Stock fitting to shooter

[Paddlefoot]

In looking over some of the Fred Miller stock patterns at Knob Mtn  and thinking about the various styles of the various gunsmith schools I wonder how many of those patterns were developed by fitting to individual shooters. Did shooting style effect the stock design as much as shooter dimensions? It seems to me that the extreme drop of a Bedford had to be due to a shooting style when compared to something like a Lancaster.
How many of us use a try gun or some method to tailor each gun to the shooter it is for?

[WadePatton]

I glued two boards together and made a mock stock (with handy centerline) to get a feel for my drop/pull/cast.  I may has learned that from someone here. thanks.  Pine whoops into shape really quickly too.

I attached some weight to make it balance/heft proper.  Worked great.  Also was good practice for me to learn to get that crescent off my shoulder and out where it belongs--unlike all that wide-butt "other stuff".    (no offense).  But yeah where you hold it because of the styling/school/persona/etc. certainly affects how it fits.

[Don Getz]

I have been shooting modern guns for nearly 70 years.   Learned how to squeeze and breathe from two older brothers.   We
had an old apple tree in our back lot that we would place a smallbore target on and would shoot at it with an old Model 416
Stevens target rifle, have been shooting trap and skeet since 1970.  When I pick up a bedford rifle I have to start all over
again, you can't shoot it like a modern gun.   If someone would make up a try stock and fit it to you, you would probably end up with a J.P.Beck.   Many muzzleloaders are "different".  Why did they start to make them so "delicate", while at the same
time they began to used straight sided barrels....most of which are heavy.  As for Fred Miller's stocks, he did not, to my
knowledge, have a try stock.  He had so many stock patterns, most of which were copied from original rifles, or from patterns
that other people sent to him.   ........Don

[Paddlefoot]

That's what I was trying to get at Don. It seems to me that the Bedford would be terrible to shoot in any position other than standing very straight. Seems that it wouldn't allow you to lean into it any and, with the long lever arm of that drop, it wouldn't handle much in the way of recoil. So you get a heavy barrel and a small caliber to keep the muzzle down.
When you get to the Beck pattern, is the average Beck gun about right for everyone? Do you folks that get to handle these guns find that Beck, Sell, Schroyer, Armstrong and the masters made small adjustments for each gun or was it more like they built a Large pattern and a Smaller pattern?

[Don Getz]

I have always found that a J..Beck come about the closest to a modern gun, I think the fact that the trigger guard comes up
and nearly touches the wrist give you a feel almost like a pistol grip on a modern gun.........Don

[Dphariss]

In looking over some of the Fred Miller stock patterns at Knob Mtn  and thinking about the various styles of the various gunsmith schools I wonder how many of those patterns were developed by fitting to individual shooters. Did shooting style effect the stock design as much as shooter dimensions? It seems to me that the extreme drop of a Bedford had to be due to a shooting style when compared to something like a Lancaster.
How many of us use a try gun or some method to tailor each gun to the shooter it is for?

Probably none of them.
When we thunk of the American rifle we need to think of the rifle matches they were used in. These were very popular. Most of the 18th c matches, from what writings have been found, were rest matchs, chunk matches if you will.
Apparently these never died out but offhand shooting became more popular in the 19th c. When I could not say. But the later rifles with the crescent butts seem to be more for an upright stance and the excessive, by 20th c standards, work well for this. Though there are a number of "schools" that seem to be made just for looks or for some really strange shooting stance.
And, again. Rifles are aimed shotguns are pointed. A rifleman can adapt to almost anything that does not inflict pain when its fired and the increasingly small bores found in many eastern rifles of the 19th c  means that little bitty buttplates and weird combs could be tolerated. A 54 caliber Leman Indian trade rifle is not fun too shoot. A 54 caliber Beck or Dickert will be comfortable. The Dickert or Beck will also work well off a chunk rest or off a plank rest. Huge drops and weird combs not so much.

Dan