...pitch measured in the usual way varies with barrel length and is not an easy way to determine how to cut your butt. It's a lot easier to cut the angle relative to the comb line than using the pitch method. I shoot all these guns equally well(for me) and have no indication that any of them shoot high or low. What does that prove? To me, it proves that pitch is not an important factor in whether a gun shoots high or low, assuming you place your cheek on the comb, as most modern shooters do.
I second that.
I've never done this before....actually compared the pitch of these 4 Foxes that I've stocked over a period of 20 years. I've gotta say I was a bit suprised just how identical they are, though it makes sense they would be.
The first (closest) gun is my 26" 20ga grouse gun and the first shotgun I ever stocked for myself. Like several of the previous posters, I determined the right pitch by trial and error, using spacers to alter the angle of the original butt and build up the comb to the right height and slope. When I was satisfied, I found the butt angle just happened to be 90 degrees. Actually, it might have been 89 or 91, but 90 was close enough and very convenient.
10 years later, when I wanted to stock a 30" 16ga to be a dedicated clays gun, I didn't go through gyrations to measure the pitch of the 20ga so I could duplicate it; I simply cut the butt at 90 degrees and never directly compared the two.
A few years later, I did the same with a 30" 12ga for plains birds.
Currently, I'm stocking a 32" 12ga to replace the 16ga (and possibly my 32" O/U) as my primary target gun. Again I cut the butt at 90 degrees.
In every case, I tested the guns on targets and paper for hundreds of rounds, tweaking the comb height and cast before finishing & checkering. Believe me, if I'd found reason to vary the pitch between a 6lb, 26" 20ga and Anna Nicole (the 8lb, 32" 12ga), I would have. But, like LOP, pitch (provided you have "enough")is not nearly as critical to consistent shooting as a 1/8" variation in drop at face and cast. I compared apples to apples with my Foxes; I'm sure Id see more variation if I included my O/U's. Sure pitch is important, but I understand how JL can say he's happy with a range of 2 3/8 - 4 3/4", and that it pertains more to fitting the gun to the body than affecting POI.
