# Shotgun fit?



## gumswamprat (Feb 22, 2010)

How can you tell if a shotgun fits you? And what can you do to make one fit better? I heard that a proper fitting shotgun will help to hit flying targets. Is proper fit just as important as good ol practice practice practice?


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## hawgrider1200 (Feb 22, 2010)

*skeet shooters*



gumswamprat said:


> How can you tell if a shotgun fits you? And what can you do to make one fit better? I heard that a proper fitting shotgun will help to hit flying targets. Is proper fit just as important as good ol practice practice practice?



I hear the fellas that shoot skeet talkin about that fitment junk. I can not hit many clay pigeons no matter which gun I use. Maybe if I had one of those $3000 properly fitted shotguns, I'd shoot $3000 worth better????


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## Twenty five ought six (Feb 22, 2010)

gumswamprat said:


> How can you tell if a shotgun fits you? And what can you do to make one fit better? I heard that a proper fitting shotgun will help to hit flying targets. Is proper fit just as important as good ol practice practice practice?



A proper fit is probably more important than practice, practice, practice.

There's a saying that "practice doesn't make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect."  Without equipment that fits, you are not practicing perfectly.

You will find few other sports where the participant who wishes to excel picks up off the rack equipment, and competes with that.  Even with something as simple as jogging, you wouldn't expect every one to wear the same size shoe.

As to how to tell if a shotgun fits, just like any other sport, you want to visit someone who is knowledgeable in fitting shotguns.  Not Ol' Louie, the skeet shooter at the local club.

You can do all sorts of thing to make a shotgun fit.  It may be as simple as gluing a piece of moleskin to the comb, or lengthening or shortening the stock.  It can be as expensive as having a custom made stock with on-site fitting and adjustment.  In between are all sorts of gadgets and techniques to change the fit of the stock to you.


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## gumswamprat (Feb 22, 2010)

Thanks for the answers. I dont mean you have to buy a 3000 dollar gun. What I mean is can the shotguns I already own be fitted to me to help shoot better. I think twenty five ought six answered that. Thanks.


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## Ole Fuzzy (Feb 22, 2010)

People that know can also physically look at you and see if you are bunched up on the stock and generally tell you by visual reference if it is markedly too short or too long.  After that, shooting is required.  There is such a thing as a try gun, which has a stock that is adjustable in a number of ways.  That is generally the approach to taking custom measurements for a bespoke gun.  One can start the process with an existing gun by shooting an impact plate at 16 yards to see if you consistently hit where you are looking.  The old rules of thumb are about 65/35 or 70/30 (above/below the target).  The British tradition is bum-belly-beak and they want the barrel just on the bottom of the target.  So mount the gun smoothly with the barrel at the bottom of target and see how you hit.  

I don't know who does gunfitting in the Macon area.
Chris Batha is in SC just north of Savannah.  He used to work out of Dorchester on the south side of Savannah, I am not sure where he is doing it now.

He is as good as anyone you will find.  He has some good DVD's out, such as Mastering The Double Gun.

http://www.chrisbatha.com/


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## miles58 (Feb 22, 2010)

gumswamprat said:


> How can you tell if a shotgun fits you? And what can you do to make one fit better? I heard that a proper fitting shotgun will help to hit flying targets. Is proper fit just as important as good ol practice practice practice?



I used to shoot a lot more (and better) than I do now.  When I shot a lot more I could shoot most guns very well, and my own guns with fitted stocks spooky well.  If the gun is reasonably close it won't make a lot of difference unless you shoot enough to be considered a good shot, and then a well fitted stock can make a lot of difference.  A bad fit can make a even a really good shooter have major problems in the field.

Dave


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## FERAL ONE (Feb 23, 2010)

i used to be a horrible skeet shooter then one day i decided to shoot my wifes youth model.  it was like it was made to fit me and i could feel the difference. i am a grown fella, but shoot youth sized guns because they fit !!!


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## Twenty five ought six (Feb 24, 2010)

gumswamprat said:


> Thanks for the answers. I dont mean you have to buy a 3000 dollar gun. What I mean is can the shotguns I already own be fitted to me to help shoot better. I think twenty five ought six answered that. Thanks.



If you are interested in following up on this, attend one of the major sporting clays shoots.

The Georgia State Shoot is in May at Griffin, and the NWTF shoot is in August in Forsyth/Macon.

Either one will have several vendors with new and used guns for sale.  The NWTF shoot will have more factory displays.

Chris Batha is a good gunfitter.  If you want to go the other way, the Nelsons in Cherokee, AL are outstanding in service, and extremely reasonable pricing.  They come to some Georgia events if you don't want to go to them.
http://www.gunfitter.com/


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## GrouseHiker (Feb 24, 2010)

The simple approach:

Figure out how you want to hold your head when you shoot - hold it there, close your eyes, bring the shotgun up to your shoulder. If it's automatically aimed, it probably fits pretty well.

I discovered early on that when I do this with a factory stock, the gun is always aiming high (stock too short).

However, if you have a shotgun that's pretty close and shoot it a lot, you will learn to adjust to that gun.

Also, cknerr on this forum is an expert stock fitter. I haven't seen anything from Chris lately, I hope everything's ok with him.


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## gumswamprat (Feb 24, 2010)

Great info. Thanks again.


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## Dovebuster33 (Feb 26, 2010)

*Wing shooting*

Don't know if it will help you, but I bought, read and put into practice a technique from a paper back book: "The Orvis Book of Wingshooting." Went from hitting 2-3 doves per box of shells to 15-20 almost immediately. I would recommend trying it. Its in paper back and very cheap for a used one @ Amazon.com.

Dovebuster


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