For signature files we propose a new false drop estimation method for databases with varying record lengths. Our approach provides more accurate estimation of the number of false drops by considering the lengths of individual records instead of using the average number of terms per record. In signature file processing, accurate estimation of the number of false drops is essential to obtain a more accurate signature file and therefore to obtain a better (query) response time. With a formal proof we show that under certain conditions the number of false drops estimated by considering the average record length is less than or equal to the precise 'expected' estimation which is based on the individual record lengths. The experiments with real data show that the proposed method accurately estimates the number of false drops and the actual response time. Depending on the space overhead, our approach obtains up to 33% and 20% response time improvements for the conventional sequential and new efficient multiframe signature file methods, respectively.