O/U to SxS gun fit advice needed

[Reggie B]

The way I have always looked at it is if a person is interested in owning and shooting vintage guns why bother with a fit? The odds of finding a 100 year old Parker with the dimensions that a "fitter" would come up with are slim to none. Sure you could possibly find one "close" but unless one is willing to re-stock, modify the stock or make some other kind of modification to a vintage gun what good is a fit? Personally I don't like messing with nice original guns so I have to "try" to adjust to whichever gun I am shooting. Could I have better results with a gun re-stocked to my fit? Possibly. Am I willing to do that? No.

[Andy]

I think it's my original post that is being interpreted wrong, and it's probably my wording. I never intended to restock a classic gun for the sake of fitting it to me just to shoot it. I was trying to find out the most direct way of taking a current set of fitting parameters, which I have, and see what is out there that will translate to a shootable gun and allow me to hit a barn. For example does LOP on a single trigger roughly translate to the front of a DT? Is cast much different SxS compared to O/U. I think I've gotten the answer already and it's been helpful, and I thank the many PM's I've received which have been invaluable. Great forum.

Originally Posted by Reggie Bishop

The way I have always looked at it is if a person is interested in owning and shooting vintage guns why bother with a fit? The odds of finding a 100 year old Parker with the dimensions that a "fitter" would come up with are slim to none. Sure you could possibly find one "close" but unless one is willing to re-stock, modify the stock or make some other kind of modification to a vintage gun what good is a fit? Personally I don't like messing with nice original guns so I have to "try" to adjust to whichever gun I am shooting. Could I have better results with a gun re-stocked to my fit? Possibly. Am I willing to do that? No.

[Stan Hillis]

Originally Posted by John Dallas

Ed -Your fitter is the same guy who measured my friend in my earlier post.

Regarding S x S versus O/U fitting differences, I had someone try to tell me that the difference is "Barrel Flip". O/U's will tend to have less vertical "flip", becasue there is more mass oriented vertically, whereas a S x S would have less horizontal flip. I think it is all hooey on shotguns. Might be important for bench rest rifle shooters

Most top sporting clays shooters, who shoot O/U guns, set the selector to shoot the bottom barrel first, the reason being there is noticeably less muzzle flip with the bottom barrel, allowing you to have a split second more time to get on the second bird. My Perazzi is not selectable, but the bottom barrel always fires first, because of this. With other O/Us, which have a barrel selector, I can tell the difference in muzzle flip when I shoot the top barrel first. There's a little longer recovery time from the recoil. It's just my opinion, but I think it matters to some degree.

There are those who believe that, with a S x S, a right handed shooter should try to shoot the left barrel first, because as the gun recoils to the left your face and grip will help attenuate the lateral recoil to a degree, and give a split second quicker second shot.

I can't really tell any difference about that on a S x S, and I often fire the left barrel first anyway by pulling the rear trigger. This works great on incomers ..... tight choke first, more open choke second. If you want to shoot sporting clays well, with a S x S, you really need to get proficient at using the rear trigger first, then going to the front one. All pairs are not set up to shoot the open barrel first.

SRH

[Wild Skies]

Originally Posted by Andrew Sacco

I think it's my original post that is being interpreted wrong, and it's probably my wording. I never intended to restock a classic gun for the sake of fitting it to me just to shoot it. I was trying to find out the most direct way of taking a current set of fitting parameters, which I have, and see what is out there that will translate to a shootable gun and allow me to hit a barn. For example does LOP on a single trigger roughly translate to the front of a DT? Is cast much different SxS compared to O/U. I think I've gotten the answer already and it's been helpful, and I thank the many PM's I've received which have been invaluable. Great forum.

I recall reading in an issue of SSM that Chris Batha, an Englishman with over 30 years of experience fitting shotguns, writing that he had found a S X S requires a 1/2" longer LOP than an O&U for most individuals.

[Andy]

Originally Posted by Greg Baehman

I recall reading in an issue of SSM that Chris Batha, an Englishman with over 30years of experience fitting shotguns, writing that he had found a S X S requires a 1/2" longer LOP than an O&U for most individuals.

This is kind of what I'm looking for Greg. I did a Google search and search here. That being said, my LC Smith is 13 7/8" LOP and seems to feel a foot short. My repro is pretty close to my fitting but feels a tad short, but this is corrected by the clothes I wear hunting. Were I breaking clays in a T shirt it might be an issue. I have never had the pleasure of having the trigger guard smash my second knuckle and don't care to.

[Steve Hodges]

I am no expert in this matter of gun fit, but like many have said, I chased gun fit from Orvis Shooting School to New England Custom Guns. All I did was left confused as each gave me different numbers. I have learned that as long as the LOP was not extreme, or the DAC, I could adapt to shoot that gun.