Can a rifle be too short for you?

ninepointer

ninepointer

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I had a Win 94 that shot well from a bench but, compared to other rifles I own, I was lousy shooting the M94 off-hand. I mentioned this to an older gentleman who is still one of the best hunters I know. His reply was, "A Winchester is too short for you." (Both he and I are around 6'3"). He went on to say that he owned 4 Winchester 94's in his lifetime and he sold every one of them because he couldn't shoot them worth a darn. Is a Win 94 a poor fit for a tall guy?
 
Bad triggers behave much worse offhand. A solid bench rest can compensate for many sins in a rifle's design. The trigger can be tuned by a good smith. If it's only the stock, add a recoil pad.try it with a slip on pad and see if it helps, if so you can have a proper pad fitted to add up to 1".
 
Absolutely, especially 94s.
They haven't changed stock lengths or drop since the 1900s when the average man was 6" shorter than today! I have never been able to shoot a 94 comfortable off-hand with-out craneing my neck down & out of position to see the sights.
You could try tapeing on an inch thick recoil pad to see if it fits better.
 
I am 6'5" and a heavy frame (300 pounds plus) and every gun I hold looks small on me. I have learned to shoot shotguns and rifles with small stocks so I have become accustom to them. But I did fire a friend’s shotgun that was custom made for his father back in the 50's, this gun is very short and I couldn't hit a barn with it. I went from hitting 22 out of 25 clays to hitting 9 out of 25. As for rifles, my Savage 99 is fairly short but after shooting it for a long time I just became used to it. The length of pull on my paintball gun is at least 4 inches longer, but I can't comment on an increase in accuracy as its a paintball gun and accuracy is not one of its strong points.

Installing a bigger recoil pad may lengthen it enough to give you a little better positioning.
 
i'm only 5'8 and i found the 94 trapper short as far as reach goes- added one of those slip on recoil pads and it's now just about right- if it's still too short, add a past recoil shield to your body- either or both is going to give you some length- and don't pay any attention to somebody calling you sissy when you wear the pad
 
Definitely, the LOP can have a huge effect on your ability to shoot at particular rifle. I like a 14 inch LOP on rifles, theat being said on aa light kicker I can adjust down to probably 13, provided I don't get smoked too bad by the scope.
 
Too short a length of pull does not greatly increase felt recoil, it interferes with proper sighting, though. On the other hand, too long a length of pull will result in a large increase in perceived recoil. This is due to the angle of the shoulder joint. As soon as your upper arm starts to rotate forward, the pain starts.

I have a short length of pull, and have to trim most rifle stocks by 1/2 to 3/4 inch to have any chance of off hand accuraccy. For the same reason, most factory Model 70 stocks just don't feel right to me.
 
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