Pistol Grip - Yay or Nay?

FlyingHigh

FlyingHigh

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don't want to start a "best setup for bear defence thread" here. just want a simple pros and cons thing.

my buddy and i are heading up to do a 3 or 4 day fishing trip in bear country. the shotgun is coming along. my debate whether or not to go full stock, pistol grip or both.

the pistol grip would allow slightly faster target aquisition, but would be slightly less accurate fired from the hip. however, it would be much better for use in the tent.

the full stock would be slightly slower to bring on target, but would be more accurate and allow faster follow-up shots. however, it's pretty much useless in the close confines of a tent.

the other option i have is to use the full stock during the day, and swap out the pistol grip before dark, and back again in the morning. we are driving into camp, so the bulk isn't too big a concern. main concern is speed and accuracy.

what are your thoughts?
 
Buy a pistol grip and learn to shoot it one handed:D I've done it but not too accurately. I am amazed at how accurately my buddy can shoot from the hip with his. Nice and compact for backpacking.
 
The most useless thing on Earth is a shotgun with no stock.
"...a tent..." If Yogi is coming into your tent, it's too late. You'll never be fast enough.
 
it's a Mossberg Maverick 88, with an 18" barrel. it's actually the best Maverick i've shot. it functions flawlessly, so don't give me crap about it being a Mossy. :D

i own a pistol grip, and i've practiced with it. i'm not a bad shot with it, both from the hip and from shoulder height.

If Yogi is coming into your tent, it's too late. You'll never be fast enough.
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good point. however, i'm a fairly light sleeper, and so's my buddy, good chance we're both awake before yogi hits the tent. i hope. :)

i was camping with a different buddy who had his shotgun along for bear protection and he had a good system for prepping it. he'd put a round in the chamber, and load the magazine. then he's push the action release, and crack the action open about 1/2" and flick the safety off. the gun was laid within reach, but out of the way of anyone rolling onto it, and naturally pointed out the tent. that way, at the first sign of bear, he could grab the gun and with a 1/2" move, have a shell chambered and be ready to fire. however, since the action was open, there was no way the gun could fire unless it was deliberately closed.
 
FlyingHigh said:
it's a Mossberg Maverick 88, with an 18" barrel. it's actually the best Maverick i've shot. it functions flawlessly, so don't give me crap about it being a Mossy. :D

i own a pistol grip, and i've practiced with it. i'm not a bad shot with it, both from the hip and from shoulder height.



good point. however, i'm a fairly light sleeper, and so's my buddy, good chance we're both awake before yogi hits the tent. i hope. :)

i was camping with a different buddy who had his shotgun along for bear protection and he had a good system for prepping it. he'd put a round in the chamber, and load the magazine. then he's push the action release, and crack the action open about 1/2" and flick the safety off. the gun was laid within reach, but out of the way of anyone rolling onto it, and naturally pointed out the tent. that way, at the first sign of bear, he could grab the gun and with a 1/2" move, have a shell chambered and be ready to fire. however, since the action was open, there was no way the gun could fire unless it was deliberately closed.
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Sounds like a good plan. A hell of allot better than nothing. I used to camp on Sushswap lake with nothing more than a big knife for bear protection.
 
use the stock, it's not that confined.

I know a guy who had a bear come in his tent in the middle of the night when he was living in Alaska. Point blank in the face with a .358 or something and it mushed the inside of it's head like a melon. It had a full stock and it didn't slow him down when it really counted.
 
Mossberg,Why would you carry anything else?

a pistol grip only shotgun as handy as it might be in tight places,is a poor choice to a stocked one,But its better then nothing.
I've kept a Mossy 590,full stock in a two person tent,little tight ,but still doable.

The only bad thing about keeping a shotgun cracked a 1/2"open is if something,sleeping bag, shirt what have you gets caught in the action during the nite, small chance,but still possable.
 
Split the difference and get a folding stock, a friend of mine has a Butler Creek folder on his 870 and to my surprise it gives up very little in shootability to a regular stock, granted it's bulkier when folded than a PGO.
 
I vote pistol grip, and practice with it, call it a canadian pistol. I have a maverick 88 that lives with a pistol grip full time for just this reason (and it will feed anything i feed it flawlessly). I practice busting clays with it. you wont be letting off a shot with a full stock while laying down in a tent more than once. bears arent always polite enough to use the door, being able to swing quick and shoot at odd angles is a good thing.
 
rottweilerboy said:
Have you considered a knoxx telescopic ?
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i've been taking a look at the Knoxx stocks. i really like them and they would be pretty much ideal. however, i don't have the money for one right now, i doubt i could get one in my hands by the weekend and i don't know if my kick around maverick is worth putting money into modding. i think i'll wait until i get an 870 for that.
 
I have an 870 marine defender for my work in the Arctic (polar bear country). I've had to use it three times to scare bears off - never had to shoot one. WHen I bought it I thought the pistol grip would be good, but I find it awkward and slow (especially pumping it). More practice would solve this of course, but I hate shooting it with the pistol grip. Being an upland hunter and clay shooter, I shoot thousands of rounds a year from a full-stock shotgun and as a result I am WAY faster and of course more accurate with a full stock. That part of the stock is very light on a synthetic gun and only adds about 10" (guessing) to the OAL, so for me, the benefits FAR outweigh any difficulties with increased length/weight. Also, one thing that I noticed with the pistol grip is that the shotgun is hard to lean on anything. Sounds silly, but around a camp, you are always looking for somewhere to lean your bear defense gun that is handy, and the pistol grip means that you usually have to lay it down flat, which is hard to find a suitable place to do this. The full stock makes it a lot easier to lean against a tree or whatever where you can grab it in an instant if you need it. I have never handled a gun with a folder or telescopic stock, so can't speak to that, but it certainly seems like the best of both worlds.
-DW
 
Use a nice shiny wooden or plastic stock. No grip, no folder, no telescoping ####. No receiver mounted shell holders either.
That way, wherever the gun is, if you grab it, there's little chance it's going to get hung up on a piece of sleeping bag, backpack, jock strap or what have you.

I have an 870 with the telescoping stock and pistol grip as well as a couple with plain old wood. The 870 is for 3 gun work, the other 2 are truck gun / working guns.
 
A Pistol grip should do you fine. Keep the gun loaded up with 00Buck. I'm not sure if the Maverick holds 5 or 6, but with 9 projectiles in each 00buck shell, your odds of hitting something are pretty good. I would recommend patterning the gun first just so you have an idea as to how tight you're going to be at a certain range.
 
Didn't read what others posted, but I shoot with a pistol grip and it works fine for me. But then again I'm only shooting 2.75" bucks and slugs. It's got a kick, but nothing you couldn't handle. I say go for it!
 
870P said:
Split the difference and get a folding stock, a friend of mine has a Butler Creek folder on his 870 and to my surprise it gives up very little in shootability to a regular stock, granted it's bulkier when folded than a PGO.
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Useless. Too clubby, and if you need it in a rush you don't have time to unfold and place an accurate shot. Regular stocks have had the same design for centuries for a reason, stick with them.
 
If something is worth shooting, it's worth shooting right. :)

Stick with the stock - if you want to add something add a flashlight.
 
I have a Knoxx SpecOps stock on my 18.5 870 and love it. I find it very comfortable shooting, though I do not shoot from the hip so I cannot comment on that.

When I first put it on I did find it a bit weird but after putting 50 odd shells through it I got used to it and find regular stocks weird.
 
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