Measuring Overall Length Question

[dschnarr]

Hello Everyone,
I'm new to this site but not new to shotguns and hunting in general. I am gathering information in order to put together a short shotgun for camping/fishing trips.
My question is this: If I am measuring my shotgun to determine its overall length (lets skip the discussion about 26" please), how do I do it? Can I measure directly from the tip of the barrel to the very bottom corner of the stock, the furthest point from the barrel? Or must I measure along the axis of the barrel? Maybe a former/current varifier can give me some heads up.
The reason I am asking is that I really like the break action single shot idea, but I want to make sure I don't cut it too short, or leave it unnecessarily long. Thanks in advance.

DS

PS: This is not intentioned to become another OAL legal discussion. Purely to discuss the method of measuring. Cheers

 

[Boomer]

If the point of the measurement is so the gun can be built to stay within minimum legal dimensions, then to be safe the line that gives you the minimum measurement should be the one that concerns you. This would result in a measurement along the axis of the barrel to the center of the butt plate or recoil pad.

 

[easy]

Hi there dschnarr and welcome to CGN.

Here's a thread from not long ago that illustrates what you're asking about.

http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=294692&highlight=oal+measurement

Mu opinion on the correct OAL in this illustration is the red line, (25.75").

Enjoy your stay, there's lots of interesting info here, but the search function can be frustrating until you explore all the search options and apply the one best suited to your search criteria.

 

[dschnarr]

That is exactly what I'm looking for. I searched, believe me I searched. Got to page 175 of the infamous 'shortie' thread and I think my eyes fell out of my head. Thank you for the link, and talk to you all soon!

DS