8 WWW.THEFIELD.CO.UK
Recoil
Withregardtogunweight,anythingmuch
over7½lbistooheavyformostwomennot
intraining;anythingunder6¼lbis probably
goingtorecoiltoomuchandflyaboutlikea
wand.Mostwouldfavour12-boresforclay
shootingand12-or20-boresforfielduse.
Theaestheticsof20sareusuallypleasing,
too, evenin machine-madeguns,andthe
cartridgesarewidelyavailableandnottoo
expensive (the main disadvantage with a 28).
THERIGHTBARRELLENGTH
Barrel length is an important considera-
tion.Themodernstandardformenis30in
with12-or20-boresbutwomenmayalso
consider28in asit reducesfrontal weight
- frequently an issue when women start
shooting(itis alsohelpfultoworkonupper
andcorebodystrength).Longerbarrelstend
tohelpwithrecoilandsecondshotrecovery.
Shortbarrels,26inor25in,are,inmyexpe-
rience, animpediment. This isnot to say
28inistherightlengthforallwomen–on
thecontrary,30inareprobablypreferableif
theycanbehandledeasily– 30inis usually
rightfora 20-or28-bore,too;witha 12,a lot
dependsonhowthegunis made.Somehave
thicker, heavier barrels than others, with
these (often multichoked) guns, 28in may
bethebestchoice.Oneotherpoint:thereis
somethingofa fadforbarrelswithtighter
bore diameters at the moment (as there
wasonceforthe opposite– back-boring).
My experience is that those who are recoil
sensitive maydo betterwith the enlarged
bores,whichseemtoreducefeltrecoil.
Gunstockpatternandfitisalsocritical
whenconsideringrecoil.I recentlydesigned
a woman’s stockfora well-known maker.
It was shorter and higher than a stock
intended for the average male user and
it hada smallergripanda combthatwas
higherbutnottoothick.Womentendtobe
shorterthan men with smaller heads and
hands, and shorter limbs. Hence the need for
and tape orrubber comb raisers. This in
effectcreatestheMonteCarlopatternthat
also accommodates longer necks. Other
issuesaretheangleofthecomb.Itshould
notbetoosteep(nearlyparalleldesignsare
usuallyto be favoured) and the shape of
thebuttsole(whichshouldpromotegood
contactwiththeshoulder/shoulderpocket,
and must effectively spread recoil). Most
womenwilldobetterwitha lessprominent
toe(thoughsometoeisrequiredforeffec-
tivesupportandrecoilcontrol).I havenever
foundwomendowellwithextremesofcast.
It canincreaserecoileffectsbutbringing out
thetoea littleis oftenadvisable.
To mitigatethe effectsof recoilfurther,
I usually advise using a modern polymer
recoilpad at least1in thick(the old,hard,
rubber pads looked elegant butare much
lessefficient).I amespeciallyfondofthose
madebyKick-Eezbutthereareseveralother
goodmakes.Manufacturersmaynowoffer
improved recoilpads as a standard fitting
(thoughtheremaystillbea needforstock
shortening,andcombraising,fortheaverage
womanevenif thesearefittedtoa newgun).
If retro-fittinga padormakinga stockfora
womanthe‘footprint’ofthebuttsoleshould
bekeptfairlywidetospreadtherecoil.
Asfarasover-and-undersareconcerned,
I havea prejudiceagainstlightweightmod-
els built with alloy actions. These are
Ihavemodified
many stocksfor
womenbyaddingan
inset comb piece
ashorter,higherstock(usuallyabout1inless
LOP and^1 ⁄ 4 in-^1 ⁄ 2 in more height). However,
womenmayhavelongernecksandthedis-
tancefromtheircheekbonetothecentreof
theeyeorbitistypicallysignificantlyless–
hencea higherstockis usuallyrequired,and,
possiblya MonteCarlo-stylecomb.Gripand
fore-endneed tobe effectiveshapes, too,
offeringgoodpurchasefora smallerhand.
Ihavemodifiedmanystocksforwomen
byadding anadditional insetcombpiece.
A temporary addition to determine the
correct height may be made with card strips
Gun stock pattern and fit is critical
SARAH FARNSWORTH, SYKES MEDIA
