I now understand the adage about shotgun fit

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CopperFouling

CopperFouling

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I've been shooting shotguns for about ten years now. Most days at the range involve 50 to 100 rounds. I've shot 125 in one day when I was shooting regularly before my shoulder began to feel it. I must have always taken the fit of my shotguns for granted.

Today, my friend and I brought Mossberg 500s to his range to shoot steel with birdshot. I bought my 500 a few years ago with the intention of using it for HD, but nowhere around me allows buckshot, so I didn't practice with it and left it sitting in the safe.

The first time that I pulled the trigger, I basically whacked myself in the face. I blamed that one on myself since I hadn't pulled the trigger on a shotgun since October. However, the next four shots did the same thing. I switched to his 500 and shot normally. Then I compared the two side by side.

Apparently, my 500 has a compact stock with a 13" LOP. I knew the LOP was shorter than my other shotguns, but I had no idea how much that extra 1-1/4" made a difference.

I'm hoping the bruise to my cheekbone isn't too noticeable tomorrow morning.
 
If you'd like a standard 500 black synthetic stock, you can just straight up have mine, I'll even send it your way for free. I swapped mine with the bantam stock after one range session because I prefer a shorter LOP, so my stock has been sitting in my closet for years collecting dust.
 
On one outing, my buddy only had half a box of 20 gauge, so he saved that for last.

We had been shooting 12 gauges and everything all day, no sweat.

The 20 gauge WALLOPED the heck out of all us. It was miles off from fitting any of us. The hard plastic butt and light weight sure didn't help, but it was sure a memorable shooting experience.
 
As I discuss in my recent thread, shotgun fit can be wildly out of whack. In fact, based on my recent experience I wonder how so many people can pickup a standard gun with normal stock and think it fits. The tiny adjustments that many folks think are significant do nothing for folks that need a lot of help like myself. I just had an adjustable butt plate installed in my 12 ga O/U, and the difference is night and day. I have raised the gun about 1 7/8" while still keeping the recoil pad no higher than the top of my shoulder and canted the comb right into my cheek. Now my head is fully erect like you see in ad pictures instead of bent sideways and forward over the stock. My eyeball sits right behind the rib with no hunching or tilting of my head. Ahh! This is so nice. (Yes, I am a lefty.)

Sure I could have used an adjustable comb to raise it and added rib height to get it up to my eye, but the butt plate was so much easier. And I would have never gotten enough cast the other way like just canting the gun over to the side provides.

Stock 3.jpg Stock 4.jpg
 
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seanie! said:
If you'd like a standard 500 black synthetic stock, you can just straight up have mine, I'll even send it your way for free. I swapped mine with the bantam stock after one range session because I prefer a shorter LOP, so my stock has been sitting in my closet for years collecting dust.
Click to expand...

Wow! I'll send you a PM.

rpenmanparker said:
As I discuss in my recent thread, shotgun fit can be wildly out of whack. In fact, based on my recent experience I wonder how so many people can pickup a standard gun with normal stock and think it fits. The tiny adjustments that many folks think are significant do nothing for folks that need a lot of help like myself. I just had an adjustable butt plate installed in my 12 ga O/U, and the difference is night and day. I have raised the gun about 1 7/8" while still keeping the recoil pad no higher than the top of my shoulder and canted the comb right into my cheek. Now my head is fully erect like you see in ad pictures instead of bent sideways and forward over the stock. My eyeball sits right behind the rib with no hunching or tilting of my head. Ahh! This is so nice. (Yes, I am a lefty.).
Click to expand...

I've never seen that much adjustment in a butt pad before. Did it take you a while to find the correct fit?
 
Most shotgun stocks are designed for the 'average' man, and with the idea of firing maybe a box over the course of a day. (Field guns, for duck or upland game.) A perfect fit is less critical for that use. When you shoot clays games, you are shooting either 25 or 50 shots each round, and many competitors shoot a lot more. Fit becomes all-important then. Good fit improves all types of shotgun shooting, both in terms of comfort, and increased dead bird count, live or clays.
 
JudgeHolden10 said:
Wow! I'll send you a PM.

I've never seen that much adjustment in a butt pad before. Did it take you a while to find the correct fit?
Click to expand...
I spoke to the maker of the hardware and he guided me to the adjustment. I removed the top screw of three so that I could lower the pad more and canted the pad so that the comb would come right to my cheek pocket. That put the rib right under my eye. I bet most people actually need this kind of adjustment to shoot with an erect head and horizontally aligned eyes. Now I don’t have to bend over the gun at all which experts say is the desired way to shoot.
 
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It is more than just that 1-1/4"; there is drop at comb, drop at heel, pitch, toe in or out, cast on or off. Each little incremental adjustment in these areas can make a gun that smacks you into one that doesn't. You do not fit yourself to the gun, you make the gun fit to you. Same for rifles and handguns, although not to quite the same degree.
 
Can you go somewhere and be 'fitted' for shotgun? Even if just to know how badly your guns may fit you... hopefully to make some adjustments.

Shotguns typically feel very ' large' or too long for me, like I'm reaching out too far while shouldering them. I remember my old stoger coach gun feeling very nice, but that was long ago..
 
Stop trying to hold it like an AR; it isn't. English folks shoot guns with 15"+ LOP, and these guys average 5-8 or 5-10 in height. Their offhand is fully extended on the forearm to guide the barrels where they need to be. Too many try to rifle shoot a shotgun, especially for moving targets like clays or birds and typically miss behind.
 
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