pistol grip shotgun for home?

[45calibre]

How hard is it to aim with a pistol grip shotty? I plan on adding one to a maverick 88 for home defense and to carry in my car. For the home there is no need for a long range shot but what worries me is a miss. I don't want anything with a folding stock or a collapsible strictly pistol grip.

 

[22lr]

Very nice for maneuverability. Gosh awful for actually shooting, I have a 500 running duel pistol grips right now and its a pain to even put birdshot through it. I would recommend not going with just a pistol grip unless it has some kind of stock, but thats just me. Works for home def but a real PITA to shoot.

 

[Mrmonte]

Just curious, what advantage do you think you will be gaining by using a pistol grip? Easier to hide in your car? I can clear any doorway in my house with the factory wood stock shouldered on my HD shotgun.

 

[NateIU10]

For me, a stock is a necessity for a HD gun. You're looking at an easier to control weapon with faster follow up shots.

 

[45calibre]

Yeah easier to fit is the main reason.

 

[NateIU10]

Yeah easier to fit is the main reason.

A shotgun with a collapsible M4 style stock isn't that much longer, but is vastly more practical in almost every situation.

 

[kedie]

I have a Mossberg 590 that used to have a pistol grip on it. It was fun to shoot, but outside of that it wasn't worth much. I took the pistol grip off and put on the stock. I like it better that way.

If you're using it for HD, you're not going to be making long shots. At the shorter ranges the shot in the round isn't going to spread so you'll need to aim your shot. A pistol grip won't be very good for that.

 

[twocoughs]

Yep, I'm looking for a 410 for the house. Wife would rather get robbed than shoot a 19ga.

 

[joshennis84]

a pistol grip isn't good for anything but shooting around corners and it will hurt when you do

 

[38special]

Wow...I'm surprised to see so much negative feedback on this.

I have a 20ga pistol grip and I love it. In fact, I shot clay pigeons with it last weekend and was just as accurate with it as I was with my shotgun with a buttstock: both mossberg 500's.

It's great for maneuverability and plenty accurate. That said, putting 30+ shots through it is hard on the web of your hand

A few shots isn't a problem.

 

[sanzo87]

yea i dont see why all the negative feedback. I never had problumes with my ithica 37 12 ga even with the pistol grip!!! infact for HD i would rather it like that with #4 lead shot so if i miss not as much damage but i didnt see any accuracy rate change between stock and grip. and 38special is right after shooting a lot your hand will get sore but i never really had a big problem with it though but maybe that's just me.

 

[Jbrown]

My personal opinion is go for a folding stock. The pistol grips look good but overall are a pain in the rear.

 

[U.S. Patriot]

Honestly I would stick, with a regular stock. I had a 20 guage, with a pistol grip. Even when shooting standard loads, it put the hurten on my wrist and not very accurate.. I know as an SD shotgun, you will probably not be shooting it much but still. It will be easier to control, and you will have faster follow up shots as others have said. I'm not sure what make, or model you are looking for. I bought a Mossberg 500, with 28" ported barrel. I then bought a factory 18.5" barrel for HD. That way I have the best of both worlds. Something for home defense, or shooting clays etc. Something to consider.

 

[Glock21]

I consider pistolgrip ONLY shotguns to be a waste of time at best, and something that can get you killed at worst.

In a home defense situation we have to consider liability as well as making our first shot count. If you hold a shotgun at waist level and fire, there is no conventional aiming, just some sort of body alignment. If you have (just to keep the math simple) a 24" barrel and you are, because of lack of sights, holding the end of the barrel 1" out of the sighting plain, you will be of 1" for every two feet of distance to the target. So, if your target is 10' away, you will be holding off 5", and that is very, very easy to do when you've just woken up to an adrenaline spike caused by someone being in your house who shouldn't be, or a family member screaming.

Supposing your buckshot pattern is something in the 6" range at that distance, you're now placing buckshot in arms, shoulders, sides and just about everywhere but where it needs to go to end this thing now. That can get us killed when we consider that 60% of criminals are chemicaly altered (drugs/alcohol) when they commit their crimes, and we consider things like the Tuller Drill. Idiot needs lead in his torso, and you may only have one chance to do it. And it could get us arrested, should one pellet go past Mr. Badguy and end up in a neighbors child.

Also (and I know nothing about the original posters living situation) many are not considering someone in the home being taken hostage, and how they will deploy the shotgun to end it.

Now, I'm a rifle/handgun person, but when I'm at home sleeping, there is a Remington 870 a step away from my bed. It has a full stock, and a Surfire forend. It's stored in 'crusier mode', magazine fully charged, chamber empty, safety off, hammer at rest. (I also keep it stored muzzle down.) I rack the bolt and it's ready to go. Normally it's charged with Polyshok ammunition, which offers me the same benefit as slugs in a hostage situation, but no over penetration through the walls of the house. Polyshok isn't something most people have access to, and if I had none I'd go with straight slugs.

If I need to maneuver through the house, I use Henk Iverson's 'flat stock' method, and that ends any worry of bumping into things with the gun.

Pistol grip only shotguns are fine for door breaching SWAT team members, the rest of us should have stocks on our guns!

 

[hotfarmboy1]

I use a top folding stock on my mossberg mav 88. I like it pretty well, gives me the ability to use the stock while having the extra control of the pistol grip, and I have the extra ammo holder on it, so that's 5 more rounds to use if needed (doubtful). I keep mine loaded up with 00 buckshot to help reduce overpenetration, so it doesn't go through the target and the walls behind him like a slug.

Plus one thing you have to remember, you mentioned keeping it in your car. You better have a LTCH to do that if you just have the pistol grip on it and no sort of folding stock. Without any sort of stock to shoulder it, it is then considered a pistol and not a long gun. You can't keep it in the vehicle without a LTCH. Keep that in mind.

 

[VUPDblue]

GLOCK21 is spot-on. Henk Iverson and Louis Awerbuck have been doing this shotgun thing for a long time. They know much about which they speak. A PG only shotgun is a terrible choice for a HD gun, period.

To 38special: If the clays you shot with your PG only shotgun were stationary, then I believe you. If they were flying...well I'd like to see that sometime...

 

[esrice]

Reps to Glock21! Well said sir!

 

[VanillaThunder]

 

[nighthawk80]

I went with a Speed Feed 3 stock on my Winchester. That gave me my pistol grip plus a stock, which in my mind gave me a better one hand grip on the gun if I need to switch to a one handed grip (i.e. opening doors, moving an object). YMMV.

 

[esrice]

gave me a better one hand grip on the gun if I need to switch to a one handed grip (i.e. opening doors, moving an object). YMMV.

It would also be more secure in the event of a gun-grab.

And, if you train with rifles too, it will be a familiar grip/stance.

It also allows you to tuck your elbow in tighter for maneuvering in smaller spaces.