Determining Pull

[brdurbin]

I'm wondering how you figure out length of pull. Is there an easy way and how hard is it to adjust on a build? Thanks for any assistance.

 

[Stumpkiller]

Simple measure: LOP is the distance from the inside of your bent elbow to the knuckle of your index finger (or the pad of the finger when bent 90

 

[rich pierce]

It's possible to mount and shoot a gun with a pulll that is shorter than it needs to be. Very hard to shoot a gun with a pull too long for the shooter. I advise people to pick a shotgun they can hit birds with and measure the pull. Chances are, it will work for them on a longrifle too, especially offhand.

 

[brdurbin]

Thanks, fellers. One of the great things about this forum is the patience shown to new-comers.

 

[SAJones]

The LOP is the distance from the center of the trigger to the center of the buttplate. Stumpkiller's recommendation is a good place to start, but I find a shorter pull than that works for me. Commercial stockers use a "try-stock" to determine customer measures, including length of pull and drop (distance to top of buttplate heel from a straight line from the top of the barrel). I think these are the most critical part of stock architecture. Cast off (or on, if your're left handed) is another, but I don't find it critical to hold. You can also shoulder a selection of rifles, find one that you like, then measure.

Incidentally, many old rifles have what we would term too short a length of pull. I shouldered one once & thought my right thumb was gonna put my eye out. Theory is that folks were smaller back then.

 

[Stumpkiller]

I guess you guys that favor short pulls don't wear glasses. Hard to focus on the target when your thumb raises the lenses as you mount the firearm. And stopping to bend them back straight them after the shot is a nuisance, too.

14-1/4" L.O.P. and loving it. ::

 

[Darkhorse]

I think the reason the old guns had a short LOP was because the insulation value in clothing was not as efficient as today. Hence you needed a lot of thicker clothing in winter and the rifles were built with this in mind.
Mine are built basically for summer shooting, as 99% of my shooting down in the sunny south is done with thin clothing. Even with thinsulate I can tell the difference when shooting from certain positions.
I guess I need to build one just for shooting with a coat.
Wonder if the BOSS would fall for that?

 

[Stumpkiller]

THE ADMIRAL would solve that by taking a pair of scissors to the right shoulder of my coats. "Snip, snip. Now it's not thick."

 

[George Pittelko]

Length of pull can be confusing depending on how the shooters stance is to the target. For the past 40 years, I've been primarily a shotgunner and is what my comments are based on. I'm 6'4" and shoot a 14 7/8" pull single trigger double. I handled the gun of another shooter as tall as I and his length of pull is a full one inch longer. We were both fitted by professional stock fitters and both of us believe that the length of pull is correct for us. The difference is that I face the target more squarely and the other person close to a 45 degree angle. No - neither one of us are 100% accurate - it would be nice.

 

[SAJones]

Stumpkiller: actually, I do wear glasses. In fact, I have a pair of "cheater" glasses I had made that focus at 3 1/2 feet, as the front sight was gettin' a little blurry. (And you can see the progression of my rear sight forward by the blanks put into old dovetails.) Put the lenses in a late 19th century frame so I can use them at primitive matches. The length of pull I like is 13 1/2", about 1/2" less than finger to elbow length. So you are correct about figuring an individual's initial length of pull, but other factors enter, including stance as mentioned above.

The rifle I mentioned w/ a short LOP was at an antique gun show & I didn't have a tape meassure: barrel musta weighed about 15 pounds, small bore & thin buttplate. Heavy barrel could lead one to think it was an over-the-log rifle, but that would put the lock next to my right ear: downright uncomfortable.

 

[MSW]

check out P. Alexander's Gunsmith of Grenville County ... on or about page 66 of my copy begins the explaination of how to make a try- stock. plywood, wing nut, you connect the dots. luckily, i have a rifle which works well for me, so i just use the measurements from that ...

i recently built a rifle for a short person, and of course i had to reinlet the but plate and reshape the back half of the butt, so it did look very nice when done.

good luck, don't be shy.

 

[Erzulis boat]

The current firearms industry typically offers the standard LOP measurement of 13.5 inches. But this measurement is what is currently acceptable for a modern "pistol grip" stock.
The straight,(or close to it) stock configuration of most muzzleloading arms cannot be held to the same standard. With the "straight" wrist, your hand consumes considerable real estate, and if your LOP is too short, will interfere with your cheekweld.
On a modern rifle a too short LOP is bearable because your hand and forearm are out of the way, but with a "straight" stock a too short LOP is unbearable.