This image shows the gun after I shortened it, fitted a soft recoil pad, altered the pitch by reducing the length to toe, fitted and wrap around comb raiser, and re-balanced it.
The lady that came in for a fitting session with this gun had some information from the shooting school she was attending, however there was some debate as to the stock length required. My job was to assess the fit and make a decision on the stock length.
The wrap around comb raiser was fitted during the fitting session, as the comb was so low that the client couldn't see over the action if the gun was properly mounted. She was being forced to lift her head, which always limits a persons shooting performance. This form of temporary alteration was chosen as the ths stock was unlikely to lift by casting to the required measurement, and even if it did the heel of the stock would have been too high in the shoulder. Options of fitting an adjustable comb or inletting a permanent raised comb were considered, but rejected as not economic in this case.
The wrap around comb raiser was fitted during the fitting session, as the comb was so low that the client couldn't see over the action if the gun was properly mounted. She was being forced to lift her head, which always limits a persons shooting performance. This form of temporary alteration was chosen as the ths stock was unlikely to lift by casting to the required measurement, and even if it did the heel of the stock would have been too high in the shoulder. Options of fitting an adjustable comb or inletting a permanent raised comb were considered, but rejected as not economic in this case.
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The next task was to correct the stock length, as this was unbalancing the client, and causing her to stand a little too side on. I have cut the stock at an angle to alter the pitch to better suit the client's shoulder. I also removed a one inch hard ebonite stock extension, and replaced it with a half inch soft recoil pad. Using a half inch pad will allow me to easily increase the stock length a little again if changes to the mount cause this to be required.
Next I rebalanced the gun. I machined a recess in the stock to take a lead weight. Then cast, shaped and fitted a seven ounce weight. Usually this would be held in by by dedicated screws, but there was insufficient wood to allow this so instead I fitted extra strong screws to the recoil pad and these will hold both the lead and the pad in place.
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Seven ounces is on the heavy side for such a weight, but this gun is especially muzzle heavy and the client is lightly built. Although the overall weight of the gun is increased, the change to it's moment of inertia caused by moving the balance point nearer to the client will make it handle quicker and feel lighter. It only looks like a small differnce, but the gun feels completley differently now.
 Balance point before. |
 Balance point after. |
Gun fit and stance coming along nicely