When you ask most people about shooting a shotgun, they often cringe and throw out a comment about the gun “kicking the crap out of them” or “I’ll never do that again.” What they are describing is a gun that does not fit them and as a result, the recoil takes the path of least resistance, leading the barrel to jump. The shooter is often left with a bruised face and shoulder. With an experience like this, it is easy to see how a 12 gauge can get a bad rap, but 90 percent of this issue can be fixed with the correct gun fit.
Fitting a gun correctly can be the difference in a beginner shooter becoming an avid outdoors person or using one bad experience as their basis of opinion for life. There are several factors that all contribute to correct gun fit, I will dive into each of them briefly and describe how to correctly set up the gun to each shooter. The four basic elements that contribute to correct fit are the length of pull, cast, drop and pitch.
Length of pull (LOP) is the distance from the trigger to the center of the butt of the gun. Typically the easiest way to check this is to measure the distance between your nose and the thumb of your shooting hand. If the gun has the correct length of pull this distance should be between 1 ½ – 2 ½ inches. If the distance between the thumb and nose is too short the shooter may experience discomfort when he pulls the trigger and he punches himself in the nose with his thumb, and if the distance is too great the shooter might have an issue mounting the gun and this can lead to lifting his head off the gun and as a result taking the brunt of the recoil on his face.
This is an example of the correct way to measure LOP.
Another way to measure the LOP is to actually measure the distance between the trigger and the center of the gun’s butt. Keep in mind that gun fit is all about comfort, so the numbers I’m going to throw out are just estimates of what would be typical for most people. I would say that typical LOP for most average size people should be between 14 ½ to 15 inches depending on height. Obviously, if you are outside the typical shooter in height this will be different. For shooters over 6 foot tall the LOP will be longer, and youth shooters and some women will have LOP of between 12 and 14 inches. If the shooter looks like their face is back on the stock this is a sign that the LOP is too long.
Cast is the angle of the stock right and left of the centerline of the gun. Typically left handed shooters have cast off and right-handed shooters have a cast on an angle. This essentially is what is responsible for you shooting right or left of center and is also responsible for how the recoil travels through the gun into your shoulder. This can be different for everyone. The sign of incorrect cast will be a shooter’s cant of the gun. This can be changed a number of ways. If you have an adjustable butt plate like a Kick-EEZ you can adjust to fit. Some manufacturers like Beretta, Browning, and Benelli include shim packages with their guns for the customer to change out.
The picture above shows cast on.
Drop is the measurement that impacts where the gun will shoot in relation to the barrel. It essentially makes the gun shoot high or low. The drop is measured at the face, then at the comb and the heel. A typical measurement at the comb is in the 30mm range and in the 50’s at the heel. This is the most easily changed measurement of the gun-fitting process, with the aid of an adjustable comb. Even if your gun does not have an adjustable comb you can change the measurement up and down simply by using a piece of moleskin or even cardboard. As with most of these gun fitting techniques putting a number on a measurement is hard, because it is all about comfort. But as a rule of thumb, the drop is correct when you can look down the barrel and the rib of the shotgun intersects the iris of the eye.
The last dimension that affects the basic proper gun fit is pitch. Pitch is what makes the gun recoil up or down. This is a very little adjustment, but it can have huge effects on the shooter if it is not done correctly. If you have too much pitch the gun will recoil up into your face, and if you have too little pitch the gun will recoil downward away from your face. This can make it hard to shoot a second shot because you don’t have great control of the gun. You can fix this simply by removing the butt pad and adding a couple of quarters to the bottom or top. This will change the pitch. The pitch will be correct when you shoot the gun and the recoil comes straight back into the shoulder.
Shotgun fitting is all about comfort, and performance, meaning that if you measure your gun and it does not match any of the measurements that I have described, but you are comfortable shooting it and you hit targets then it fits you fine. However, if you shoot your gun and leave the range with a purple shoulder and face then you might want to take a look into having someone help you fit your gun better. I hope this serves as a guide for better understanding gun fit and how to make your shotgun comfortable to shoot.
Also having trouble understanding this article.
Having reviewed the author’s accomplishments, it is apparent that he knows a thing or two about handling a shotgun. However, he should stick to shooting and leave the explanations to others. This article contains so much misinformation that it is actually detrimental to learning anything about shotgun fit. In this article, the terms cast off (for a right handed shooter) and cast on (for a left handed shooter) are reversed. Likewise the effects of pitch are reversed: less pitch will tend to cause the gun to rise during recoil causing discomfort to the shooter’s cheek and to a degree, the shoulder. Also, a 15″ length of pull is too long for 80% of the population.
Shotgun fit is an art and involves a number of subtleties, so before you can have a stock fitted you must first develop the proper stance and gun mount. My advice is to find a gun that doesn’t hurt you and get some instruction.
In case you are wondering what I know about shotgunning, you will find my name listed on the ATA All American Team … 7 times.
Thank you for this article and explaining the different aspects of stock fit. I’ll be looking at my shotguns differently now, hoping to improve their fit.
as right hander with left dominate eye can I ever shoot well without learning to shoot left handed
Close your left eye
I have always found it odd for people to be unaware of which eye is their dominant eye. Upon noticing them shoot, bringing it to their attention and talking them into wearing an eye patch over the dominant eye for a few months of fairly frequent shooting sessions their brain began to learn to focus with the shooting side eye. Sounds strange, but, I learned this little trick while back in the military early through mid sixties. All it takes to try is a short trip to the pharmacy, purchase of an inexpensive eye patch, wear it and visit the skeet, trap and sporting clay range fairly regularly. Until you train your non-dominant to do the work, while hunting wear the patch. You will be surprised how much it will improve your shooting, with shotgun, handgun and non-scoped rifles. It has helped quite a few folks over the years and I hope it helps the ones of you who will simply try this non-complicated, non-expensive and virtually trouble free training exercise for your eyes!
I have no idea and can not understand what you are trying to convey as being the correct distance without an accurate picture.
I didn’t understand much of the article. I don’t understand what cast is. And I have no idea what I’m looking at in the picture that supposed to show cast. I also don’t know what a comb is on a rifle.
I presume the picture of the Cast On is for a right-handed shooter?
A 15 inch length of pull for a 6 foot tall shooter may be alright for trap shooters or the current breed of sporting clay’s shooters that pre-mount the gun before taking the shot but for the traditionalists sporting shooters who prefer to shoot gun down (the way sporting clay’s was meant to be shot) and hunters who do not pre-mount the gun, 15 inches is much too long for most people under 6 foot 3. A gun that is too long is a huge detriment to good instinctive shooting.
Cast “On” is for a left handed shooter, Cast “Off” is for a right handed shooter. For more detail see: On the same page is a description of Length Of Pull with a diagram.
“Beginner’s” guide?
I’m a beginner but no clue what the comb, rub or heel are…
Good read. I had to fit my ultra short armed wife (with stiff neck) and granddaughter. They started with 870 Rems, which worked out great as used wood stocks could be picked up for a few bucks at local gun shows as a lot of folks were changing them out for synthetic for various reasons, so I was able to cut/angle etc. until everyone was happy. One has recoil pad affixed with a slight twist and looks like a mistake, but makes a considerable difference in comfort for her, so looks was secondary.