Replace pad or not?

[Mk42gunner]

I bought a Winchester Model 37 20 ga single shot (28" full choke) last fall, probably spent too much, but it is a good gun. It came to me with a Belknap Blue Grass ventilated recoil pad installed.

I have a few of problems with it-- one, whoever did it just unscrewed the buttplate and "fitted" the pad, not a very neat job. two, they didn't cut the stock, so the length of pull is approximately 14 miles. and three, the "pad" makes a brick feel soft.

It seems way to long to me with just a t-shirt on, with any kind of jacket or coat it verges on the ridiculous.

I have been toying with the idea of properly installing a Pachmayr Decelerator, but there is one glaring problem with this idea: I have not missed with this gun since I bought it. Not once. It really like an ounce of sixes.

Main use is squirrels in the yard or varmints. I really haven't shot a lot of stuff with it, but it is at 100%.

Do I fix it knowing I will eventually miss with it anyway? Or keep it like it is until that dreaded miss happens and then fix it? I have spent several years and even more dollars learning the wisdom of the old saying-- "If it works, don't mess with it."

What say you?

Robert

[nicholst55]

If you shoot so well with it even with the too-long stock, just imagine how well you'll shoot it once it actually fits you!

[dverna]

Shorten it. Shotgun must fit. Plus it willl kick less if fitted properly.

Most people have no idea how to fit a shotgun. I spent hundreds of dollars when I started shooting Trap on gun fit. Most were wasted...but learned from it.

Don Verna

[toallmy]

I have only attempted to really fit one shotgun to me , it is a Mossberg 500 not only did I shorten the stock but changed the angle also , I used the Mossberg because I could replace the stock easy if I ruined it . The shotgun went from all right , to I love it . I need a shorter length of pull so I cut off or install a shorter pad on a lot of my guns . It seems like older shotguns fit me better I have some older Remington shotguns that just feel right . Look at a object and shoulder the shotgun if it's not pointing at the object and you must reposition yourself it doesn't fit .

[dverna]

Close your eyes when mounting the shotgun. Observe where the gun is pointing and where you are looking. That is the first, and most important test.

Using a middle bead helps a lot. On a hunting shotgun, you can use a temporary middle bead so check alignment. I have middle beads on all my shotguns except the CAS shoguns and SD guns. Yes, even my hunting O/U's have middle beads.

Don Verna

[Mk42gunner]

Thanks for the advice, you guys confirmed what I was thinking, it needs to be done. I will be ordering a pad to fit sometime this spring.

Robert

[Kskybroom]

IMHO You picked the right pad. I shoot all waterfowl with a 10ga trap an skeet with a 12ga. con't hit with sub gauges. Gun feels like a toy. add 1/2 in that salved my problem. Long story shot try the longer pull same as you have now if you don't like it you can short 'en it up

[Cap'n Morgan]

I needed to lengthen the stock on my new Beretta 682. As usual the project took on a life of its own and it ended up with this nice walnut/brass skeleton pad:

[dverna]

I am so anal about gun fit that I have a summer and winter pad for one of the hunting shotguns.

Don Verna

[richhodg66]

CAn someone recommend a tutorial on shotgun stock fitting somewhere? I'm kind of curious how to do it.

[rking22]

There is a good e-book, name is " Stock Fitting Secrets" by Rollin Oswald

Book is well written and through. below is how I approach the task. Also note I do this to set up a person and their gun for wing shooting and clay target competitions. It is also how my turkey gun is fit, but I shoot skeet,trap, and sporting clays with my turkey gun too. Certainly not the only way, but has worked for us.

Remember, gun must be fit to a "proper" stance and form, else it will just inhibit developing that correct stance and form. Hard to fit yourself and you need to actually shoot a good many targets to refine the fit.

Get the length of pull close, mount the gun, should be 2to3 fingers width between your shooting hand thumb knuckle and your nose.
I would not change the pitch from factory, without much careful thought, so add or remove length parallel. Thinner recoil pad, thicker, add a spacer, what ever gives you the desired length.

Now get some thin cardboard (we use shell boxes) and some packing tape. We are going to set the cheek position. generally I find that most modern guns are too long and too low, so padding up the cheekpiece in small increments works. If it's too hi, well rasp time
A pattern board is a good start, no don't count pellets, look for POI vs where you were focused. Pattern board work for gun fitting is done at 16 yards. "focus on the spot, mount and trigger the shot when the gun hits your cheek, repeat 5 times and see what our "group " looks like. The center of your group of shots is where the gun shoots. Now compare to where you were focused , each inch of deviation amounts to 1/16 inch movement at our cheek. So if it's hitting right by 2 inches and OK up/down, we add 1/8 cardboard pad to the cheek side of the cheek piece. Now 5 more on the pattern board to check.
If it looked good , then over to the skeet field to shoot a little. Watch which way the broken pieces are driven, chips go right , your hitting the left side. Check left right on station 7 low, up down on sta 3,4,5, targets. Refine as needed, over several outings.

DONT cut wood till you are VERY sure where you want to go! Second only to that is to look for a shooing coach to help you with fitting your gun, they have probably made most of the mistakes and can shorten your learning curve

[Fishman]

I needed to lengthen the stock on my new Beretta 682. As usual the project took on a life of its own and it ended up with this nice walnut/brass skeleton pad:

Cap'n Morgan that is really nice. I have never seen that approach before

[725]

I use a chop saw with an 80 or 100 tooth blade to cut the stock. If I don't parallel cut the end, I will sometimes give the ever so slight deeper angle toward the heel to make mounting faster / easier.

[mtgrs737]

Rollin Oswald wrote a book about stock fitting and it is Excellent! I think you can only get it at Amazon, but if you want to know how and why to fit the stock on a shotgun Rollin wrote the book. I think it is called the stock fitters bible. Get it, Read it and you will be pleased.

[rking22]

That's the one I was referencing also, excellent and well worth the price. In fact I have recommended it to our youth clay target program(TNSCTP).
Updated my prior post with a "quick and dirty" how-I-do-it also.

[MT Chambers]

Take the gun to a good gunsmith and he will grind to fit a Decellerator or some such, and cut stock as required, they do it all the time, unless you want to botch the job yourself.

[MarkP]

I have a M 37 in 12 ga. it has a factory Bakelite type butt plate real thin similar to the thin plate butt plates on the Rem 1100 fields. 1100 Magnums and traps had a recoil pads, the on these are shorter due to the thickens of the pad to maintain the same LOP as the field guns.