Does my Mossberg fit me?

[flashotter]

Hi all, I went to Prado Olympic park a few times to shoot trap with my Mossberg 500. Each time the guys there were very helpful and gave me a lot of good tips on how to hold and shoot it, but the big problem I have is cheek slap. Enough to where it's almost unbearable to finish a 100rd box.
When I shot trap years ago with my Remington 1100 I didn't have that problem at all. Unfortunately I sold that gun.
I'm 6'1 and have pretty long arms. Wondering if my LOP or comb height is wrong?, thanks.

[Boarhuntor]

http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=1674471

[flashotter]

Very good thread and a lot of what the guy at Prado told me about aiming and shooting etc. I'm going to check my alignment and make sure I stay in there tight, thanks.

[ceh383]

Cheek slap is usually, but not always, related to incorrect pitch. Easy way to check this, loosen up the butt pad, put a couple washers between the pad and stock at the top, tighten the pad back up. Shoot it and see if it helped.
LOP is a little more difficult to figure out. Generally speaking, if you are a right hand shooter, when mounted you should have about 1 ~ 1.5" between your nose and your right thumb. I say generally because we are all different, I'm 6'3" and shoot a 14.25" LOP and it works for me. Other people my size think my gun is way to short.
Check the pitch first.

[TKM]

Did they all seem to speak slowly and use small words?

[hermosabeach]

When you mount the shotgun, is it in the right place?

Toe of stock in contact with body

Top of stock - top of recoil pad unsupported

You can practice your mount at home with an unloaded firearm.


I found the mossberg 500 to be awesome with the 18/20” barrel for tactical.

The long barrel was always clunky to me

[ceh383]

Toe of stock in contact with body

Top of stock - top of recoil pad unsupported

If this is the case, cheek slap. The gun will pivot off the toe and rise causing the slap.
Generally, the entire pad should come in contact, sometimes you can get away with a bit above the collar bone making no contact.
It's nearly impossible to tell for sure over the internet, to know for sure people need to see you shoot.

[sigstroker]

Would shims help? Does a 500 even come with shims? The 930 does.

[Thefeeder]

[QUOTE=ceh383;25232125]If this is the case, cheek slap. The gun will pivot off the toe and rise causing the slap.
Generally, the entire pad should come in contact, sometimes you can get away with a bit above the collar bone making no contact.
It's nearly possible to tell for sure over the internet, to know for sure people need to see you shoot.[/QimUOTE]

"impossible to tell for sure over the internet, to know for sure people need to see you shoot"

Bingo----- the right answer to all such threads.

[Imageview]

[W.R.Buchanan]

Cheek slap is usually, but not always, related to incorrect pitch.

Cheek Slap is always caused by Improper Cheek Weld,, Period.

Just because the gun "Fits You" doesn't mean you are immune. And fit alone won't fix the problem. It will help,,, but your mounting technique is the key.

Most Generic Guns are sized correctly for the average sized person, and small variations will not result in severe punishment. However not mounting the gun correctly will, and therein lies the rub.

I learned this the hard way and I finally got the message and now as I mount the gun,,, Any gun,,, I concentrate on "getting down on the gun!" at least for the first few rounds and after that it becomes second nature. I experienced this the first time when I started shooting Trap with my Citori XT. Got smacked a few times and, someone finally said get down on the gun but I had no idea what they were talking about. I kind of figured it out, but not consciously. Osmosis? (9.5 lb. gun 14 3/8" LOP!)

I got the Crap beat out of me for the first two classes at Front Sight, then one of the instructors said you obviously like getting the snot beat out of you, but maybe you should concentrate on "getting down on the gun like we showed you during the lecture?"

So I did. End of problem!!! And that was after already firing 100+ rounds that day. Pain free for the rest of that class and in all subsequent classes. (6.5 lb. gun 13" LOP!)

Every once in a while I get smacked and quickly remember what I did wrong.

But it is infrequent.

Proper Cheek Weld is when your Cheek Bone is hard against the Comb of the Stock with your "cheek meat" pushed up against and/or over the comb.

LOP is not as critical as you might think. I have 2 Browning A5s. One is exactly as it came from the factory in 1964 with a 14 3/4" LOP the other was shortened by me to square up my stance and is 13" I mount both guns the same way and can shoot either without pain indefinitely.
My M37 is 14.5", Citori XT 14 3/8", Citori .410 14.25", M500 HD 12.5" and M500 Tactical is 13".

All these mount the exact same way and all are essentially Generic Guns I am 5-11 with average proportions. IE, Generic Guns fit me. If you are "John Q Public" they will probably fit you as well.

How many times have you been told that you have to get down on the gun.?

It also kind of helps with you "sight alignment" which none of you acknowledge ever looking at. :>)

Randy

[ceh383]

Cheek Slap is always caused by Improper Cheek Weld,, Period.

Wrong! Read "The Stock Fitters Bible" and get a clue.

Stance, mount and cheek weld are all important, but so is stock geometry.
Just ask an owner of an old Japanese made Winchester 101. All you will hear is cheek slap, kicks like a mule. It was bad stock geometry, good cheek weld didn't help.

[Thefeeder]

><

Randy----you learned finally which is great. Good shooting instructors, unlike Tactical Instructors approach the comfort, fit, and proper stance as first steps before the fundamentals of hitting targets. or sending rounds down range.

There are many good reasons for this approach. There are some tactical instructors who are starting to see the light also.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Wrong! Read "The Stock Fitters Bible" and get a clue.

Stance, mount and cheek weld are all important, but so is stock geometry. And they are far more important than stock fit.

Just ask an owner of an old Japanese made Winchester 101. All you will hear is cheek slap, kicks like a mule. It was bad stock geometry, good cheek weld didn't help.

I had one and it fit me fine. I sold it and got my Citori 20 ga which I also sold, when I got my first Superposed, which I also sold along with about 25 other shotguns over the last 40+ years.

99% of shotguns don't get their stocks modified, and they seem to work for the 99% of shooters that own them. I have never had one modified.

The guy has a Mossberg 500 not a K80! There is little he can do to fit a plastic stock to his perfect measurements. I doubt that even Pacific Sales could fit one of those for less than the gun is worth.

Plus that if he doesn't have his cheek weld down, maybe just doing that would probably fix his problem like it does with 99% of shooters.

We are talking a Generic Pump Gun here, not a high dollar O/U. Get a clue? Really?

My first Shotgun was a Ithaca m37 which I bought from a friend in 1973. It was made in 1940 and looked like it had been used. I completely refurbished it about 5 years ago.









The metal was re done by Ithaca and I did the modified wood work and finish and a friend Checkered it. The wood was Fajen wood from 1976, and was converted from a sharp pistol grip to English Style like the new Ithaca 28 ga's have,,, by me. There is a full set of Choke Tubes for the Cutts and I just scored a nearly Perfect Wooden Box for them off Ebay yesterday which I've been looking for for 20 years. It is the smoothest running pump gun I have ever held ! It, like all my good shotguns lives in a hard case.

I don't know anything about stock fit.

Randy

[Imageview]

Not to step into the brewing argument, but there's a ton you can do to fit a Mossberg 500 as I referenced above. There are shims for drop, you can file them for small amounts of cast, and commonly available aftermarket stocks allow you to change length of pull and cheek height. I'm not suggesting he get a gracoil unit and adjustable cheekpad installed, or a custom stock made, just simple things to make it easier to get a proper cheek weld.

I have a beautiful greener f30 shotgun, that unfortunately appears to have a stock that was made for a child. I could try and shoot it all scrunched up, or I could throw a slip on recoil pad on and adjust it to fit me better. Which makes more sense?