From my research, we need four numbers to sum up a gun's dynamics, its handling fingerprint, if you will. Weight is the most fundamental parameter. It determines the effort required to carry, lift, and hold the gun; further it determines recoil attenuation. Beyond lift, all other movement of the gun is changing the direction it is pointing.
Swing is the movement that changes the direction the gun points. The effort required for swing is measured from teeter-totter balance point and moment of inertia at the teeter-totter balance point.
Teeter-totter balance, along with hand placement, tells you how much of the gun's weight is carried by each hand. I measure from the balance point to the (front) trigger because the trigger is the one point on the gun you must touch to shoot. The balance to trigger measurement allows comparisons of all types of guns, even those that don't have hinge pins. You can use any point of reference you want, but you will always come back to relating the balance point to hand placement if you are going to do anything with it. There is no perfect balance point, only personal preference.
The amount of muscle effort needed to make the gun swing when held between the hands is measured by moment of inertia at the balance point. MOI is a measure of weight distribution. When the gun is mounted to the shoulder, the swing axis can be considered to be the butt and can be calculated. Preference for swing is purely a personal decision; some like wands and others pigs on snow shovels.
So, if we know weight, balance point, swing effort at the balance point and swing effort at the butt we pretty well know how the gun handles. Trying to tell someone else what handling fingerprint he should like or use is much like telling what stock fit dimensions he should use. Shooters must realize that what they shoot best and what they enjoy shooting most may well be two entirely different things.
