Nebraska. There are three important measurements. Lenght of pull. Which is measured from the trigger to the center of the butt plate, Drop, which is the measurement from the centerlne of your sight to the top of the butt plate. I say from the centerline of the sight becasue it depends if you are using iron sights or scope. With scope you usually have a drop at the comb also, so that your check is in correct alignment with the scope, and varies by how high your scope is mounted, but must be low enough for the bolt to be pulled back. And pitch. Pitch is the angle that the butt plate is with the centerline of the barrel. It effects pointability . ie, how your rifle comes up on target.
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<br>The taller the person is, usually the more drop he needs and the longer the pull.
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<br>A lot of good gun shops have people that can measure you.
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<br>I do most of my guns myself, and pattern my rifles pitch after my shotguns, as you point a shotgun rather than sight it and if it is correct, your shotgun will shoot dead on.
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<br>Another thing that most rifle makers do not add is the cast on and cast off, which is determined if you are right or left handed. This is how much the stock bends to the right or left. On a right handed shooter, a stock is bent over to the right, looking from the back of the rifle. This puts the butt plate more in line with your shoulder and your eye more in line with the sights. I make mine so that the bottom of the butt plate is towed out a little more as your shoulder socket is not a straight vertical line. Some think this adds to the recoil not being pushed away from your face, but I don't find that to be true with me.
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<br>The comb should not be rising as it procedes back as it will lift into your face during recoil.
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<br>On a shotgun, you can set target up at 16 yds. and put a 1 " dot on it, fire three shots with just mounting the shotgun and shoot as soon as you have the dot acquired. Just point and shoot. You wil find that the three shots, if done correctly will all have the approximate same center of the pattern.
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<br>Since the butt plate on a shotgun is essentially your rear sight, you move the butt plate in the direction you want the center of the pattern to go. At 16 yds, it has been found that you move it 1/16th of an inch for every inch you want the pattern to move.
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<br>With thse guide lines, I have been able to make my rifle stocks much more pointable. ie When I bring it up, the scope is very close to the point of aim I want.
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<br>I trade this off vs the felt recoil which is more, as Boggy says,due to the stock being not as much in line with the recoil .
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<br>Length of pull is a personal decision as to what fits you best. A few of my rifles vary depending on where the scope is set . If it has a comb, your thumb is usually in front of the comb, but back fom the tang and inch or so, Without a comb, you want your thumb about 2-3 inches in front of your cheek.
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<br>Best bet is to buy a book on stock making, usually ther is a chapter on stock fit, and rule of thumb for basic stock dimensions and design, like thickenss of neck, placement of pistol grip and it's curve, , corect pitch etc.
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<br>I'm no professional but have made quite a few rifle and shotgun stcoks for myself and friends. Perhaps others can add to this or pont out some mistakes that I make.
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<br>Ther was a similar discussion here a few months ago. You might check past threads.
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