Re: Advice on New Hunting Rifle Please...

I completely agree with Ken regarding the adequacy of the entire range
range of cartridges being discussed.

I also agree that "fit" is far more important than most would think,
this because most have no idea what shooting a well fitting rifle is
like and even fewer shoot rifles enough under the conditions where
really good fit becomes obvious. Factory rifles are built to an
"average person" assumption that few people as individuals satisfy with
most factory makers assuming the same average. But, for a factory
rifle of any make, "fit" really does not mean anything more than length
of pull. Here there is a difference. Browning tends (or at least did)
to make its stocks long (LOP) to "fit" a larger person, operating under
the assumption that the "average" person that noticed would have the
stock shortened. Out of the box Winchesters were shorter, but with a
very thin recoil pad.

And I confirm that stock geometry will influence how recoil acts on
your body and that stock dimensions terribly mismatched to the person
can make shooting painful.

But I disagree in areas of nuance because I consider reduction of
perceived recoil an issue of stock-geometry/functional-choice rather
than "fit" perse. Generally, recoil pain will be reduced by a "flat"
geometry that minimizes drop at comb, provides a large *** surface,
and tapers the comb downwards as it approaches the grip. These factors
are largely independent of (and in some cases contrary to) what most
would mean by "good fit." For example, the old "cresent *** plates"
contributed to shooting well ("fit") but are ungodly painful with heavy
recoil.

"Fit" greatly influences how well you will shoot a rifle, particularly
from field positions, and particularly when pressed for time. "Fit"
(within reason) makes little difference from a bench. In the field,
however, good fit means you will mount the rifle quickly in always the
same way and that your eye will be naturally aligned with the sights
with your cheek firmly against the stock in always the same position.
It also means that the *** will conform to the shape of your body when
resting in the pocket of your shoulder. In addition to LOP, achieving
near optimal fit in a rifle often involves a bend (cast) in the ***, a
rotation of the *** relative to the receiver (cant), and much fiddling
with comb height to properly position the head relative to the sights.
In my case, optimal fit requires a stock with about 1/2" "cast off"
(rightwards bend) and 3/4" counter clockwise "cant" (toe out) on a 14"
LOP with drop at comb depending on cheek piece presence and shape.
You don't get this in a bolt action rifle with a factory stock and most
of us can not justify the cost of having very many rifles custom
stocked. Even custom stocking is chancy because there are not that
many stock makers out there that really know how to optimize fit.

However, once you have dealt with LOP on a factory rifle, (via addition
of a thick recoil pad or cutting down the stock), you in fact have
several other critical things you can do in a scoped rifle to optimize
"fit." I outline the following because it works for me and because I
think following this process would help many people avoid mistakes in
buying and mounting scopes.

1. Before buying a scope, mount the rifle with your head in its most
comforbable possible position with your cheek comfortably against the
rifle's comb. Using the position of a piece of masking tape on the
stock as a marker,
a. have someone mark the "fore-aft" position of your eye on the stock,
and
b. relative to a mark on the same piece of tape, measure and record
your eye distance above the stock.
Leave this marked piece of masking tape on your stock until you have
selected and mounted the scope.

2. Using a carpenter's framing square (or equivalent) as an
alignment/measurement aid, determine a height reference for your eye's
natural center line above the receiver. Buy the scope mount/ring
height combination that best centers your eye's elevation sight line in
the rings. YOU HAVE SELECTED RING HEIGHT BASED ON THE BEST AND MOST
NATURAL FIT OF YOUR HEAD TO THE STOCK AS IT IS. THIS MAY MEAN THAT
SOME POSSIBLE SCOPE CHOICES ARE ELIMINATED BECAUSE THE SCOPE BELL WILL
INTERFERE WITH THE RIFLE. I think it is far better to pick the scope
mounts to fit you and possibly limit scope choices than buy a scope
that requires too-tall mounts and shoot bobble-head as a consequence.
However, "unusually tall heads" don't shoot so well when scrunched to
accommodate low scope mounts either.

3. It is a good idea to buy the scope mount and rings before you buy
the scope because it makes it easier to confirm your measurements
before you select your scope. Mount the mount and rings. Note that
your fore-aft mark for eye position says where your eye will be. The
surface of the objective for a scope should be the scope's eye-relief
distance forward of this mark with this position ideally centering the
scope turret between the rings and the rings allowing at least 1/2" of
scope fore/aft adjustment before interfering with the scope bells.

4. Using eye-relief for the magnification you are going to actually
hunt with as your guide, limit scope choices to models that will
mechanically mount with the objective EXACTLY the right distance from
your eye's most natural position with the rifle mounted. If a scope
will not allow this per its specifications, don't buy it. If a scope
does not yield a full and good field of view when mounted at this
position, take it back. It's performance does not correspond to its
published specification. NOTE THAT APPLYING THIS STANDARD WILL
ELIMINATE 70% of CHEAP SCOPES AND 50% OF BETTER SCOPES FROM FURTHER
CONSIDERATION!

5. If you align the scope cross hairs true with the rifle, most people
will discover that the rifle is slightly tipped (canted) when mounted
to the shoulder. Most of us will cant the rifle slightly
counterclockwise because that is how the toe of the *** best nestles
into our "armpit zone." The slightly tilted reticle will unconsciously
annoy most people because the eye-brain lines perceptions up with
gravity. I find this factor to be a big one and a source of "poor fit"
in factory guns that I can easily correct. I rotate the scope the
slight amount required to align the reticle with gravity as I hold the
rifle in a natural shooting position. I believe it makes me shoot
better (from field positions) to do so. This alignment is by trial and
error. Once I am happy in rapidly mounting the rifle to my shoulder
and acquiring a target, I lock the scope in place and zero the scope in
the usual way.














Ken wrote:
...



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