Why Long LOP on Euro Rifles?

[Tex .416]

Why do rifles made in Europe, especially Germany, tend to have longer lengths of pull than US made rifles?

Are Germans on average just taller with longer arms?

 

[ve7poi]

I find almost every rifle made to short in North America typically by 1”
Reason because I don’t shoot off a bench while hunting.

 

[Certus]

Could be a few things - maybe they make it that way so they’re more customisable (with a shortening) to suit anyone.
The other option is just making to averages. Dunno, hey! Good question.

 

[Tex .416]

Could be a few things - maybe they make it that way so they’re more customisable (with a shortening) to suit anyone.

That seems like a sensible rationale.

 

[MS 9x56]

They hunt on their feet using beaters and dogs to run the game by the standers. European guns fit me perfectly whereas I have to use a slip over recoil pad to make any American stock fit me.

 

[TOBY458]

All American rifles are too short for me. And I’m not particularly long armed. I guess it’s a “one size fits all” thing.

 

[AZDAVE]

AS a guy with a long LOP I will ask the question a different way. Why are all the non custom american rifles stocked with such short stocks

 

[ActionBob]

Just ask Trump, it's the long reaching for the US to pay more than it's share of NATO

 

[colorado]

Europeans have longer arms, they're not as evolved as us Muricans ...

 

[93marlin]

My Sauer double rifle has a 14 3/4 LOP.
It fits me like a bespoke shotgun. All of American rifles need at a 1 inch thick slip-on pad to feel "normal" to me. I'm tall, 6'3", with long ape-like arms

 

[MS 9x56]

I am only 5'11" tall and my arms are not particularly long. I really don't understand why but my guess is cost. Everything in American business comes back to costs.

 

[sgt_zim]

It isn't really arm length, it's the distance between shoulder and nose tip. For muscular people and fat people, that's normally a shorter length.

My eldest son is only about an inch shorter than I am, and off-the-rack rifles fit him pretty well. He's a good bit more muscular than I am, though I'm not exactly thin. A lot of my 2x (nominally for 48-50" chest) shirts are snug across the chest, shoulders, and in the sleeves. Off-the-rack rifles are awkwardly short for me.

 

[BeeMaa]

World wide average height for males is 67" (170 cm)
Average height for men in the US is 70" (178 cm)
Average height for men in Germany is 72" (183 cm)

Not to be sexist, but most rifles are marketed towards men. Germany, Austria, Poland and the Netherlands lead the way in Europe along with Finland, Sweden and Norway with average heights above 70" (178 cm). It's no wonder the rifles from Sako, Tikka, Blaser, Heym, Krieghoff, Sauer & Sons...etc have longer LOP's.

American rifles and shotguns have never fit me well and even the ones from the EU have needed some LOP added to accommodate my long arms.

My Blaser rifles have spacers added to the stock to lengthen it even further. Standard LOP is 14 5/8" (37 cm) plus two .4" (1 cm) spacers to make it fit me properly. LOP is just over 15" (38 cm).

 

[Longwalker]

American rifles are designed for shooting off a bench, or from prone. European rifles are designed for shooting from more typical hunting positions, standing with a rest, from a high seat, and offhand. European rifles not only have longer length of pull, but tend to have more drop at the comb too, to better accommodate offhand shooting and upright shooting positions.
I like European stocks.

 

[rookhawk]

Why do rifles made in Europe, especially Germany, tend to have longer lengths of pull than US made rifles?

Are Germans on average just taller with longer arms?

The Germans (and Brits) realize that a double rifle needs to be closer to the length of a shotgun than a bolt gun.

Americans realize very little about anything. (As an American speaking from experience)

The general rule of thumb is take your shotgun length of pull, subtract 1" or a bit less, that is your bolt-gun LOP. For a double rifle, the LOP should be the same as or up to 1/2" less than your shotgun length of pull.

Unfortunately, with very few exceptions, American gunsmiths and makers are unfamiliar with any of these customs and just put out sotcks the same length as they always did. You know, like 13-3/8" stocks for bolt guns just like Winchester did WHEN THE AVERAGE MALE WAS 5'7" TALL!.

The godsend in all of this is at least when you find a vintage British double rifle, if its all original, it had 14-3/8" LOP to a steel plate. Chop off the plate, add a 1" silvers pad, you now have a 15-1/4" LOP double rifle suitable for a 6'2-6'5" tall guy. Heym has done a really good job with modern stock dimensions on their doubles as well, Several I've owned and handled were 15.5" LOPs from the factory, one of the many perks of buying a Heym.

 

[Northern Shooter]

Those long Aryan arms.

 

[BeeMaa]

More Blaser specific buttpad and stock spacer info for those who may need it.

I added an adjustable stock to my rifle. When I went to install the butt pad and spacer kit (p/n C39878) with it, the top bolt bottomed out. The bottom bolt was fine, but the addition of the adjustable comb robbed some space from the top.

First a few specs. The bolts takes a 3mm Allen key to remove and are threaded M5x0.8. Before cutting the bolt to length, I put a M5x0.8 die on the bolt and ran it all the way to the head. This way I could clean the threads after cutting to length. I took my time and ended up taking off 17mm before I was happy with the fit. I'm only using two of the three spacer in the kit, but I believe that even if all three spacers were used cutting the bolt down would be necessary for proper fit.

I understand that everyone doesn't have metric tap and die sets laying around but if you run into this, at least you will know what direction to go.