Wanted to ask for thoughts and comments (advantages/disadvantages) on the utilization of these two style stocks. I will never use a “pistol grip” style stock but I have the option to use either of the two aforementioned stock styles on my Benelli M2 Tactical, which is my home defense gun.

LEO - I would also greatly appreciate your comments/feedback/recommendations also as without question LEO’s have their hands on an assault shotgun more than most anyone else, other than some competition shooters. Thanks

I have a Benelli M2, full stock, pistol grip. I used it like that mostly for coyote hunting, then a little for turkey. It worked great for that, very good control. I think the barrel is 24”.

I currently have a regular stock on it, no pistol grip. The plan was to rotate it more for grouse hunting & such. For home defense type use I could go either way, with or without the grip.

For any skimming by, this is the Benelli ‘steady-grip’, full stock with a near vertical grip of sorts. It’s not the pistol gripped shotgun made for the mall ninja.

I like the normal, non-pistol grip stocks. I feel like I get more control with the regular stocks.

I prefer the pistol grip type. I find the recoil is better managed with this stock. And sometimes my cheek weld is too far forward on a conventional stock when under pressure and I end up having the big knuckle of my thumb punch me in the face when the gun fires. This cant occur with pistol grip stocks. YMMV.

My Winchester Defender came with some pistol grip/stock conversion on it. I swapped that for a black regular stock. Growing up with shotguns, the regular stock felt more natural.

I don’t think the other was bad, it just felt weird.

On all of my shotguns, no pistol grip.

I prefer traditional stocks.






I do have one shotgun with a pistol grip on its stock, my Beretta 1201FP. That's because stock options are extremely limited for those, and the Mesa Tactical Urbino stock was the best out of the limited stock options, despite being a pistol gripped stock. But if it was available without the pistol grip, I'd have gone with that.

My '97 Riot doesn't need a pistol grip.

Learned from 3 different guns that I very much dislike them. They only add negatives for me.

A nice inbetween is the magpul stock. To me it feels like the best of both worlds, but I got rid of my pistol grip stock. I got a lot more cheek slap with it vs the magpul

Thanks to everyone who has replied so far. These responses are enough for me to move forward with purchasing a non-pistol grip full stock for my M2 to give it a try.

My plan will be to swap it out once it arrives and hit the range a couple of times to see how it feels and how I can manage it around the limited barricades we have at the club. I will also continue to train here at home with my dummy rounds.

Having grown up shooting my old regular traditional stock Ithaca Model 37 pump shotgun for 20+ years and then buying a Benelli SBE with a traditional stock also about 20 years ago for dove, quail, and duck hunting, I am used to the standard non-pistol grip stocks.

Having received the Benelli M2 Tactical as a gift from my wife and son about a year ago, it came with the full size pistol grip stock..I have had it long enough now that trying a different stock will not be viewed as me “not liking” the gift they gave me.

Thanks again to each of you for taking time to share your thoughts, reasonings, and photos.

One of the (many) things I find ironic about firearms terminology is that the term “pistol grip” originally applied to what is being called a “regular” stock today. At one time that was to distinguish them from rifles and shotguns that had “straight” stocks, i.e., no swell for the palm to rest against.

What people are calling pistol grips now are what Jeff Cooper referred to as “saw handle” grips. I gather that he wasn’t a fan of the style and probably for the same reason I have: The grip moves the shooter’s hand down farther from the centerline of the gun and it’s just like using a “donkey dick” vertical foregrip on an AR. Grasping the gun closer to the centerline provides better control over mounting and aiming the firearm more quickly and surely. Do any (top) trap/skeet shooters use shotguns with a saw handle grip or VFG?

My one and only shotgun, a Mossberg 500 has had a Butler creek folding stock on it for about 25 years.

I've shot skeet with it and did ok with it.
It doesn't extract every time now and is due for some maintenance.
I keep thinking I'll upgrade to a semi but never have.

I generally prefer pistol gripped stocks for LE work. The biggest reason for me is that they potentially allow better grip on the weapon and a better ability to maintain control of the weapon in the case of an attempted take away. Whereas home defense is likely best accomplished by getting to your loved ones and protecting them from a static position that gives you an advantage, police work often involves more offensive work such as clearing rooms, etc. Sound tactics and good movement will reduce the vast percentage of threats that officers face but there are ways that a well trained foe can hide in blind spots, etc. In the event of an attempted take away of a long gun, I want to be able to suck that weapon in and minimize any leverage advantage that the person trying to take it away is going to have. In my opinion, the pistol grip is the better tool for that purpose.

Pistol grip stocks on shotguns probably have the most value in close-quarter combat use, like shooting around a corner, and breeching doors, or in an emergency having to shoot with one hand. A traditional stock would be pretty hard on your wrist with the crazy angles and stresses involved. The pistol grip probably offers some fatigue reduction when carried for longer periods of time with out being slinged.

For bird and clay shooting, I agree that a traditional stock is best. I have never seen a pistol gripped shotgun being used on sporting clay or skeet fields in a match, over many years.

Except, I did try out a Benelli M4 on a skeet field once for grins. I stood at the 1st position under the high house. I asked the trapper to pull 5 clays as fast as he could. After he pulled the last of the five, with all of them flying straight away, I began firing at the clays far to near. Crushed them all, super fast. Great fun. Then the trapper wanted his turn.

Also for sporting clays and trap, you want a longer barrels for a longer sight radius and a lengthened forcing cone. For skeet the shorter barrels are just fine.

I've tried 3 or 4 different pistol grip stocks on my 870 and wound up dumping all of them in favor of the Magpul SGA. My right wrist is still weak from a fracture that happened when I was a teenager, and the impact from recoil is both painful (after a few rounds) and destabilizing. I shoot better with a conventional stock. They do look kinda cool, but they just don't work well for me.

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:
One of the (many) things I find ironic about firearms terminology is that the term “pistol grip” originally applied to what is being called a “regular” stock today. At one time that was to distinguish them from rifles and shotguns that had “straight” stocks, i.e., no swell for the palm to rest against.

I always find this a bit amusing also.

Reading the title of this thread, especially the Full Straight Stock description lead me to envision this:


...which coupled with a 18" barrel on a Remington 870 or 1100 makes for a very handy HD gun

HD shotguns don't always need stocks

Well mine is an SBS, but I really love my Mossberg M90A1 with traditional grip.

For home/interior clearing work I prefer the pistol grip, but just in general use I prefer the standard stock.