by Mark Coleman
Most hunters think of gun fitting as something that goes along with a bespoke Purdey or Holland & Holland – a piece easily costing as much as a car and one we’d be afraid to actually take into the field. These days, however, custom shotguns can be found in a wide range of prices reaching into more affordable spaces for the average wingshooter, and a proper fitting can even help make your favorite off-the-shelf piece more accurate.
After years of pining for a 28-gauge and squirreling away the funds for it, I had a YOLO moment and decided to go all out and have one made to my measurements. I spent a morning with Chris Batha, noted author and shooting instructor, getting fitted as the first part of this process. Chris explained that a good fit begins with a good mount and, after watching me bring the gun to my shoulder a few times, he helped undo a few bad habits picked up over the last 30 years of shooting guns made for people of average size before we focused on my size.
Longer necks, wider shoulders, shorter arms, rounder faces. All of these combine to form the unique equation that determines whether a gun fits well or not. To measure them, you need a gun that can fit every size and shape of person. The tool of the trade is a try gun, a shotgun modified with a stock that can be moved and adjusted in all three dimensions to fit a shooter’s unique build.
Length of pull (the distance between trigger and stock butt), cast (the distance the stock is angled to one side or the other from dead center down the barrel), drop (the distance the stock drops from the point where it meets the action to the butt) and toe (the angle the stock is offset from vertical) are the variables in the equation. With these numbers, a gun stock can be cut and molded to a shooter’s body, making the gun an extension of the shooter rather than a device to be accommodated – through, in my case, bad technique.
The industry standard around which off-the-shelf guns are designed is a male who is 5’10” tall and 180 pounds, which I’m not. I’m 5’8” with arms that are an inch or two shorter than most people my size. And, yet, I’ve managed to shoot respectably with these average-sized guns for the last three decades. Consciously or subconsciously, I adjust to the gun, but this is akin to taking aspirin to mask pain instead of treating the injury.
A stock that’s too short results in hunching over the gun and feeling more of the recoil, creating inconsistency in your shots. On the other hand, a stock that’s too long tends to get caught on clothing when mounting the gun. The wrong amount of cast will cause you to miss in front of or behind the target. Many shooters, myself included, correct for the wrong cast by leaning over the stock to align their dominant eye correctly down the barrel. This is one of the bad habits Chris had to undo during my fitting. And too much or too little drop will cause you to shoot over or under the bird.
We spent some time making preliminary adjustments on the try gun with Chris looking down the barrel to see where my dominant eye lined up. Then, we went outside to test this at the pattern plate; a sheet of steel used as a target and coated with, in this case, red grease to show where I was hitting it. Aiming at the center, my first few shots were several inches high and to the right. A few more adjustments, a few more shots and I was hitting the target center.
Back inside, Chris attached a straightedge to the barrel of the try gun and began measuring the drop, cast and toe that produced the accurate shots. The entire process took about two hours, after which Chris handed me a sheet with all of my measurements that I can pass along to the gunmaker.
What if you already have a favorite gun and would just like it to fit better? With these measurements, a qualified gunsmith can adjust the stock in a variety of ways: bending to accommodate cast, adding a pad or trimming to adjust for length of pull, even shaving or building the comb to create the right amount of drop. Prices for this work vary, but in most cases the investment is significantly less than even a lower-end custom gun.
I asked how things like clothing and hunting vests affect fit and Chris said that the majority of today’s hunting wear is thin enough to not noticeably change the measurements. If you regularly hunt in places where multiple thick layers are necessary, talk to the gun fitter about this.
He also sent me home with an excellent tip to improve my gun mount during the offseason. “Practice in front of a mirror every day. Look in the mirror with your dominant eye as the target. Do about five repetitions and, by the end of the summer, you’ll have the muscle memory in place to make the mount automatic.” And always make sure the gun is unloaded before you start.
If you’re serious about your shooting and, certainly if you’re having a custom gun made, a fitting is worth the investment of $300 to $500. People spend thousands of dollars on dogs and training and travel and gear – all for the singular purpose of shooting a bird. And the most critical part of shooting a bird is the shooting.
Batha’s website is ChrisBathaShooting.com and offers a wealth of information about proper shotgun technique as well as contacts if you are interested in a fitting.
Mark Coleman lives and hunts in South Carolina. He splits time between woodcock and the resurgent population of bobwhite quail, following a pair of Brittanys through the pines and river bottoms. He’s more excited about this 28-gauge than he’s willing to admit.
