Posted: 3/23/2012 7:01:56 AM EDT
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I have a Remington 11-87 that I'm purchased to shoot trap/skeet and to get started shooting 3 gun stuff. I have done a little bit of research on length of pull, but it seems that I am only finding the trap/skeet community discussing it.
Anyone have any experience in the area of modifying the stock LOP of their shotgun benefiting/being detrimental to overall performance? |
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I am with you on that one, I'm not sure I could easily transition to a pistol gripped shot gun and like it either. Maybe it's the mental game of it being a shot gun and having to mount it like an AR?
That's the real question I guess, are 3 gun shotguns put in positions to make longer shots to the end that a consistent mount is crucial in hitting the targets? |
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I used to fit gunstocks for folks in skeet and sporting clays. Never as a professional gunfitter, but I've helped a number of folks with LOP and drop/cast over the years. I'm truly a hack compared to a professional.
The standard rule of thumb (hehe) is that the back of your thumb should be at least 1" in front of your nose when you mount the gun. Because I have a giraffe neck and gorilla arms, that means my gun stocks tend to have a 16 1/4" LOP. I normally extend any gun I get by about 1 3/4" to get there. That ends up being a 1" recoil pad (most stock recoil pads are 3/4" or so) and 1.5" of spacers, give or take. I'll build up the stock with a spacer stack I want to try and shoot it for a while in that configuration. I'll adjust accordingly before epoxying the pad and spacer stack and grinding it to match the stock contours. While I'm very confident in my ability to mount and swing a sporting clays shotgun with a longer stock, when I put together my Winchester SX3 for 3 gun, I decided to try a shorter stock. I don't recall the measurement right now, but I think I ended up at about 15 3/8" or so. What I wanted to be sure of is that my nose cleared my thumb. 3 gun tends to use heavier loads (slugs, buck and birdshot) than most clay target shooters, and punching yourself in the nose repeatedly is a very good way to develop a nasty flinch. I also tried my hand at making my own spacer this time, 
It turned out really well. I've come to like the HiViz XCoil pads more than my old standby Kick-Eez. The slope at the top of the pad helps with gun mount, and it's a reasonably firm pad that still takes the sting out of slugs a bit. I ended up having to put a bit more drop into the stock than normal, to get my eye right with respect to the rib. If you're not shooting rifle sights, remember that your eye IS the rear sight. The gunstock is your way of lining your rear sight up with your front sight. You can shoot a gun that's almost any length within reason, as long as the drop and cast are correct. |
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The Winchester comes with a shim kit to adjust drop and cast of the stock. The cheap-n-dirty method to at least check it is to check for an unloaded shotgun, pick a spot on the wall, focus on it, close your eyes and mount the shotgun. When you open your eyes, the shotgun should be nearly pointing at that spot on the wall, and you should see VERY little rib under your front bead. If you see much rib at all, you probably need a bit more drop. If you can't see the whole bead, you probably need a bit less. If the bead isn't centered over the back of the rib, you probably need to adjust the cast appropriately.
This is normally verified on a pattern plate, but the above should get you in the ballpark. Also, if you're shooting rising clay birds (like in trap), you will most likely pull the trigger when you can't see the target under the barrel. Sporting clays and skeet guns are normally set up to put the shot pattern centered just about where the rib is. Trap guns are set up to shoot VERY high, so that as soon as the bead touches the base of the clay, you break the shot. |