Education in butt stock length.

[Stan in SC]

My Winchester 94 "Trapper" came with a rubber butt plate.I thought it looked like it ought to be replaced with a metal or plastic one.(thinner).I finally went over to my gun smith's today and commandeered a piece of 1/4" thick aluminum stock.Got home and cut it roughly to shape and then began the long task of working it down to the exact size.Took a LOT of work with the Dremel tool.I polished it and by golly it looked good.Then I put it in place on the rifle after removing the rubber plate.It turns out to look way too short.I measured LOP to be 12".It was not comfortable when I brought it to my shoulder.The trapper butt stock is evidently shorter than a normal 94.
I left it in place on the butt stock and reinstalled the rubber plate so now I have both of them on the rifle.It felt better than it ever did and looks pretty good so I just left it all installed.I guess I should have researched butt stock measurements if that were possible.Has anyone else ever realized that a trapper butt plate was shorter than a normal 94 butt plate?

Stan in SC

[Pisgah]

Was this a Trapper you bought new, or used? If used, it sounds likely someone shortened the butt, perhaps to make a "youth model", and then they or someone else later added a butt pad to restore some of the length. This is something I've encountered before. Unaltered length of pull should be 13.5" with a Winchester plastic, or hard rubber, buttplate.

[J Miller]

They also made one just before they went belly up that was called the compact I think. It had a 12" LOP if my memory serves me. Barrel length was 16".

Joe

[Stan in SC]

Yes,LOP with hard rubber Winchester buttplate was 13-1/2".Without butt plate it was 12" which is much too short.Actually all I seem to have done is add 1/4" to the LOP.That measley 1/4" made a lot off difference in the way it felt to the shoulder.
It is a Trapper model with 16" barrel.I bought it pre owned but new in box unfired.

Stan in SC

[Pisgah]

The hard rubber buttplate I am familiar with is only 1/4" thick, with the Winchester logo molded on the face. Of course, I haven't seen them all. Sounds from your description you are describing something an inch or more thick. Was such ever standard? I know there was a Compact, but I believe it was a Ranger, not a true Trapper but certainly "Trapper-style". Is that what you've got? Birch stock, matte finish, 16" barrel and, as I recall, a pretty thick pad.

[Stan in SC]

Pisgah,It does not have "Ranger" on the barrel.

Stan in SC

[Gun Smith]

When I was 'smithing we used a rule of thumb for stock length. It works well for most shooters. Lay the buttstock against the cup of your elbow and check to see that the trigger comes to the middle joint of your trigger finger. On average size men this will work out to 12 1/2" to 14". Most older factory stocked guns have way to short a buttstock because in the last 100+ years we have grown 4" or more taller than our ancestors.