Article 9 – 2022 (October)
Australian Shooter Magazine
Question and Answers
Article 9 – 2022 (October)
Question: I recently bought a 12 gauge Miroku Sporting shotgun for my youngest son to use. He is fourteen years old. We mainly shoot clays on our farm as we have a clay thrower there and I thought this would be a great way to educate him how to use the firearm correctly. He is only a little guy at the moment. He stands just on 1.5 metres so I was advised to cut the shotguns stock so it would fit him correctly. I am told the “length of pull” is now 360 millimetres if that makes sense to you? The problem I now face is that I have caught the shooting bug also and want to use this shotgun also. Is that possible? It seems to feel OK when I use it. Any advice on ammunition would also be greatly appreciated.
Roy Kane, Jacobs Well QLD
Answer: I guess anything is possible, but is it perfect? Probably not. I assume you are a lot taller than your son hence why you are asking the question.
Whoever gave you the advice to shorten the stock has certainly done you a favour. You probably didn’t tell the gunsmith that you planned on using the shotgun also by the way you formed your question so this is what I would do if I was you.
The Length of Pull (LOP) is a measurement taken from the middle of the trigger to the heel of the recoil pad (the top) and again to the toe of the pad (the bootom). I will make the assumption the figure of 360mm that you are quoting is to the centre of the recoil pad. LOP is commonly measured this way, but technically this is incorrect for a variety of complexed reasons that I won’t go into today, but it is largely related to the ”pitch” of your stock that dictates the angle the stock’s butt sits on your shoulder. If I make the broad assumption that you are 1.8 metres tall, a very common set of length of pull dimensions would be as follows. 375mm to the heel, 372 mm to the mid and 380mm to the toe. This would be for a standard sporting stock. These figures are a guide only as body shape, technique, experience and a few other factors will come into play to totally customise your stocks length. The 360mm LOP for your son’s new shotgun wouldn’t be too far out for someone of his size. It still in theory may be a little long, but I am sure he is still growing. I hope the stock maker sliced the smallest amount of wood off the stock that was practical and fitted the thinnest recoil pad possible to the newly cut stock. The thinnest recoil pad that would still provide some benefit to help reduce the pain would be no smaller than 13mm. Most decent brands offer pads that go up in 5mm increments and that is what I suggest you need to do if you both want to use the same shotgun.
If you had a 23mm pad, or maybe even a 28mm one, and swapped it with your sons 13mm pad you should be good to go. If you have a small battery power drill then changing the pads will take about 30 seconds and it will be half a minute well spent as one of the worst things you could have done to your son was to teach him with a stock that is too long to use. It would have changed the perception of recoil as well as teaching him many other bad habits. I have always said it is much better to use a stock that has a slightly shorter length of pull than one that is too long.
If you are just blasting clays on your property, get him some lower velocity ammunition, either 1150 feet per second 28 gram loads or even better still some lighter 24 gram or even 21 gram shot shells. They will still break clays at reasonable distances and if you are standing beside the clay thrower you won’t miss a target due to the reduced velocity and smaller shot loads.
Miroku make a great variety of shotguns and are very well made. As your son grows older just keep putting a larger recoil pad on the shotgun and you will have a shotgun that you should be able to pass onto your grandchildren.
I wish you all the best with the many hours of enjoyment you will have teaching your son to shoot.