Gun Fitting

If you have a younger shooter who is still growing, a lady with a long neck or high cheekbones, or indeed anyone with a none average shape, the picture below shows a very useful addition for your gun. It is called a Jones Adjuster. It consists of two plates. One attached to the gun, one to the pad. The two plates are joined in such a way that the pad can be moved to any position to allow a good, comfortable gun mount.

gun-fitting - Greenwood Gunsmiths Tern Hill, Shropshire, UK
gun-fitting - Greenwood Gunsmiths Tern Hill, Shropshire, UK

As you can see, the pad fits comfortably in the shoulder pocket, while the stock comes to the cheek without rolling the head forward. I other words, the gun comes to you, not you to the gun. This promotes consistent gun mounting, and reduces head lift and fatigue from recoil due to poor gun fit.

gun-fitting - Greenwood Gunsmiths Tern Hill, Shropshire, UK

As you can see, this young shooter has a really long neck, hence fitting the adjustable pad. Be warned, there are cheap versions of this on the market, but they are rubbish, heavy and badly made. The Jones, in my opinion, is the best.

Most shooting schools use a Try Gun to help to asses a shooters measurements. This has a fully adjustable stock from which measurements can be taken for the shooter to take away and have transposed to his new bespoke shotgun, or his existing gun altered to.

Unfortunately, in most cases, it is not that easy. The measurement of cast, as previously explained is taken from a line, extended from the rib down the stock. If the measurement of ,for instance, 6mm cast off( R/H) is taken from a try gun with a thin stock, when it is transposed to a modern o/u with a thicker stock, it will need to be increased to compensate for the wood thickness, probably to 8 or even 10mm. Once again, a good, competent gunsmith should be able to help and advise when the work is done.

gun-fitting - Greenwood Gunsmiths Tern Hill, Shropshire, UK

Another view of the Jones adjuster. As you can see, this has been set for a l/h shooter with a very long neck. The beauty is, it can be moved as the shooter grows, or his style changes. The two small holes accept an Allen key, supplied with the pad, for all adjustments.

One of the jobs I am most frequently asked to undertake is to shorten or lengthen the stock of a shotgun to fit the shooter.

I would always recommend that Clay Shooters have a pad fitted to the gun, whether to help lengthen the stock, or even to have one fitted when the gun is shortened. When clay shooting, a large number of shots are fired in a comparatively short space of time, which can cause bruising and fatigue from the recoil. However, if you are game shooting with an expensive English shotgun, you may not like the idea of a big lump of rubber being put on the end of your gun.

The best answer, in my opinion, is to extend with a piece of matching wood. If this is done properly, it is very difficult to even see the join or change in the wood grain. Here is a pair of Holland & Holland 20 bores, I was asked to extend with wood.

Holland & Holland 20 bores - Greenwood Gunsmiths Tern Hill, Shropshire, UK
Selecting a piece of wood to match
Holland & Holland 20 bores - Greenwood Gunsmiths Tern Hill, Shropshire, UK
The wood fitted and shaped
Holland & Holland 20 bores - Greenwood Gunsmiths Tern Hill, Shropshire, UK
The stock end chequered
Holland & Holland 20 bores - Greenwood Gunsmiths Tern Hill, Shropshire, UK
Starting to stain and colour match the original stock and extention
Holland & Holland 20 bores - Greenwood Gunsmiths Tern Hill, Shropshire, UK
The finished product

Our Blue Peter Method

Greenwood Gunsmiths Blue Peter Method

Stage one - Temporary Alterations

Stage one

Temporary alterations (The Blue Peter bit 😊)…..The addition of a few bits of tape, sorbothane foam and some vinyl can, with a little knowledge, transform how your gun fits and feels. Our advice and this stage is completely free and we encourage you to take the gun away to test at your usual ground to assess if we have helped with your shooting.

Greenwood Gunsmiths Blue Peter Method

Stage two - Alterations

Stage two

Alterations are made to the stock including inletting walnut to form a Monte-Carlo, changing the shape of the grip and adjusting the cast and comb height is carried out prior to finishing. We then ask you to take the gun away again to shoot for as long as you wish to ensure the gun is a perfect fit before finishing.

Greenwood Gunsmiths Blue Peter Method

Stage three - Finishing

Stage three

When you are completely happy with the fit you return the gun to us for finishing to our usual high standard. We enhance the grain and colour to both the stock and forend so that you end up with a gun you will be proud to own and shoot.