doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Stock Bending and Pitch

I have plans to get a stock bent -- my first experience with this. Dimensions at present are D@C=1.5, D@H=3.0, LOP@H=14.75, LOP@T=15.25. This is a Lefever with a reproduction solid red rubber pad. I'm usually able to shoot guns with a lot of drop, using a heads-up sort of mount, but this gun isn't cooperating and I'm always shooting high. Assuming the bend takes, I want to arrive at about 2.5" of drop and try a modern mount.

Eye-balling it, I figure this won't dramatically change the drop at the comb (maybe raising it to 1 9/16 or 1 5/8 at most), but I can't decide if the stock's pitch will be dramatically altered with negative effects. So many factors go into stock fit, and I don't want to go to the trouble and expense of the bending if the new pitch counteracts the effect of the straighter stock. The physics of the matter have me a bit stumped, and I'd sure appreciate any thoughts from those who've had experience with this. TT

Two Triggers,

You should shoot low with a lot of drop in the butt. Consistency is what you gain if you use a mount where the stock anchors under your cheek bone.
If you bend the stock up reducing the drop, I think you will reduce the pitch( I am not certain about pitch movement), helping you further hit high. Once you achieve the proper drop to gain consistency you can recut the pitch to your needs, probably not losing a lot of LOP.
I am not any expert, I am sure you'll get better advise from this board.
Another thing, cast might change too, when you bring the stock up, forcing you to shoot left if you are RH shooter.
What I do is I shoot the gun from 16 yards to a shooting plate and measure the average of the deviation from the aiming point in inches. For example, if you shoot 2" low and 2" to the left you have to move the stock at cheek 2 sixteenths up and to the right.
I hope this helps.

Two Triggers,
You could simulate your stock dimensions on a piece of board utilising wooden laths or even string, pinned into place with drawing pins.
Move from the actual dimensions, to the desired drop etc., then see what your pitch angle looks like.
If you use a stock bending jig (as you should) you will be able to maintain the desired cast dimension.
Personally I do feel that American shooters do get bogged down in the pitch department and pay too much attention to pitch and not enough attention to shooting style and gunmount technique.

First, if your drop at the comb is 1.5", that's fairly high and modern. Drop at heel of 3" is a lot and old style. The two dimensions don't seem to go together, IMO. If you're shooting high now, your heads-up style may be more the problem than the drop at the comb. Suggest you start planting your cheek on the comb and see if your high shooting goes away. If you shoot with your cheek on the comb properly, pitch will only be important to minimize felt recoil, in the way the butt fits against your shoulder pocket. Pitch will not make your gun shoot high or low, if your cheek is set on the comb, the way most shooters do it.

Pitch is mostly for body type. A woman or barrel chested man may need two to three inches of pitch with some toe out to keep the toe of the stock from digging in. The average Joe mostly can get by with zero to one inch of pitch.