doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Question on measuring pitch?

I am hoping someone who has had a gun professionally fit, or someone who knows how to fit a gun, can tell me how the shooter is measured for stock pitch? I know there is a tool that is used to measure the pitch of a guns stock, but I am wondering how the shooter is measured to establish his specific comfortable pitch? If a gun with a fully adjustable stock is used, is this gun shot to see if the pitch is comfortable or is a measurement just made while the shooter holds the gun? Thanks in advance! Kurt

I would recomend that you loosen the butt plate and use some shims to change the pitch until it is comfortable.
bill

I like Bill's recommendation. Comfort, meaning full contact between the butt and your shoulder pocket is the important reason for pitch. The measurements really don't mean a thing, IMO.

I would go with Bill's recommendation as a starting point. Then, I would shoot until it was confirmed or adjustments were needed/done.

I've used shirt boards & plastic cards for shims when necessary for a bit of tweak. However, somewhere between 1.5" & 2.5" pitch down at 28" from the floor [door jamb method] is generally going to be the range you will find most useful & comfortable, predicated on how you are configured.

Now for the fun part, opening the Pandora's box of pitch. Lots of pitch down tends to make one shoot lower and insufficient pitch down or even reverse pitch [pitch up] tends to make one shoot higher. There are those who will argue against this until they are blue in the face, but I find it to be an accurate & valid statement from my own fooling around, aka testing.

Guns to be used in the field, as in behind dogs or just impromtu shooting will require a bit more pitch down than a pre-mounted target gun .. if you expect to shoot well.

International Skeet guns tend to be purposely stocked w/ a LOT of pitch down.

Trap or DTL ['down the line' in England] guns tend to have less pitch down.

Our own version of Sporting Clays was quickly prostituted with the 'any mount' [say 'pre-mounted'] rule, so that many Clays guns are not field guns at all.

What you find comfortable for a dedicated clays gun plus .5" pitch down at 28" from the floor should prove very close to what you will shoot best in the field.

Just my thots.

Kind regards,
tw

See if you can get the relevant parts of Yardley's book(s) on gunfitting. Much depends on the type of shooting, the gun, and your build. As noted, trap guns are different from... What kind of mount do you favor would be a big part of the equation--like do you mount to your shoulder first and your cheek second or vice versa? I agree with the general fit comment above for game guns for most guys. However, take a look at a gun you shoot well consistently and see what you have there. It may be that you will surprise yourself with toe in or out measurements.

I'm not blue in the face yet but I'll respectfully argue that pitch has little or nothing to do with shooting high or low. 100 years ago, when shooters shot with an upright head, off the stock, I can see that that would be the case. We have long since learned to put our cheeks against the comb for best shooting. If your cheek is against the comb, where your eye is determines high or low shooting. If the butt or pitch were important, people using the "banana" pads would shoot themselves in the foot.

But, old legends die slow. Writers still fill books with crap they know nothing about, hearsay, old wives tales and urban legends. JMO, of course, but also based on personal experience.

I cut my stocks at 90 degrees from the comb. Assuming reasonable comb and drop dimensions, the butt fits my shoulder pocket shape pretty well. I have never seen any evidence of high or low shooting doing this, even though when pitch is measured the prescribed way, lots of variation is seen among my guns.

I have always suspected that up pitch would make the gun kick you in the cheek more.

Thank you all for your interest. I plan to reduce the LOP of a new gun and would like to change the pitch at the same time. I was hoping for info on making an accurate determination of the proper pitch before I cut as I intend to use it extensively.

At some point, changing pitch will cause a gun to recoil differently. It changes the pivot point.
I agree with those above that the proper pitch is what fits and puts the whole butt of the gun in contact with the shooting shoulder pocket. But, that should be the neutral starting point (and yes it is usually 2 to 3 inches). Slight adjustments from there can be quite effective at taming recoil in some guns.

And, the best way to find that point is as suggested above by using thin shims under the top or bottom of the butt plate or pad to adjust the pitch and shoot it. Shoot it often with a low mount. You can easily feel the difference. When it is right, cut the wood.
Anyway, that's my .02.
Jake