Different grips for different jobs?

[Aluisious]

Here's something I've not quite understood yet. Assault rifles and SMGs tend to have pistol grips...MP-5, M-16, AK-47, G3, FAL, etc etc. On the other hand, most shotguns and most bolt action rifles, and battle rifles of yore, have those curved grips (I don't even know what they're called), such as your Remington 870, Remington 700, M14, or Garand.

Is there a reason these different weapons have different grips? I imagined maybe it was just tradition...seems you probably couldn't easily build a wooden stock that featured a pistol grip as it would possibly break off. Is that it, or is there another reason?

[hoffmang]

Modern design and building methods have allowed designers to place all of the action in 1 plane. If you think about it, the classic stock is a lever designed to have the muzzle creep up as it pivots on your shoulder. More modern weapons transfer the recoil in a straight line into your shoulder instead which then changes how designers are compelled to design the grip.

-Gene