Fit and feel?

[4thredneck]

I am fairly new hear, have been reading alot of the info supplied. I am just wondering when guys talk about the fit and feel of a rifle, is it just personnal preference or is there something a person should know about how a rifle should fit a person.

[sbtennex]

Both. Depends on your build. "Fit" in a rifle is different than the same in say a high end shotgun, where it's generally built to measure, like a good suit jacket. There are fewer and more flexible guidelines for a rifle, and "feel" is probably the one immediate impression most riflemen use when deciding on a new rifle. Length of pull, comb height, palm swell thickness, stock style, balance and swing and many other things add up to a good "feeling" gun. Some prefer lighter, quicker handling while others gravitate more towards a more solid heft and more barrel. It's a personal decision and even though I don't necessarily like the feel of a rifle based on many, if any, of all these things I just know when I like it. If you handled a few of my rifles you'd know exactly what I mean - no pattern at all to the ones I choose. All different, with maybe one or two small details in common - grip thickness on the thinner side and balance. The more you handle the more you learn what you like, "proper" fitting or not.

[ACKLEY ABE]

I'd pretty much agree with what sbtennex had to say, with an addition. I've seen countless guys come into a store in July and put a rifle up to their shoulders and say ooo, fits perfectly. Well my freind, is it gonna fit that well when you're huntin Whitetails in November when your weariing six layers of clothes?

Decide what you are going to be doing with the rifle and use that as part of your criteria. I have heavy bbl varminters that have a longer length of pull than any of my fall hunting rifles for this reason.

When shotguns come into the picture, there's a whole new set of rules.