Gun fitting. Is it worth it?

[Dagben77]

As the title says.

 

I have shot rifles for a few years now and have had reasonable success. However, I have never really gelled with Shot Guns!

 

I've tried a few and none of them gave me great results (not blaming the hardware BTW).

 

Does anyone out there have experience of their shooting improving with having their gun fitted?

 

What sort of money should I be spending, should I go ahead with it.

 

Thanks.

[Saltings]

a hard transition from rifle to shotgun one you shoot where it is, the other you shoot where its going to be, and yes when you get used to handling a shotgun a slight stock adjustment gets the gun shooting where you are looking and worth every penny cost depends on the gun stock type and quality of the wood and also the type of action or the other option is an adjustable comb raiser either can be sorted by a good gunsmith

Edited February 12, 2016 by Saltings

[BerettaSV10]

Had my guns fitted and the new one checked and it definitely helps with ones scores, When I pattern plated them before being adjusted the shot pattern was nowhere near where I was looking, now they put the shot where I expect the shot to be. Still miss clays but no where as much as I was before I got them fitted.

[JohnfromUK]

It depends; there is no doubt that good gun fit is important ........ but obviously it's not the only thing that can influence success (or otherwise). It also depends on how good/bad the fit of your present gun is.

 

There is no point in fitting until you have a decent and above all consistent gun mount and style.

 

See a good coach and get advice from him. A coaching session is usually priced per hour/session ...... and gun fit will depend on what needs changing. At a complete guess you will be £100-300 all in, but it does depend on what needs doing.

Edited February 12, 2016 by JohnfromUK

[TIGHTCHOKE]

As the title says.

 

I have shot rifles for a few years now and have had reasonable success. However, I have never really gelled with Shot Guns!

 

I've tried a few and none of them gave me great results (not blaming the hardware BTW).

 

Does anyone out there have experience of their shooting improving with having their gun fitted?

 

What sort of money should I be spending, should I go ahead with it.

 

Thanks.

 

Unless you are one of the VERY lucky few who can pick up a gun and it fits, everyone will benefit from having a gun ptofessionally fitted.

[welshwarrior]

Gun fit is vital to shoot a shotgun well it's important with a rifle but not as vital. A well fitting shotgun will shoot where you look and reduce felt recoil.

 

Your mount needs to be consistent the gun fitter will look at your shooting as a whole as for example a stance will need adjusting.

 

A Gunfit cost can vary from £35 up to £150 plus clays and cartridges depending where you go.

[fitzy]

The friendly chap in the gunshop (he's also senior instructor) sold me a r/h gun and I'm left handed so I would be cautious who you approach.

 

The gun is a Silver Pigeon sporter. I bought a thinner stock pad which helped. However I've since sourced a rather plain old l/h game stock which I find better fit although aesthetically not as nice. The original woodwork is unused in the box which seems a pity. In hindsight I wish I'd gone elsewhere, bought a l/h game gun in the first place and had it properly checked for fit..

Edited February 12, 2016 by fitzy

[Gordon R]

If the current gun fit is okay - no problem. However, if it is not, I would certainly do something about it.

 

It might sound like the expensive way to go, but I would get the comb made adjustable and then have a gun fitting session. As the stock would be adjustable, it should be easier for a gun fitter to get the correct set up, rather than advising you what the dimensions should be.

 

The gun would go up in value and allow for adjustments if you ever put on or lost weight.

[NickB65]

I have been shooting for years and have added length to many gun stocks myself to help them fit better but when I purchased my 20 bore I took it along to my local gunsmith who fitted the gun length to me. Yes you have to have a consistent gun mount before any fitting will work but once you have this a minor tweak in LOP or CAST will make a huge difference.

 

My 20 bore was extended by an inch and although it needed a slight change to the CAST Paul insisted I used it for a month or two to get used to the new LOP and then to come back and let him know how it was going. After a month and several video clips analysis I can see a clearly that I shoot slightly in front of birds coming r to l, behind on birds l to r and slightly to the left of teal so I will be back for a slight change to the cast. If I plate several rounds at 20 yards I am so slightly left but extend that over 35 yards and I could easily miss.

 

For me the £65 to extend the stock and a potential £80 to adjust the cast is well worth it.

[wymberley]

Was going to reply in a certain manner as from your post it appeared that you may not have yet owned a shotgun. However, I then engaged my brain and saw that you already have a slack handful of various types. Consequently, if you haven't managed to perform as satisfactorily as you would wish with any of these so far, then all of the foregoing good advice makes perfect sense.

[SirDread]

I shot a XS for 18 months and hit targets and broke clays. I have a consistent mount and shot out the shoulder at the time so I was very happy with my gun. However I patterned the gun out of interest and found point of impact lower than I thought so a slight increase in comb turned breaking clays into smashing clays which I found far more satisfying.

 

I now pattern every gun I own.

[kent]

It depends; there is no doubt that good gun fit is important ........ but obviously it's not the only thing that can influence success (or otherwise). It also depends on how good/bad the fit of your present gun is.

 

There is no point in fitting until you have a decent and above all consistent gun mount and style.

 

See a good coach and get advice from him. A coaching session is usually priced per hour/session ...... and gun fit will depend on what needs changing. At a complete guess you will be £100-300 all in, but it does depend on what needs doing.

As this man says to the letter

[welshwarrior]

Personally I feel £300 is very high. It depends where you go you could for example come to me direct as private client and pay £35 at PW rate or go to a ground and pay over £125 for the same service.

