[Stan Hillis]

The best way for you to answer the question you asked is to get yourself to a grease plate, or build one yourself if you have a suitable location, like I did. Fitting a shotgun is not magic, and you can do it yourself. Once you get access to a grease plate shoot it a good bit. Don't "squirrel aim" like you would with a rifle, but mount the gun like you would on a bird you want to kill, go to the spot in the center of the plate, and shoot. After several times you will get an idea where the gun is shooting for you. Someone else can shoot the same gun at the plate and have an entirely different point of impact (POI). The goal is, by adjustments to the buittstock (many of which you can make yourself), to get the gun's POI to the same spot as the point of aim (POA).

The first time I ever did this I built the comb up with cardboard and duct tape to get the pattern to about 60/40, which is what I like best for birds or sporting clays. I added length to the pull with an adjustable buttplate I put on the gun. I got it shooting perfectly where I was looking. Not long after, I went with some friends to a Saturday morning gun fitting by a trained pro. He wrote down all the measurements, he said I needed, and I brought them home. I measured the gun I had adjusted and compared the dimensions to what the gun fitter said I needed, and he was spot on. All the measurements were almost exactly the same, with one dimension being maybe 1/8" off. Seems like that was the LOP which, IMO, can be fudged on the most without grave consequences. Point?, gunfitting can be very helpful, but you can do it yourself by trial and error. And, it's not a panacea. If your gun mount is not proper, and consistent, the rest is wasted. Get it right first. OBTW, all the fitting was done with an O/U. Gunfitter said that if I went to a S x S I should adjust one or two measurements slightly. But, it was so little an adjustment that I can't even remember what it was.

The most important dimensions (again, IMO) to have right are the drop at face, and the cast. One will seriously affect the vertical shot placement, one the horizontal.

May I suggest that you spend just a few dollars before doing anything else and order a copy of the book by Rollin Oswald, Stock Fitter's Bible. It is readily available on Amazon, and is worth ten times the asking price to anyone with questions like yours. Oswald absolutely removes the mystery of making a shotgun shoot where it should, in an easy to read, sometimes humorous, style. I wish to goodness I had found it 40 years ago. One more point that Oswald makes in the book ...........adjustment to one dimension often affects what other dimensions should be. Please read the book in the order it is written, front to back. Don't skip around to certain chapters here and there. That is supremely important.

Ed, how much rib you see has more to do with the vertical distance between your cheekbone and your eye than does the length of your neck. Think about it a minute. If you cheek the gun so that the cheekbone is resting just atop the comb the only distance that can affect how much rib you see, or how little, is the vertical distance to your eye. Now, if the drop at face is so "out of whack" that you have to do physical gyrations to get to where you "see the rib" properly, that can certainly affect your mount, and ultimately your shot placement. Having the right drop is how you get the cheekbone to comfortably rest just atop the comb with ease. That is where the neck length comes "into play", but the distance from your cheekbone to your pupil is very important.


Sorry for being wordy, but this is a complicated issue that is not answerable with one liners. It takes time, but it is ultimately worth every bit of time it takes. Most people are happy if they hit 50% of what they shoot at, some even less. I'm not. If you're not ............proper gunfit, however you choose to pursue it, is for you.

Best, SRH