Pistol Grips - Ever a good idea?

[Mexican Musashi]

Whatever you do, NEVER hold a PG'd shotgun up to your face and fire. You will have a few gaps where your front teeth used to be if you do this.

Like someone mentioned above, a PG'd shotgun is good for maneuverability in tight quarters, and it's much more compact for a vehicle than a monte-carlo stocked shotgun.

One big problem, however, is that you can't shoulder the shotgun to fire like you would a rifle, unless the shotgun has a PG + stock. Some people recommend firing a PG'd shotgun from the hip if you are using it for HD, although I would imagine this takes a lot of practice to hit anything efficiently.

Got it! Yes I'm understanding more and more why it's a bad idea overall.

[Mexican Musashi]

Don't do that to a Mossberg. You'll never want to use the safety, and if you do want to use it, you won't be able to use it quickly.

Ah yes, good point! The Mossberg (which I have) safety is at the top whereas I can see this works fine on a Remington.

[Mexican Musashi]

Simple answer... dont use the safety. Pistol grips in general are horrible for mossbergs in terms of the safety. When I had the PG stock on my mossy, I kept 5 in the tube and none in the chamber, safety off. Now that it is back to original config with no PG, I went back to 5+1 safety on.

Out of curiosity, were there kids in your home? I don't have any in mine so it's no concern to me (yet) but I'm just curious to know if this affects your decision to leave the safety on/off.

[gatesbox]

My apologies, I am more than aware I was making assumptions....I took my first defensive shotgun course from some off duty San Jose LEOs. After that first day I had a solid grasp on the limitations and benefits of basic defensive shotgun, enough so that I have a pretty solid understanding of my own abilities. The idea of a pistol grip, especially the one pictured seems full of problems that I would recognize form my first defensive class.

1. Stability and accuracy
2. Control of the weapon on target during reload
- how do you load via gate with if you are holding the weapon via pistol grip without taking weapon off target?
- how do you load via ejection port with strong arm holding the weapon without taking the weapon off target?
(with a shotgun shouldered there is sufficient support to keep the weapon on target while loading via both the gate or port)
3. Manipulation of safety

Most of these draw backs are related to loosing one point in a three point contact hold with your weapon..... As in many activities those three points of contact provide more functional options. This is a lot to give up for some sense of maneuverability, assuming this is even a benefit.

My point is, before I had much experience, I learned enough to doubt a pistol grip (without stock like the one pictured in e OP) would provide any tactical advantage....

I still have not seen anything to change my mind in this thread.

[Mexican Musashi]

My apologies, I am more than aware I was making assumptions....I took my first defensive shotgun course from some off duty San Jose LEOs. After that first day I had a solid grasp on the limitations and benefits of basic defensive shotgun, enough so that I have a pretty solid understanding of my own abilities. The idea of a pistol grip, especially the one pictured seems full of problems that I would recognize form my first defensive class.

1. Stability and accuracy
2. Control of the weapon on target during reload
- how do you load via gate with if you are holding the weapon via pistol grip without taking weapon off target?
- how do you load via ejection port with strong arm holding the weapon without taking the weapon off target?
(with a shotgun shouldered there is sufficient support to keep the weapon on target while loading via both the gate or port)
3. Manipulation of safety

Most of these draw backs are related to loosing one point in a three point contact hold with your weapon..... As in many activities those three points of contact provide more functional options. This is a lot to give up for some sense of maneuverability, assuming this is even a benefit.

My point is, before I had much experience, I learned enough to doubt a pistol grip (without stock like the one pictured in e OP) would provide any tactical advantage....

I still have not seen anything to change my mind in this thread.

Thanks for the clarification. Indeed, what I saw in the class made me realize the pistol grip was certainly a bad idea for most situations. I was just wondering (and I forgot to ask) if there were ever exceptions, for example; if you live in a small house where range would likely be limited and storage space.

I don't mean to sound like I live in cardboard box or anything but one of my concerns was that if someone breaks in while I'm at work (most break-ins happen this way don't they?), I'd prefer they not happen to see (and take) my shotgun. If I had a larger room I imagine I would have more areas to store it.

But this thread has pretty much laid my nagging suspicion to waste. I'll just keep the standard stock on.

Thanks!

[Lugiahua]

I have a 590A1 with M4-style stock
It takes sometime to get use to the safety, but it works fine to me

[shortround1]

1 - Replace stock stock with pistol grip

2 - Fire the shotgun several times

3 - Replace pistol grip with stock stock

I bet a lot of people have done that, myself (in a way) included.

1-Start with a really great Hogue short stock.

2-Slap an expensive Mesa Tactical ar-style recoil absorbing stock on.

3-Decide that the simple and comfortable Hogue stock is still much preferable for me.

[kayaker]

IMHO the pistol grip only on a shotgun is for the person who still thinks that if you fire a short barrel shotgun in the general direction of your intended target that you will kill any and everything in front of you. Once you take the gun out and actually shoot it and see reality you'll throw that stupid pistol grip away. But that's just MY opinion YMMV.

[Jason P]

Home defense - P95 chambered, safety off, extra mag, 147gr JHP's + 5.25" bowie knife + Streamlite. This is what I leave my bedroom with if family is in the house.

Of course I answer the door at night with a pistol also, but the shotgun is sitting a few feet away. If my family is not home, I sleep with my P95 under my pillow and the Mossy on the bed next to me with 7 in the tube and one on the elevator...

Paranoid much

[Lurch762]

The angle that a regular pistol grip puts your wrist may make the recoil uncomfortable. I have a conventional pistol grip and a birdshead grip for my Winchester 1300 and the birdshead is much more comfortable. The angle of your wrist is just like shooting a full stock from the hip. Speedfeed no longer makes the birdshead for the Mossberg 500 but it looks like Shockwave Technologies is putting it back into production.

http://www.shockwavetechnologies.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=50

[hcbr]

i'm more traditional, don't fare for PG's

[repubconserv]

Out of curiosity, were there kids in your home? I don't have any in mine so it's no concern to me (yet) but I'm just curious to know if this affects your decision to leave the safety on/off.

no children, so safety off was not a worry... though if there were children I wouldn't trust just the safety. Nor would I trust empty chamber+safety. General consensus is that a safe is a necessity with young children

The safety for me is just an extra level of "feel good," esp with one in the chamber. If the chamber is empty, I would actually feel better with the safety off

[vinny_land]

Here is what I can say about using a PG-only shotgun...it hurts. That doesnt mean you cant hit your target, it means overtime (100 round combination session of birdshot, 00 buck, and a handful of slugs), the webbing on your hand will hate you! After shooting my friend's shotgun, I became pretty good shooting clay targets with it. If a PG shotgun is the only thing you have available and prefer to keep it that way (easier to move, conceal at home, etc), I say go for it!!!

Click on the vid because the picture is blocked off

[supermario]

Nice shooting, everybody seems to hate the pg shotgun. But it really isnt all that bad to shoot once you try it. Just make sure you try with birdshot or some low recoil ammo.

Here is what I can say about using a PG-only shotgun...it hurts. That doesnt mean you cant hit your target, it means overtime (100 round combination session of birdshot, 00 buck, and a handful of slugs), the webbing on your hand will hate you! After shooting my friend's shotgun, I became pretty good shooting clay targets with it. If a PG shotgun is the only thing you have available and prefer to keep it that way (easier to move, conceal at home, etc), I say go for it!!!

Click on the vid because the picture is blocked off

[Lugiahua]

What do you guys think about thumb holes?
to me it has the same holding angle as a pistol grip, but does not affect the release.