotgun...you don't have to bow your head down to see through them. And, in any good "flying target" shooting school you re taught to bring the gun up to your eye, not your eye down to the gun.

Also, if you are shooting trap but don't have lightning reflexes, it might help to have a slightly longer stock. Depending on the pitch, the longer stock may shoot lower for you than a short one, and trap birds, unlike live birds, are following a downward curve relative to the line of bore, starting shortly after they leave the trap(s). So, for those who don't shoot a little "under" the bird, it is easy to miss high. Of course the shot is also falling, so there's NOT MUCH (if any) difference required.

I also suspect the recoil of a double-trigger gun has something to do with it. When shooting doubles (right & lefts) in the field, the two shots must be taken very quickly and often in quite different directions. As the gun sets back into the shoulder one wants their trigger finger to still come automatically to the position of the rear trigger without having to re-grasp the small of the stock. So, if the pull measurement is longer to the front trigger, it will be about right for the rear trigger...that is, the LOP to the rear trigger on a double will be about the same as the LOP on a single trigger gun which fits one well.

There is usually time to get the trigger finger in proper position for the front (first) trigger, when shooting driven game birds. And driven game guns is where I suspect the "custom" of much longer shotgun stocks is found to have originated and remains most common. Modern single-trigger guns often do not have particularly longer LOPs.

(When I say "guns", I am using it in the older English/European use...meaning a shotgun. Rifled-barrel weapons were usually referred to as tifles.)