16ga.com ~ View topic

some folks have posted that straight gripped guns seem harder to control than ones with a pistol grip. I think the biggest problem with a straight grip comes from shifting the grip hand back or forth from mount to mount. This will change the relative LOP and can cause pointing errors, especially high or low shooting if the relative comb height is affected.

If you own a shotgun with a straight grip and think you might be unconsiously shifting your grip up or back from shot to shot, here is an easy solution. Get some tennis racquet grip wrap tape and a little bit of closed cell polyethylene foam padding. cut the foam to a slightly domed shape with a sharp blade and secure it to the palm side of the grip at the place where the hollow of your palm meets the grip. Just a small swell is all that is needed. Put a couple of wraps of gri[p tape around the foam to secure it and you are done.

I added a grip wrap palm swell to my trap stock years ago this way. It has aided me in placing my grip hand in the same spot, and my shooting improved. The tape has lasted over 5 years so far--works for me.

For those of you who have double triggers on your gun, keeping the added on swell small will keep it from interfering with your hand if you need to shift it a bit to reach either trigger. If your gun has but one trigger, then interferance should not be an issue.

Grip tape is relatively cheap and easy to get. So is a small piece of closed cell foam. what have you got to lose? give it a try and see if your grip control problems are solved.

Member Joined: 25 Jul 2006 Posts: 781

Add a cardboard adjustable comb and you'll be the envy of all that shoot with you. Very Happy

Seriously though, I shoot straight stocks about half the time and I don't notice any issues with grip placement. The key anchor points to my mount are shoulder, cheek and lead hand....my other hand is just there to pull the trigger and has nothing to do with establishing a consistent mount.

But now that you've pointed it out I'll probably worry myself to death!

Thanks a lot!

Jeff

Well, if you think about it a bit Jeff, shifting your grip hand back or forth too far will have the same effect as changing the length of your stock. This in turn, will affect where along the comb your cheek sits, which will affect the elevation of your point of impact. Having to throw your shoulder further forward than usual into the stock, or having the butt catch on your hunting coat will also upset your normal shooting process.

Most shotgunners, especially field shooters who use the move, mount, shoot approach, shoot by feel as much as anything else. If we bring the gun up to our faces and shoulders and something does not feel quite right, we often lose our rhythm and sense of timing. Our swing will go to hell, and we miss.

Consistancy is the name of the game. Being consistant reduces the shooting process to rote. We can then stay mentally focused on the target and let the shot break without conscious thought, rather than wondering why the gun feels different this time. Gripping the gun consistantly in the same spot with both hands is an important part of the process.

Well, 16gauge guy, I disagree with you completely. Naturally, as I dis- agree with half of what you post. I'd say the front hand is more important as that is why shifting from a O/U to a pump makes a difference. Besides having to think in the field will cause more misses then anything. I shoot just as well with my Elsie SxS with a prince of wales grip as I do with my Remington O/U with a pistol grip. Now with my pumps it's a completely different story as the front grip is placed different. Also, I'm one of the worst trapshooters you've ever seen. Got the brain in overdrive. I'm also an excellent wing shooter. Brain is shutdown. It's hand to eye coordination with no thinking. The trigger hand will allways be in the same place.

Member Joined: 02 Feb 2006 Posts: 602 Location: western pa

I'm with Jeff and oldhunter on this one. However, I'll agree that on a trap gun, to repeat each item for each shot is important if you are concerned about score. For game shooting, the grip hand is pretty much just there to pull the trigger. The change from grabbing barrels to a pump or o/u fore end will give you a bunch more trouble than the grip hand. Over thinking will also get you at targets or live birds. We miss most often by 6" (between our ears).

Member Joined: 25 Jul 2006 Posts: 781

16gaguy, I'd accept you point entirely except for two things.

1) My stock butt rests on my shoulder inside of my shoulder joint
2) I have an elbow

As a result the 1/2" I move my hand to go from front to rear trigger has no real affect on my gun mount.

Is there any prevailing wisdom on gunfitting pertaining to one trigger or two and the most appropriate LOP for a given shooter?

Jeff

Put me in the curvy-handle camp. I'd like to know how much of this straight stock stuff is legit, and how much is "I like it 'cause I think it's cooler than pistol grip stocks?"

First I'd like to say, Sprocket, I've seen you shoot, and well the slab says if you got nothing good to say shut ya trap.

Second. I dumped all my straight grip guns. I was shooting my old hammer (austrian with pow) better than the merk or the simson, so they all hit the road and the W Karl and the GL Rausch cane home. The Lc restock is on hold till I see if I'm corecct or full of crap, like a xmas goose far as my ablity with the pow

Member Joined: 15 Jul 2007 Posts: 230 Location: SW Idaho

Why don't we throw in a discussion of Turkish shotguns and of the best choke and we will have the perfect trifecta of disagreements. Laughing

Guest

I've always shot my straight gripped SxS's at leasat as well as a PG SxS. I agree with the others that the leading hand on the barrels is the key hand. I really don't slide my trigger hand at all on a straight grip. Just my trigger finger moves.

*Last edited by 16gaugeguy on Fri Aug 24, 2007 5:30 am; edited 1 time in total*

Consistancy is the name of the game. Being consistant reduces the shooting process to rote. We can then stay mentally focused on the target and let the shot break without conscious thought, rather than wondering why the gun feels different this time. Gripping the gun consistantly in the same spot with both hands is an important part of the process.
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I am better at reactionary shooting --Sprocket

Besides having to think in the field will cause more misses... It's hand to eye coordination with no thinking.--oldhunter
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I think you two agree with me more than you realize. My suggestion is meant for those folks who seem to have trouble with a straight grip stock. My tip is a cheap and easy way to perhaps find a solution. It might help. It might not. Folks won't know until they try it. If the little bump on the stock helps them place their hand more consistantly without having to think about it, then it just might do some good.

I personally do not have trouble swapping between the two grip styles. I can shoot my Browning Superlights about as well as my Lightnings. However, both stock types also have the same exact LOP and drop to comb and heel. In short, they both fit me consistantly, so they cause no distraction.

I'm also practiced enough that my grip hand just natually goes where it should. But this was not always so. I had to learn to do it "naturally" through lots of consistant practice. I reduced the move to rote. Now, I don't think about it.

I did the same with my lead hand, but again, it took time and practice to find the right spot for it as well. Then it took more time to learn to coordinate my hands together so I could bring the gun smoothly to my face and swing the gun smoothly and consistantly. Niether hand is more important than the other. They must both work together consistantly. If one gets out of whack with the other, I will miss. So will anyone.

None of us are born excellent wingshooters. If we are to become excellent wingshooters, we will do it through, trial, error, and then practicing what we've sorted out from our attempts. Little tips like the one I've offered might help some of the less experienced folks along the way. Anyway, you folks can discuss it some more amongst yourselves. Cool

Joined: 23 Jul 2007 Posts: 59 Location: ILLINOIS

I do admit I shoot pistol grips a tad bit better.
Certainly for volume shooting of anykind I feel the grip always you to control the recoil.

Carrying an English grip all day is a joy.
When I take a bit of time to "dail it in" with a few clays prior going Upland it really seems to help.

I tried the Tennis Grip tape but my scores became 15-love at Sporting Clays and I had to take the tape off.