Stock Drop Thoughts

[Reggie B]

Not the Dow Jones Industrial, but the rare small bore stock drops. Just for the giggles of it how much stock drop is too much if you are searching for a rare Parker small bore? Does the rarity of the gun negate excessive stock drop? If you were searching for say a 30" graded 28 gauge or a 32" A grade 20 gauge and you have been searching for years does a 3" or 3+" drop kill the deal for you? I suppose you could ask the same question of any hard to find Parker, not just a smallbore.

Just thought it would be interesting to get opinions from members.

[Dean Romig]

Reggie, I find it so much easier to adapt myself physically to a gun with 3" or even 3 1/2" of DAH than to a gun with minimal DAH, say 2 1/4" or less. There are temporary or removable comb risers of all sorts to attain a more comfortable DAH to the individual, but there is no way around a too shallow DAH.

To me, if I love the gun with excessive DAH, I make it mine and figure it out after the fact.





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[Reggie B]

Thanks Dean. I hope we hear more thoughts on this. I hear and read often comments like "that is a super nice gun that I would have bought but too much drop" or something similar.

[Bill Murphy]

I recently found a rare Parker with 4" of drop at the heel. Oddly, it feels just fine at the shoulder. I also have Parkers with less than 2" at the heel. They feel just fine too. My first Parker, a 28 gauge, was very crooked, probably 3" drop at heel. When I was a teenager, I had to put a pad on the comb to shoot it. Now, sixty years and 70 pounds later, it fits me just fine without the pad.

[Randy Roberts]

Originally Posted by Reggie Bishop

how much stock drop is too much if you are searching for a rare Parker small bore?

For me rare would be the 32" 28 gauge in any grade or a B grade or higher 32" 20 gauge. In those instances I am going to make it shootable for me either with a stock bend, addition of some type of comb riser or have it restocked while keeping the original wood. To answer your question Reggie I suppose there is no such thing as to much drop in these very specific instances. On other guns, shooters if you will I have walked away from plenty with to much drop for me. I don't get to worked up over the DAH as it's the DAC that matters most to me.

I saw a shooter just last evening that had a micro fiber towel folded up and taped to his gun with blue masking tape to form a comb riser. Not sure I would want that on my A grade 20 though.

[Andy]

I sold a dandy little LC 20g that I just could not shoot, the drop was about 3 1/8" if I recall. I have passed up a lot of Parkers that I feared I couldn't shoot well. That being said, I can't shoot a fitting gun well, but certainly worse with too much drop. For me Reggie, the higher the price the less drop I'll tolerate but I'm a shooter, I don't collect for price appreciation. I have a 28g Repro that I don't shoot well and I can't quite figure it out. My buddy thinks there's too little drop, I just don't think I shoot it enough, and the drop is slightly less than what I use and echoing Dean, there isn't much I can do about it. When I naturally mount it, it's like I'm looking up a "ramp" and I'm just not good enough to adapt to so many different guns. If I don't start shooting it better it's being sold.

[Reggie B]

So Randy, in summary, it its a rare bird stock drop doesn't kill the deal for you even if it means bending it and changing the factory specs? I once owned a very high condition, straight stocked Fox that the previous owner had bent the stock and it no longer matched the factory card dimensions. When I got some opinions on the gun most people would say "its a shame the stock was messed with".

[Kevin McCormack]

At the price you are going to have to pay for a graded Parker or Fox 32" 20 gauge, the prospect of having to spend the money for a restock due to unshootable dimensions will become a speed bump on the highway of life, trust me. So far as a 32" Parker 28 gauge, the cost becomes almost inconsequential.

[Randy Roberts]

Originally Posted by Reggie Bishop

So Randy, in summary, it its a rare bird stock drop doesn't kill the deal for you even if it means bending it and changing the factory specs? I once owned a very high condition, straight stocked Fox that the previous owner had bent the stock and it no longer matched the factory card dimensions. When I got some opinions on the gun most people would say "its a shame the stock was messed with".

Correct Reggie. Bending to fit me is something I will do. If my Executors or the next owner gets all worked up over it they can always bend it back.

[Double Lab]

On a smallbore, as any gauge, it's the barrels that sell the gun to me. I can live and shoot a variety of stock dimensions but if the barrels aren't solid then it's a gun that I will pass on.