Guns: The Pistol Grip Shotgun stock

I think we all get bit by the "Iwannacoolgun" virus from time to time. Sometimes, as Tam mentions, it leads to adopting aesthetics over effectiveness. In my recent shotgun shopping stint, I've run across quite a few examples of this type of foolishness in the form of the pistol grip pump shotgun.

The pistol grip variant has got to be one of the most enduring guises of the pump shotgun in modern movies and television. Directors like them because they look more threatening than the standard shotgun stock, and because actors tend to shoot from the hip, allowing more of the performer's face to be seen.

Truthfully, pistol grips are much shorter than a regular stock, which is nice. But a shotgun isn't exactly designed for portability; it's designed for firepower. The plain old stock on Grandpa's Winchester Model 1897 may not be very sexy, but it's great for putting a lot of little lead balls into a target in a rapid fashion, which is why we engage in the whole exercise in the first place. A pistol grip pump can be shot well, but the learning curve is always sharper, and someone will invariably be able to shoot the shoulder-stocked version better and faster than the pistol grip, no matter the skill level.

Note that some standard shoulder stocks also have pistol grips incorporated in them - these are fine and dandy. This post is about the pistol grip shotguns that have no shoulder stock at all. I don't like to say X gun is better than Y gun, but to be honest, whatever shotgun I end up purchasing will not have a pistol grip.