[Dekers]

 

Unless you are one of the VERY lucky few who can pick up a gun and it fits, everyone will benefit from having a gun ptofessionally fitted.

 

Edited February 12, 2016 by Dekers

[JohnfromUK]

Personally I feel £300 is very high. It depends where you go you could for example come to me direct as private client and pay £35 at PW rate or go to a ground and pay over £125 for the same service.

 

I agree - but the £300 was based on some work I had done where I had two sessions with a coach and the length, bend and cast of a sidelock o/u gun with a chequered wooden butt altered (i.e. no screwed on butt plate). From memory, the sessions were about £50 each for the two inc. about 50-100 clays and cartridges and two (before and after) pattern plate exercises, and the alterations were I think the balance of the thick end of £300 in total. I don't think a simple bend would have been nearly as much, but there was re-chequering on the end to do as well in the price - which I can't remember exactly, but was getting that way about 5 years ago.

 

I suspect this was a 'worst case', and having the bend or cast only altered, or the length altered on a gun with a composite butt plate would be a good deal less - equally - to extend a decently figured walnut stock might be more.

 

I also had a (2nd hand) sidelock AyA altered (cast, bend and length) for me and that was done included in the sale price (from a proper gunmaker, not a 'gunshop') including before and after pattern plate sessions.

[Dekers]

Gun fit is vital to shoot a shotgun well it's important with a rifle but not as vital. A well fitting shotgun will shoot where you look and reduce felt recoil.

 

Your mount needs to be consistent the gun fitter will look at your shooting as a whole as for example a stance will need adjusting.

 

A Gunfit cost can vary from £35 up to £150 plus clays and cartridges depending where you go.

 

[dougall]

are your dimensions average or not?

how serious are you about shotgun shooting?'a reasonable fit' is good enough for most the full monty gunfit/lesson/changing cast/pitch etc is a fair investment which if you are serious is an investment.......if you are an occassional shooter it is a cost......

[welshwarrior]

 

I agree - but the £300 was based on some work I had done where I had two sessions with a coach and the length, bend and cast of a sidelock o/u gun with a chequered wooden butt altered (i.e. no screwed on butt plate). From memory, the sessions were about £50 each for the two inc. about 50-100 clays and cartridges and two (before and after) pattern plate exercises, and the alterations were I think the balance of the thick end of £300 in total. I don't think a simple bend would have been nearly as much, but there was re-chequering on the end to do as well in the price - which I can't remember exactly, but was getting that way about 5 years ago.

 

I suspect this was a 'worst case', and having the bend or cast only altered, or the length altered on a gun with a composite butt plate would be a good deal less - equally - to extend a decently figured walnut stock might be more.

 

I also had a (2nd hand) sidelock AyA altered (cast, bend and length) for me and that was done included in the sale price (from a proper gunmaker, not a 'gunshop') including before and after pattern plate sessions.

That's 2 thing for £300 a gun fitting session and check fit and a set of alterations.

 

The alterations have to be outside the scope of a gun fit in the last few weeks I did a gun fit that required no alterations and one that has been sent to be restocked, so £3,000 with the grade of wood and where it went will be conservative, two extremes but neither the gun fitters fault.

[Harnser]

An experianced shooter will normally be able to shoot any gun reasonably well after a few shots . The brain can adapt to you using an un fitted gun by muscle memory . It's not hard adapting to an un fitted gun . Having said that it's much better to shoot with a fitted gun than a non fitted gun . I recently bought a mk60 that had a straight stock . I prefer a little bit of cast on a gun and the dealer I bought the gun from cast the stock marginally to the right for me free of charge.

 

I have been shooting very well with the gun but had been missing some easy birds . I decided that the gun was shooting a little bit high for me . I took half an inch off the comb and what a difference it made . The gun comes up more naturally now and I am shooting like a demon with it . A well fitted gun will shoot better than a non fitted gun .

Harnser

[Whitebridges]

Words of true wisdom ^^^^

 

I'd like to add that despite having a couple of "made to measure" guns, I get a huge amount of satisfaction from shooting different guns. Anything goes pretty much.

 

Without being a smartarse you can usually work out how to compensate for an ill fitting gun. By way of example I've been fortunate enough to shoot some fabulous english sidelocks.

 

Most of which didn't fit but they were still a pleasure to shoot !

[Gunman]

As a rifle shooter you may find that using a shotgun is the opposite to your past experience in stance and mount .I had a visit a couple of weeks back from a chap with the same problem as you . In his case the stock was a little long but overly so and had to much toe but his main problem was stance and mount . When I got him to stand and mount correctly 50% of his problems disappeared.

As said before [many times ] fitting a stock to a man who can not shoot, in so much that he can not handle the gun correctly , is a waste of time and in your case I would suggest it may come down to a coaching session before you consider any thing else .

[Squinting shot]

Any gun fitters in Yorkshire

[Footu]

The friendly chap in the gunshop (he's also senior instructor) sold me a r/h gun and I'm left handed so I would be cautious who you approach.

 

The gun is a Silver Pigeon sporter. I bought a thinner stock pad which helped. However I've since sourced a rather plain old l/h game stock which I find better fit although aesthetically not as nice. The original woodwork is unused in the box which seems a pity. In hindsight I wish I'd gone elsewhere, bought a l/h game gun in the first place and had it properly checked for fit..

Same to me when I started. North Wales shotgun raf sealand, I will never buy there again. I still use the gun and hit 60-70percent so you do get used to it but shoddy salesmanship.

Edited April 26, 2016 by Footu