My first experience with a pistol gripped shotgun

Nightcrawler · October 28, 2001, 08:34 PM

I bought a Pachmayr pistol grip for my Winchester 1300 12-gauge, as well as an 18.5" cylinder bore barrel. The screw didn't fit into the stock screw hole, so my friend had to re-thread it. (As a side note, I've tried two advanced techology brand magazine extensions and neither of those fit either.) We got it on there, though, and tried it out on Saturday.

The rounds fired were 2.75" No. 7 Federal birdshot and 2.75" Federal Tactical (Law Enforcement) 00 Buckshot. All of my friends wanted to fire it from the hip the first try, and all learned that you still have to aim. It took a little getting used to, but after a bit of practice I was able to be quite accurate with it at home defense ranges.

The funnest thing for me was shooting this big board in half with birdshot. At close range, birdshot would make a big hole in the board, and a few shots in a line across the board would break it in half. Big fun.

The recoil was not at all unpleasant with the loads I shot. I put about a hundred rounds through my shotgun, and wasn't worse for wear. FWIW, I don't have big hands nor am I a particularly pain-resistant person.

All in all, I'm confident that I could reliably hit a human target at home defense ranges with that pistol-grip only shotgun. However, I certainly would not recommend a pistol-grip only model to someone who's new to shotgunning, or someone with particularly sensative hands. I'd still *prefer* a stocked shotgun for almost every activity, but I'm confident that I could manage with a pistol grip only model, for using shot against close-ranged targets. The big thing is to be able to visually line up the barrel and bead on the target without benefit of a cheek weld.

FWIW

CWL · October 29, 2001, 05:21 PM

Hey there,

How about trying it alongside a standard stock shotgun for speed of aquisition, accuracy and follow-up shot speed?

I'd be curious to read how that went.

Nightcrawler · October 29, 2001, 08:23 PM

Well, I'm not a particularly skilled shotgunner to begin with. I've owned a shotgun for less than a year. I'm going to assuming that having a buttstock improves performance in almost all areas, but lacking it (on a shotgun) does not render the shotgun inaccurate or unusable.

Dave McC · October 30, 2001, 08:52 AM

NC, you might want to read the thread about a challnege to PG only folks, and respond...

October 28, 2001, 08:34 PM	#1
Nightcrawler Senior Member Join Date: September 22, 2000 Location: Northern Michigan Posts: 2,945	My first experience with a pistol gripped shotgun I bought a Pachmayr pistol grip for my Winchester 1300 12-gauge, as well as an 18.5" cylinder bore barrel. The screw didn't fit into the stock screw hole, so my friend had to re-thread it. (As a side note, I've tried two advanced techology brand magazine extensions and neither of those fit either.) We got it on there, though, and tried it out on Saturday. The rounds fired were 2.75" No. 7 Federal birdshot and 2.75" Federal Tactical (Law Enforcement) 00 Buckshot. All of my friends wanted to fire it from the hip the first try, and all learned that you still have to aim. It took a little getting used to, but after a bit of practice I was able to be quite accurate with it at home defense ranges. The funnest thing for me was shooting this big board in half with birdshot. At close range, birdshot would make a big hole in the board, and a few shots in a line across the board would break it in half. Big fun. The recoil was not at all unpleasant with the loads I shot. I put about a hundred rounds through my shotgun, and wasn't worse for wear. FWIW, I don't have big hands nor am I a particularly pain-resistant person. All in all, I'm confident that I could reliably hit a human target at home defense ranges with that pistol-grip only shotgun. However, I certainly would not recommend a pistol-grip only model to someone who's new to shotgunning, or someone with particularly sensative hands. I'd still prefer a stocked shotgun for almost every activity, but I'm confident that I could manage with a pistol grip only model, for using shot against close-ranged targets. The big thing is to be able to visually line up the barrel and bead on the target without benefit of a cheek weld. FWIW __________________ Nightcrawler- TFL Alumnus

October 29, 2001, 08:23 PM	#3
Nightcrawler Senior Member Join Date: September 22, 2000 Location: Northern Michigan Posts: 2,945	Well, I'm not a particularly skilled shotgunner to begin with. I've owned a shotgun for less than a year. I'm going to assuming that having a buttstock improves performance in almost all areas, but lacking it (on a shotgun) does not render the shotgun inaccurate or unusable. __________________ Nightcrawler- TFL Alumnus

October 29, 2001, 05:21 PM	#2
CWL Senior Member Join Date: May 23, 2001 Location: Bay Area, CA Posts: 1,576	Hey there, How about trying it alongside a standard stock shotgun for speed of aquisition, accuracy and follow-up shot speed? I'd be curious to read how that went.

October 30, 2001, 08:52 AM	#4
Dave McC Staff In Memoriam Join Date: October 13, 1999 Location: Columbia, Md, USA Posts: 8,811	NC, you might want to read the thread about a challnege to PG only folks, and respond...